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Baltimore, Md. – In the newly released U.S. News & World Report’s 2024 “Best Colleges” Best Bachelor of Science (BSN) Programs, the University of Maryland School of Nursing’s (UMSON) BSN program ranked No. 10 in the nation (tied with five other institutions), out of the more than 650 accredited nursing schools ranked. Among public schools of nursing, UMSON is ranked No. 3 in the nation (tied with two other public nursing schools). UMSON’s BSN program continues to be the top-ranked such program in Maryland. “It is gratifying to be recognized as one of the top baccalaureate programs in the nation, and it is a testament to our faculty and our students,” said Yolanda Ogbolu, PhD ‘11, MS ’05, BSN ’04, NNP, FNAP, FAAN, the Bill and Joanne Conway Dean of the University of Maryland School of Nursing. “We are proud to play an important role within Maryland and throughout the country in increasing the number of nurses educated at the baccalaureate level, as we also work to address the critical shortage of nurses at all levels. Our graduates are well prepared to meet the needs of our health care system and to serve as a vital and trusted resource for individuals, their families, and our communities.” UMSON’s BSN program encompasses an entry-into-nursing program and an RN-to-BSN program for already licensed practicing nurses. The program prepares students to excel in nursing careers across a broad spectrum of acute, chronic, and community-based settings. National data indicates that employers increasingly prefer and, in some cases, require, a baccalaureate degree. This fall, UMSON admitted 220 entry BSN students, its largest class ever, between its Baltimore and Universities at Shady Grove (Rockville, Maryland) locations, reflecting the School’s commitment to responding to the demands of health care at a critical time of substantial nursing shortages. The School was among the first in the nation to launch an entirely revised BSN curriculum for incoming students last fall, in alignment with the American Association of Colleges of Nursing’s The Essentials: Core Competencies for Professional Nursing Education, an updated framework for nursing education using a competency-based approach. The curriculum responds to the Essentials’ direction for curricula that respond to the changing face of health care, necessitating updates to how nurses are prepared; in that vein, the BSN curriculum includes courses focusing on evidence-based practice, public and community health, social determinants of health, disease prevention, and palliative care. Two recent clinical practice initiatives with the University of Maryland Medical System — the Practicum to Practice Partnership and the Academy of Clinical Essentials — provide students expanded and advanced clinical opportunities. In addition to serving practicing nurses seeking a BSN degree, UMSON’s RN-to-BSN program boasts dual-admission partnerships with all 15 community colleges in Maryland that offer an Associate Degree in Nursing (ADN) program, enabling a smooth transition for ADN students into UMSON’s BSN program. To date, 270 students have transitioned from community college to UMSON’s BSN program via the School’s dual-admission partnerships. Rankings are determined by scores received from surveys of top academics and officials at nursing schools or departments at institutions nationwide that are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education or the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing. In addition, the institutions must be regionally accredited and have recently awarded at least 40 BSN degrees. ### The University of Maryland School of Nursing, founded in 1889, is one of the oldest and largest nursing schools in the nation and is ranked among the top nursing schools nationwide. Enrolling more than 2,000 students in its baccalaureate, master’s, and doctoral programs, the School develops leaders who shape the profession of nursing and impact the health care environment.

Baltimore, Md. – The University of Maryland School of Nursing (UMSON) will launch its new Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) Entry-into-Nursing (MSN-E) program next spring. The two-year, in-person, full-time MSN-E program is designed for those with bachelor’s degrees in fields other than nursing who are interested in changing patient care, improving patient outcomes, and leading health care teams, and it will position nurses to grow in their careers. It will also teach students how to engage in self-care practices, incorporating self-reflection and feedback from others, to promote personal and professional resilience and well-being. The new program responds to alumni and student feedback to provide a more flexible curriculum while aligning it with the American Association of Colleges of Nursing’s (AACN) The Essentials: Core Competencies for Professional Nursing Education, which provides a framework for nursing education using a competency-based approach. As part of UMSON’s ongoing effort to overhaul curricula at both the baccalaureate and advanced levels to align with AACN’s Essentials, the new MSN-E program will focus on competency-based education (CBE), a student-centered approach that focuses on demonstrating knowledge, skills, and attitudes. Nursing graduates with the competencies outlined in the Essentials will be well prepared to take the Next Generation NCLEX, the newest version of the National Council Licensure Examination, which is designed to assess clinical judgment in nursing licensure candidates, measuring future nurses’ ability to think critically about how to care for patients. CBE effectively develops critical-thinking and judgment skills in graduates, enhancing their chances of passing the licensing exam and thriving in their nursing careers. This fall is the final semester in which UMSON admitted students to its nearly 20-year-old MSN Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL) option; as of spring 2024, UMSON will no longer offer it to incoming students and will offer the MSN-E program instead. “The new MSN-E maintains the strengths of the CNL option while anticipating and responding to changing forces in nursing education and practice,” said Janet Wulf, DNP ’19, MS ’06, RN, CNL, CHPN, CNE, assistant professor and director of the entry master’s program. “Through elective choices, students will tailor their education to their interests and experience. We see this as a springboard into the nursing profession and we can’t wait to see where our graduates land.” The program will provide more elective options than the CNL option does, and it will require 900 clinical hours. It will offer pathways to a doctorate, a certificate, a nursing specialty, or deeper exploration of a variety of topics. Some of the pathways will allow students to take courses they can apply toward a future degree or certificate. ### The University of Maryland School of Nursing, founded in 1889, is one of the oldest and largest nursing schools in the nation and is ranked among the top nursing schools nationwide. Enrolling more than 2,000 students in its baccalaureate, master’s, and doctoral programs, the School develops leaders who shape the profession of nursing and impact the health care environment.

Today, clinical practice guidelines are mostly developed by clinicians taking data and coming up with high level population course guidelines. But, Suchi Saria, PhD, MSc, says, this method isn’t especially effective in a real-time setting because it doesn’t account for any level of nuance or exceptions. And often patients are that exception.  “What you really need for these kinds of real-time guidelines to be effective is to take these course guidelines and make it refined to the lens of a single patient — and that's why AI [artificial intelligence] and machine learning [ML] are really good,” said Saria, the director of the Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence and Healthcare Lab at Johns Hopkins University. “So, I see the future as a combination of using AI and ML to improve and individualized practice guidelines.” Healthcare professionals like Saria, a machine learning expert and health AI pioneer who founded Bayesian Health, a company that’s spent over a decade researching, building, and validating a state-of-the art AI/ML platform that helps physicians make the best care decisions, are looking to see just where that technology fits into their day-to-day work.  Saria was one of more than 40 speakers sharing their insights at the 32nd Summer Institute in Nursing Informatics (SINI): Capturing the Value of Informatics Across the Health Care Continuum on July 20-21 at the University of Maryland School of Nursing (UMSON), an event that focused on how this technology is being incorporated. Sessions included everything from telehealth to robots in nursing to AI in the health care field to virtual reality in pain management, and more.  SINI, first introduced in 1990 at UMSON after the implementation of the nation’s first master’s program in nursing informatics, is a nonprofit international event that provides an opportunity to deliver multiple-level learning experiences to meet the needs of nurse and health care informaticians across the spectrum of practice.   “We celebrate this role and reputation as the place to come to expand one's knowledge of informatics and to learn about the latest developments in the field,”Yolanda Ogbolu, PhD ’11, MS ’03, BSN ’04, NNP, FNAP, FAAN, the Bill and Joanne Conway Dean of UMSON, said in her welcoming remarks kicking off the conference July 20. “It is a place to explore emerging challenges and to network with colleagues." READ MORE