Direct-Entry Master of Science in Nursing
Direct-Entry Master of Science in Nursing
What does it take to become a nurse? Grit, compassion, leadership…and the new Direct-Entry Master of Science in Nursing (DEMSN) degree at GW Nursing. This innovative program reimagines graduate nursing education by offering an increased number of immersive clinical hours to help you build robust, hands-on experience. We also designed the curriculum around a concept-based learning model that uses facts and skills as tools to help you understand broad, abstract principles you can apply to new situations and real-world scenarios.
You and your cohort will study on-site at our Ashburn, Virginia campus and complete the program in four consecutive semesters, ready to tackle the NCLEX-RN licensure exam. This program is ideal for career changers with a non-nursing bachelor's degree who want to build a successful career in healthcare.
Because at GW,
we're not just preparing nurses.
We're preparing the next generation of leaders to revolutionize healthcare.
Overview
4 Consecutive Semesters
On-Site in Ashburn, VA, and Clinical Sites in the DMV
Full-Time
Cohort Model
Concept-based Learning Model
64 Credits
900 Clinical Hours
Tuition & Aid
Estimated Cost:
$1710 / credit hour
Application
Spring 2027
Application Open: 09/01/26
Application Closes: 10/15/26
Decisions Released: 11/13/26
Your bachelor’s degree was the first step. Now, you’re just steps away from being a master’s-prepared RN…which provides you with a strong foundation for future leadership, specialized study, or doctoral education.
#1
Nursing is the Most Trusted Profession (Gallup)
$93,600
Median Annual Wage for RNs (BLS.gov)
4
Semesters to Your MSN
Be Ready for What's Next.
When you graduate, you’ll be eligible to apply to take the NCLEX-RN licensure exam and begin practice as a registered nurse. The DEMSN provides graduate-level preparation in leadership, evidence-based practice, quality improvement, and healthcare systems innovation, and it opens pathways to an APRN certificate, DNP, or PhD, so you can shape the nursing career you envision.
Request Information Meet with an Admissions Advisor Submit Your Application
What Makes GW Different?
From day one, you'll learn to think beyond the bedside. Our curriculum integrates clinical excellence with leadership, quality improvement, health equity and policy, and systems thinking so you're prepared for where healthcare is headed, not just where it is today.
Unmatched Clinical Placements
We secure your clinical placements. You’ll gain invaluable hands-on experience at top-tier healthcare facilities across D.C., Maryland, and Virginia, including our partners at MedStar Washington Hospital Center, The George Washington University Hospital, Children’s National Medical Center, and Inova Health.
The SAIL Center
Master your skills in our 20,000 sq. ft. Simulation and Innovation Learning (SAIL) Center. This state-of-the-art facility features high-fidelity patient simulators, virtual reality (VR) headsets, a fully-equipped operating room (OR), and multi-bed "wards" for practicing everything from birthing to trauma scenarios.
Steps Away from Collaboration
Our faculty and students routinely engage with colleagues at the School of Medicine & Health Sciences, Milken Institute School of Public Health, and School of Engineering & Applied Sciences to conduct research, improve clinical practice, and strengthen interdisciplinary collaboration.
Working to Achieve Health Equity
At GW Nursing, our students become more than skilled clinicians; they become leaders, advocates, innovators, and changemakers. Through purposeful learning, immersive clinical experiences, and a commitment to health equity, they develop the knowledge and confidence to improve the health of individuals and communities alike.
Why Choose GW's Direct-Entry MSN?
- Overview
Students develop strong clinical judgment, evidence-based practice skills, and the leadership competencies needed to advance quality, safety, and health equity across diverse care settings. Leveraging GW’s presence in the nation’s capital, students are just steps away from unique opportunities to learn at the intersection of clinical practice, health policy, and social impact, giving them a broader understanding of how nurses shape healthcare at the local, national, and global levels.
Graduates enter the profession as master's-prepared registered nurses equipped to provide exceptional patient care, advocate for change, and make an immediate difference while building careers across the healthcare system.
- Prerequisites
You must have completed the following prerequisite coursework with grades of B or better and a minimum course GPA of 3.0 before the start of the program. If you are still missing courses, you can take your health prerequisites online with GW Nursing.
Nursing Prerequisites
- Human Anatomy and Physiology I & II (6–8 semester hours; labs required)*
- Microbiology (3–4 semester hours; lab required)*
- Chemistry (3–4 semester hours; lab required)*
- Nutrition (3 semester hours)
- Statistics (3 semester hours)
*All science courses must be completed within seven years of starting the program.
- Outcomes
At the conclusion of this MSN program, you will be able to:
- Cultivate a professional identity that embodies ethical and professional standards by integrating self-reflection, lifelong learning, collaborative leadership, and well-being.
- Create systems change, based on public and population health theories and principles, by addressing social determinants of health that support equitable population health outcomes.
- Generate innovative nursing care management by applying nursing knowledge that integrates expertise from arts and sciences and by employing appropriate information and communication technologies.
- Integrate advanced nursing knowledge to formulate holistic, compassionate, individualized person-centered care that improves health and transforms nursing practice.
- Organize high-quality care that minimizes risk while maximizing system effectiveness through advocacy and collaborative efforts among professionals, patients, and communities.
- Curriculum
Semester 1
NURS 6418 Introduction to Professional Nursing (2 cr)
NURS 6419 Pathophysiology Concepts (3 cr)
NURS 6420 Applied Concepts of Pharmacology (3 cr)
NURS 6421 Comprehensive Health Assessment and Clinical Decision Making (2 cr)
NURS 6423 Adult Health 1 (3 cr)
NURS 6523 Adult Health 1 Clinical (3 cr; 135 clinical hours)
Semester 2
NURS 8350 Dynamics of Leadership and Management for Healthcare Quality (3 cr)
NURS 6425 From Theory to Practice: Nursing History and Advancing Health Equity (3 cr)
NURS 6424 Adult Health 2 (3 cr)
NURS 6524 Adult Health 2 clinical (3 cr; 135 clinical hours)
NURS 6431 Family-Centered Care of the Expanding Family (3 cr)
NURS 6531 Family-Centered Care of the Expanding Family OB Clinical (3 cr; 135 clinical hours)
Semester 3
NURS 6422 Concepts of Mental Health Nursing (3 cr)
NURS 6522 Concepts of Mental Health Nursing Clinical (3 cr; 135 clinical hours)
NURS 6430 Concepts of Pediatric Health (3 cr)
NURS 6530 Concepts of Pediatric Health Clinical (3 cr; 135 clinical hours)
NURS 8351 Healthcare Informatics (3 cr)
NURS 8352 Evidence-Based Practice in Nursing Care (3 cr)
Semester 4
NURS 8354 Epi/Population Health (3 cr)
NURS 6433 Community Health Clinical (3 cr; 135 clinical hours)
NURS 6434 Transition to RN Practice (3 cr; 90 clinical hours)
NURS 8353 Policy and Advocacy in Nursing (3 cr)
- Clinical Placement
Students will complete 900 clinical hours. GW Nursing partners with many different healthcare agencies across the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia. Students receive a diverse clinical experience in a variety of settings.
Students will begin clinical rotations twice a week in their first semester. Your clinical rotations will feature small group clinical experiences with a clinical faculty member. You will also complete a one-on-one clinical preceptorship toward the end of the program.
Questions about clinical placement requirements should be directed to bsnclinical
gwu [dot] edu (bsnclinical[at]gwu[dot]edu).
Your GW Nursing Experience
Our state-of-the-art facilities and technologies enable you to learn core concepts through a variety of formats, including high-fidelity simulators, standardized patients, and interactive online modules. As the curriculum advances, you will gain enriched hands-on experience through clinical and simulation learning in state-of-the-art, top-rated facilities in Northern Virginia, DC, and Maryland.
Leadership isn't an afterthought; it's woven into everything you do
At GW Nursing, we believe nurses are leaders. Whether you're advocating for patients, improving healthcare systems, or leading teams, you'll graduate with the confidence and skills to influence change.
Clinical experiences that prepare you for real-world practice.
You’ll learn through a combination of hands-on clinical experiences and high-quality, high-fidelity simulation, including virtual reality, in our Simulation and Innovation Learning Center. This is how you will develop strong clinical judgment, decision-making skills, and confidence before entering practice.
A commitment to health equity and serving diverse communities.
You’ll learn to recognize and address the social, economic, environmental, and structural conditions that influence health. You’ll develop skills through a variety of learning experiences to provide respectful, responsive care while advocating for more equitable systems.
More Than a Career Change
Our students embody a wide range of academic, professional, military, caregiving, community, and life experiences. These experiences become strengths in the classroom and clinical setting, allowing you to pursue a career where you can make an immediate difference in your community and develop as a leader in healthcare.
Pursuing a direct-entry MSN gave me the opportunity to enter the nursing profession and build a new career without having to start over with a traditional undergraduate nursing degree. It provided the foundation for me to become a nurse and ultimately a nurse practitioner, while opening doors to opportunities I could not have imagined when I began.
My career has since included clinical practice, advanced education, leadership, teaching, and national work in nursing and healthcare. The path I took was not something I could have mapped out at the beginning, and that is one of the greatest strengths of nursing: there are so many ways to grow, specialize, and evolve throughout your career.
Asefeh Faraz Covelli, PhD, APRN, FNP-BC, FAANP
Associate Professor, GW School of Nursing
Let's Start Your Next Chapter
We're looking for dedicated, passionate individuals with a bachelor's degree in any field who are ready to commit to a rigorous, rewarding new career.
Applications submitted by the priority deadline will be reviewed first. Applications do not have to be verified by the priority deadline, only completed and submitted. Questions? Contact the Office of Admissions at nursinggwu [dot] edu (nursing[at]gwu[dot]edu).
Your Application Checklist
Students must have a bachelor's degree in a discipline other than nursing from a regionally accredited college or university
Preferred scholastic GPA of at least 3.0 on a 4.0 scale from a regionally accredited college or university
Official transcripts (from all post-secondary schools)*
Two letters of recommendation
Current resume
Statement of Purpose
Enrollment
Overview
This program consists of 64 credit hours, including 900 clinical hours. Given the academic rigor of this program, employment while pursuing this degree is not recommended. Questions about program requirements should be directed to nursinggwu [dot] edu (nursing[at]gwu[dot]edu).
On-Campus Requirements
This is a full-time, on-campus degree program spanning four consecutive semesters. You should expect to obtain housing in a location near Ashburn, Virginia for the duration of the program. Please note that GW University does not have resident housing or food services on the Ashburn, Virginia campus.
Technology Requirements
Admitted students are expected to own and have ready access to a laptop or tablet with basic productivity software for classroom use. View the laptop policy for additional information.
Explore PROGRAMS
The academic opportunities at GW Nursing reflect the changing nature of the nursing field.
TALK TO ADMISSIONS
Attend an information session, campus tour, or phone appointment to talk more about your place at GW Nursing.