Clinical Management Program
Program Information
Meet the Program Director
Mary Jo Gilmer, PhD, RN, MBA
Dr. Mary Jo Gilmer earned her PhD in nursing at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. Prior to that, she worked as a Clinical Nurse Specialist in Pediatric Cardiovascular surgery and received a Commonwealth Fund Fellowship to pursue her MBA at Queens University. Dr. Gilmer has received numerous awards for her research and teaching expertise and has been a leader in several international health care projects in Belize, Uganda, China, Italy and Ecuador. She has recently focused on enhancing care of children with life-threatening conditions through establishment of a core palliative care service at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital. Dr. Gilmer is an active participant in the AACN Clinical Nurse Leader project.
Curriculum Overview
Curriculum includes core MSN course that focuses on advanced health assessment, pathophysiology and pharmacology. In addition, the Clinical Management core courses include:
- Population Care Management
Analysis and application of theory and skills needed to assess, plan and evaluate the care of populations within integrated health systems. - Strategies for Administrative/Clinical Decision Making
Synthesis of principles, theories and concepts for effective clinical leadership in today's health care systems. - Clinical Program Development and Evaluation
Analysis and application of theory and skills needed to assess, plan and evaluate the clinical care of a population within integrated health systems. - Teaching and Learning Methodology and Strategies
Theoretical knowledge and practical experiences in instructional design, techniques of learning and evaluation of the teaching/learning process.
Clinical coursework includes specialty courses in either adult or pediatric acute care, women’s health or geriatric care. You may also choose to focus on a subspecialty area such as palliative care, hemotology, oncology, renal, cardiovascular or others by taking additional coursework.
Modified Class Schedule
You will complete your CNL/CNS specialty program through a modified learning (block) format that includes: (1) courses offered in concentrated blocks of time on campus, including weekends, up to four times per semester, (2) on-line conferencing and (3) distributed course delivery methods which allow for continued faculty contact between sessions.
This block format is available to students with at least two years of current clinical experience as an RN (ADN/Diploma, RN, BSN, or MSN).
You may choose to attend weekly lectures on-campus or to access these lectures from a remote site through:
- Live video-streamed lectures broadcast over the Vanderbilt School of Nursing website at the specified class time,
- Archived video-streamed lectures available for one week after the live lecture, and/or
- CD recordings which are mailed to your home.
In addition, students are required to attend courses in concentrated blocks of time on campus, up to four times per semester over an extended weekend of approximately five days. Clinical practicum placement is arranged in your home area provided a suitable agency and preceptor are available. Sites and preceptors are subject to Vanderbilt faculty approval.
