Health Care Systems

Overview:

Today’s health care system requires new skills of clinical nursing leaders to transform the delivery of nursing and health care. The Health Care Systems (HCS) Advanced Practice Area in the Master of Science (MSN) degree program prepares students with knowledge and skills needed to succeed in a variety of leadership positions in health care organizations. This advanced practice area includes content in management and leadership, informatics, financial management, human resource management, quality improvement, outcomes management, and education. Such an approach prepares graduates with a breadth and depth of knowledge and skills needed to develop, implement, and measure the impact of innovations in care delivery at all levels within health care organizations. Health Care Systems prepares students to become advanced practice leaders in the following areas:

• Administration: Prepares students with advanced knowledge and skills in the management, organization, and delivery of systems of care, with emphasis on human and financial resource management.
• Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL): An innovative 32-credit CNL program option prepares nurses to be clinical leaders in complex health care systems by combining knowledge and skills from both clinical and heath care systems practice. The CNL is prepared to provide and manage care for individuals and groups of patients, with emphasis on understanding patients’ clinical progression, care transitions and processes, evidence-based practice, quality improvement and patient safety. Graduates will be eligible to sit for national certification as a CNL.
• CNL/Nurse Educator: A 38-credit program option prepares students for both the CNL role and the nurse educator role. Graduates will be eligible to sit for the national CNL certification examination upon graduation and the Certified Nurse Educator (CNE) examination after completion of two years or more of full-time employment in the academic faculty role.
• Education: Prepares students with advanced knowledge and skills in teaching and nursing education to fill roles in patient education, staff development, or academic settings.

       Education – not accepting applications for 2014-15 at this time.

• Informatics: Prepares students with in-depth knowledge and skills in information management and processing principles to support data, information, and knowledge needs in the practice of nursing.
• Outcomes Management: Prepares students with advanced skills in managing patient and systems outcomes, emphasizing quality and performance improvement, outcomes measurement, and introducing practice innovations.

Students enrolled in HCS complete core MSN and HCS specialty courses, supporting coursework commensurate with their area of focus and future goals, and an intensive residential experience. For the residency, students are individually placed with preceptors employed in selected clinical practice sites for role integration and immersion. Full-time students usually complete their program of study in five semesters, while part-time students typically complete the program in three to five years. Full time CNL and CNL/Nurse Educator students typically complete in four semesters. Upon completion of the program and with the requisite experience, graduates may be eligible to sit for appropriate certification examinations in their area of focus.

HCS faculty members are sensitive to students’ learning needs by employing a variety of instructional modalities, including seminar or classroom settings, and on-line instruction. As a result, HCS courses may be offered using traditional classroom settings and/or Web-enhanced technologies.

Dual Degree MSN/MSIS or MSN/MSLS

The School of Nursing and the School of Information and Library Sciences offer two dual programs of study leading to two professional degree combinations: the Master of Science in Nursing/Master of Science in Information Science (MSN/MSIS), and the Master of Science in Nursing/Master of Science in Library Science (MSN/MSLS). The dual degree programs provide an opportunity for HCS students focusing in Informatics to combine skills in nursing, health care informatics and clinical leadership with specialized training in information and library sciences to meet the demands of a highly complex health care environment. These innovative programs create unique and highly challenging intellectual experiences for interested students. Graduates will be well versed in clinical and information management techniques, the design and implementation of these technologies, and the evaluation of these technologies on the people who use them.

Under the dual degree arrangement, a student may earn two professional degrees in a period of time less than the total required to complete the two degrees separately. For example, full time HCS students may complete either the MSN/MSIS or MSN/MSLS in approximately three academic years. Students must meet all HCS requirements, plus complete a plan of study in either information or library science.

Admission to the dual program requires that students be admitted to both the MSN and MSIS/MSLS programs. However, students must apply initially for graduate study in the School of Nursing, Health Care Systems-Informatics program area. Students will then apply to the School of Information and Library Sciences in a subsequent semester.

Additional Information

• Faculty Directory
• MSN Course List

Suggested Plan of Study:

• MSN HCS (Administration, Informatics,Outcomes, and/or Education)
• MSN HCS Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL)
• RN-MSN HCS (Administration, Informatics, Outcomes, and/or Education)
  
• RN-MSN Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL)