News: Nursing Earns National Accreditation

Master of Science in Nursing Earns National Accreditation

Colorado Christian University’s (CCU) Division of Nursing and Health Sciences is pleased to announce the accreditation of the Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) program by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE). CCNE is the national autonomous accrediting agency that ensures the quality and integrity of baccalaureate and graduate nursing education programs. CCU’s nursing programs are offered through the College of Adult and Graduate Studies.

"Earning the CCNE accreditation is important to our MSN program. It shows that we have been diligently evaluated by experts and it will help us to continue attracting high-caliber students," said Dr. Kristen Mauk, director of CCU’s RN-BSN and MSN programs. "Our program is designed for the working adult learner; the MSN program is completely online and allows our students to complete their clinical hours wherever they live."

The MSN is a nursing graduate degree with two options: Nursing Education and Clinical Care Management in Adult and Geriatrics. The educator track prepares students to become academic educators or staff and professional development educators, usually in a hospital or university setting. The clinical care management track prepares students to become a clinical nurse specialist (CNS) which identifies them as expert clinicians, often working in a hospital setting. "CCU’s unique CNS track is different from the role of the nurse practitioner (which focuses on diagnosing and treating common conditions) in that we prepare students who will also be leading change and improving the quality of patient care within organizations and across health systems," said Dr. Mauk.

"We emphasize moral leadership, advocacy, and being a change-agent in nursing best practices. Our tracks allow our students to become a clinical expert in the area of their choice," Dr. Mauk explained. "We are graduating leaders, innovators, and creators who look at the whole picture of health and how to improve it. We teach our students that you don’t need to go into ministry to minister. Nursing is your ministry."

Graduates from CCU’s MSN program are already making positive changes in healthcare.

"One of our students who just graduated did a quality improvement project for the capstone course that has already saved one hospital a significant amount of money," shared Dr. Mauk. "This particular student worked in a large hospital and identified that the turnaround time in the catheterization laboratory was higher than the ideal."

She continued, "The student developed a checklist to help patients be prepared before they go to the cath lab. This improved the workflow so much that the hospital could add one or two additional cases per day, resulting in better quality of patient care, greater staff and patient satisfaction, and cost savings to the organization. That is the kind of thing that we are preparing our students to do."

Leadership for CCU’s MSN program began the accreditation process in 2016, with a site visit from CCNE accreditors in January of 2017. The accreditation is retroactive to the date of the site visit which means that CCU’s first MSN graduating class is now recognized as graduating from an accredited program.

About the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education

Officially recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education as a national accreditation agency, the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) is an autonomous accrediting agency, contributing to the improvement of the public's health. CCNE ensures the quality and integrity of baccalaureate, graduate, and residency programs in nursing..

CCNE serves the public interest by assessing and identifying programs that engage in effective educational practices. As a voluntary, self-regulatory process, CCNE accreditation supports and encourages continuing self-assessment by nursing programs and supports continuing growth and improvement of collegiate professional education and nurse residency programs.