Entry-Level Master's Program for Non-Nurses
Minnesota and the United States more broadly are experiencing a nursing shortage. The field of nursing needs more professionals who approach health care from a whole-person perspective, recognizing the many factors that contribute to a person's health and well-being.
In the Master of Science in Nursing from the University of St. Thomas program, you will be prepared to enter this high-demand field and provide the care, advocacy and interprofessional collaboration so urgently needed in the field.
Graduates will be educated to work as generalists in a variety of settings. The program will prepare you to sit for the National Council of State Boards of Nursing NCLEX-RN® licensure exam. Over the course of earning your degree, you'll gain real-world experience during work in a clinical setting.
Why St. Thomas?
The Master of Science in Nursing program provides a unique emphasis on whole-person wellness, social determinants of health and health equity, interprofessional collaboration, and advocacy and systems change. St. Thomas seeks to help serve the health needs of diverse populations in urban and rural areas by training culturally responsive nurses who proactively improve whole-person healing.
Our Vision
The Susan S. Morrison School of Nursing prepares highly skilled professional nurses who are culturally responsive, practice clinical excellence with ingenuity, and proactively improve whole-person healing to advance health equity and social justice.
Our Mission
Inspired by Catholic intellectual tradition, the University of St. Thomas Susan S. Morrison School of Nursing embraces academic excellence through fostering a caring culture during students’ preparation for entry into professional Registered Nurse practice. Our graduates will partner with others, serving as culturally responsive leaders who value intellectual inquiry to act wisely in the provision of ethical and compassionate whole-person and whole-community care that promotes human flourishing. They will provide this care with ingenuity, dignity, and respect for diverse populations to advance health equity and social justice.
Contact
Nate Gorr
Program Overview
Entry-Level MSN for Non-Nurses
The pre-licensure MSN program is designed for non-nurses (with a bachelor's degree in something other than nursing) who wish to gain entry into the nursing profession. The MSN focuses on clinical excellence and ingenuity and prepares students to sit for the NCLEX-RN® licensure exam by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing. Students graduating with an MSN will be able to provide nursing care across the continuum of care and transition to some practice roles (e.g. nursing leadership) without returning to school for a graduate degree.
Opportunities and Requirements
The master's program features higher-level learning opportunities and requirements, including:
- Interprofessional core courses focusing on whole-person wellness, social determinants of health and health equity, health care advocacy and systems change, resulting in the production of a social ingenuity e-folio
- Foundations of Nursing Practice course that is part of the professional nursing sequence
- Program and course outcomes reflecting higher-level learning domains
- Additional learning resources, reflecting higher-level learning requirements
- Holistic review of applications, which requires MSN applicants to submit materials reflecting higher-order thinking
Prerequisites
Requirements
- Baccalaureate degree: A completed bachelor’s degree or graduate degree from an institution that is accredited by one of the regional accrediting organizations (e.g. Higher Learning Commission).
- Grade point average (GPA): A cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher in the six prerequisite courses is strongly preferred, with a grade of C- or higher in each prerequisite.
- Successful completion of the American Heart Association Basic Life Support Healthcare Provider course (must be completed before starting the MSN program)
Prerequisites
At the time of application, four of the six prerequisites must be completed while two may be in process. All prerequisite courses must be completed before nursing classes begin.
Nursing entry-level prerequisite requirements:
- Human Anatomy and Physiology I with lab
- Human Anatomy and Physiology II with lab
- Microbiology with lab
- Lifespan development psychology
- Chemistry with lab
- Statistics
Prerequisite courses must have been acquired within the last seven to 10 years.
If you have questions about your prerequisite courses and want us to evaluate if they meet our requirements, follow the link below to submit your unofficial transcripts and course syllabi.
Course Requirements
The program is 20 months long, consisting of 56 total credits. The program will prepare you to use systematic assessment skills and diagnostics to prioritize health needs, implement professional nursing care for the whole person, and evaluate nursing interventions. You'll develop skills working as part of a collaborative, interprofessional team to formulate innovative, evidence-based solutions that optimize health outcomes and move the nursing profession forward. And throughout the program, you'll look at the nursing profession through a lens of social justice and health equity to ground your work in the dignity of each person.
20-Month Plan
The MSN program follows a cohort model, in which you will take pre-determined nursing courses with the same group of peers, allowing you to build a close network during your time at St. Thomas. Those who are admitted to the program with outstanding pre-requisites will complete their pre-requisites before beginning their first fall semester.
Degree Awarded
Students who complete the program will receive a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN).
Program Outcomes
- Synthesizes knowledge from liberal education for the provision of professional nursing care for the whole person and whole community.
- Creates person-centered plans of care through therapeutic relationship, respect, holistic assessment, prioritization, intervention, and evaluation to achieve dignified health outcomes.
- Advances the common good through ethical, moral and socially just nursing care for people and populations through health promotion, disease prevention, and emancipatory praxis.
- Integrates clinical judgment, scholarship, and evidence-based nursing practice in the provision of care within complex systems.
- Leads through ingenuity, innovation, and multiple ways of knowing to proactively and continuously improve quality and safety in nursing practice and health care systems.
- Facilitates interprofessional teamwork that values similarities and differences to enhance and strengthen health outcomes.
- Manages information and communication technologies and informatics processes to provide quality nursing care.
- Creates change through advocacy, professionalism and leadership skills within complex systems to address quality improvement, patient safety, and healthy workplace culture in the practice setting.
Financial Aid
Entry-Level MSN for Non-Nurses
The pre-licensure MSN program is designed for non-nurses (with a bachelor's degree in something other than nursing) who wish to gain entry into the nursing profession. The MSN focuses on clinical excellence and ingenuity and prepares students to sit for the NCLEX-RN® licensure exam by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing. Students graduating with an MSN will be able to provide nursing care across the continuum of care and transition to some practice roles (e.g. nursing leadership) without returning to school for a graduate degree.
Opportunities and Requirements
The master's program features higher-level learning opportunities and requirements, including:
- Interprofessional core courses focusing on whole-person wellness, social determinants of health and health equity, health care advocacy and systems change, resulting in the production of a social ingenuity e-folio
- Foundations of Nursing Practice course that is part of the professional nursing sequence
- Program and course outcomes reflecting higher-level learning domains
- Additional learning resources, reflecting higher-level learning requirements
- Holistic review of applications, which requires MSN applicants to submit materials reflecting higher-order thinking
Prerequisites
Requirements
- Baccalaureate degree: A completed bachelor’s degree or graduate degree from an institution that is accredited by one of the regional accrediting organizations (e.g. Higher Learning Commission).
- Grade point average (GPA): A cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher in the six prerequisite courses is strongly preferred, with a grade of C- or higher in each prerequisite.
- Successful completion of the American Heart Association Basic Life Support Healthcare Provider course (must be completed before starting the MSN program)
Prerequisites
At the time of application, four of the six prerequisites must be completed while two may be in process. All prerequisite courses must be completed before nursing classes begin.
Nursing entry-level prerequisite requirements:
- Human Anatomy and Physiology I with lab
- Human Anatomy and Physiology II with lab
- Microbiology with lab
- Lifespan development psychology
- Chemistry with lab
- Statistics
Prerequisite courses must have been acquired within the last seven to 10 years.
If you have questions about your prerequisite courses and want us to evaluate if they meet our requirements, follow the link below to submit your unofficial transcripts and course syllabi.
Course Requirements
The program is 20 months long, consisting of 56 total credits. The program will prepare you to use systematic assessment skills and diagnostics to prioritize health needs, implement professional nursing care for the whole person, and evaluate nursing interventions. You'll develop skills working as part of a collaborative, interprofessional team to formulate innovative, evidence-based solutions that optimize health outcomes and move the nursing profession forward. And throughout the program, you'll look at the nursing profession through a lens of social justice and health equity to ground your work in the dignity of each person.
20-Month Plan
The MSN program follows a cohort model, in which you will take pre-determined nursing courses with the same group of peers, allowing you to build a close network during your time at St. Thomas. Those who are admitted to the program with outstanding pre-requisites will complete their pre-requisites before beginning their first fall semester.
Degree Awarded
Students who complete the program will receive a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN).
Program Outcomes
- Synthesizes knowledge from liberal education for the provision of professional nursing care for the whole person and whole community.
- Creates person-centered plans of care through therapeutic relationship, respect, holistic assessment, prioritization, intervention, and evaluation to achieve dignified health outcomes.
- Advances the common good through ethical, moral and socially just nursing care for people and populations through health promotion, disease prevention, and emancipatory praxis.
- Integrates clinical judgment, scholarship, and evidence-based nursing practice in the provision of care within complex systems.
- Leads through ingenuity, innovation, and multiple ways of knowing to proactively and continuously improve quality and safety in nursing practice and health care systems.
- Facilitates interprofessional teamwork that values similarities and differences to enhance and strengthen health outcomes.
- Manages information and communication technologies and informatics processes to provide quality nursing care.
- Creates change through advocacy, professionalism and leadership skills within complex systems to address quality improvement, patient safety, and healthy workplace culture in the practice setting.
Financial Aid

Gain Skills and Build Knowledge
Clinical Placement Opportunities
You will complete clinical placement to gain real-world experience in areas of nursing practice such as health promotion, acute care, pediatrics, obstetrics, public health and psychiatric/mental health. Our clinical placement specialist coordinates placements in these important areas of practice. You will be placed at clinical sites based on clinical partner needs, capacity, and the needs of the program.
Meet the Director

Dr. Martha Scheckel
Dr. Martha Scheckel, PhD, RN, joined the University of St. Thomas from the College of Nursing, Health and Human Behavior at Viterbo University in Wisconsin, where she served as dean. She is a community and public health nursing expert who has provided academic leadership for mental health counseling, nursing, nutrition and dietetics, psychology, social work and criminal justice. She has been a registered nurse for more than 30 years, including 17 years of nursing practice experience predominantly in community and public health settings.
Nursing Faculty





Heather Anderson
Dr. Raney Linck
Berline Pierre-Louis
Clinical faculty member Berline Pierre-Louis joined St. Thomas from Allina Health-United Hospital, where she served as an infection preventionist. She has tutored nursing students at the International Institute of Minnesota, and she has experience as a public health, neuroscience, psychiatric/mental health and population health nurse.
Nanette Hoerr
Dr. Nanette Hoerr brings 41 years of nursing experience to St. Thomas.Sheserved as the Doctor of Nursing Practice program director at St. Catherine University for eight years. Previously, she has served as a staff nurse, public health nurse, nurse consultant for gun violence and child abuse prevention, senior nurse researcher, and safety officer in a heart and vascular clinic.
Lindsay Schipper Assistant Professor
Dr. Lindsay Schipper is a Registered Nurse who brings 20 years of nursing experience to her role, including in-home and hospice care at Fairview Lakes Homecaring and Hospice, as well as pediatric nursing at Children’s Minnesota.
School of Nursing Staff
Melissa Degidio
Simulation Operations Specialist
degi8399@stthomas.edu
Jessica Nelson
Student Success Director
jessica.nelson@stthomas.edu
Dr. Victor Quiñones
Nursing Clinical Placement Specialist
victor.quinones@stthomas.edu
Russell Wäisänen
Assistant Director for Nursing Operations
rwaisanen@stthomas.edu
Angie Wollan
Coordinator II
woll1280@stthomas.edu
Upcoming Events
Licensure and Accreditation
The MSN has received initial approval from the Minnesota Board of Nursing and will be granted continuing approval upon receiving initial accreditation by a national nursing accrediting body. The School of Nursing will seek accreditation for the MSN from the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE). St. Thomas is seeking to ensure that the first graduating class will graduate from a CCNE-accredited program. The program cannot make a determination that its curriculum meets requirements for licensure outside of the State of Minnesota until CCNE accreditation is awarded.