Master of Nursing Leadership degrees are quickly becoming the new standard for health care professions who want to become leaders in the demanding and fast changing world of health care.
Program Overview
Master of Nursing Leadership degrees are usually competency-based programs that prepare graduates to become the next generation of health care leaders. Program content is usually based on national standards and evidence-based research. Many colleges prefer to use a case study approach to examine common financial, personnel and organizational issues and their resolutions. Master of nursing leadership programs seek to imitate potential work environments by being collaborative, interdisciplinary and very challenging.
Program structure and content is expected to be consistent with the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) and the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission (NLNAC). Because of this, these degree programs focus on preparing nurses to become highly qualified managers, executives and administrators.
Program Structure
Unlike most traditional colleges, master of nursing leadership degrees rely on not just credit hours and required courses, but also skills demonstrations. This means that students must satisfactorily prove their mastery of core concepts and competencies before they can move on to the next course. Courses are carefully designed to promote hands-on learning experiences and experiential knowledge.
Some programs are centered on assigned teams or mentors. Either way, the collaborative learning approach exposes students to more academic support and resources. Competency-based systems are becoming more popular because they allow the majority of students, who are typically health care professionals, to quickly pass certain classes because of previous skills and knowledge.
Core Coursework
Master of Nursing Leadership degrees start out with courses that are fundamental to most graduate level health care degrees. Students start out by learning how their professional presence can positively and negatively influence patients and coworkers. These courses are designed to help nurses recognizing practices and situations that promote positive environments. Organizational communication classes help students develop advanced teamwork and communication skills as well as cross-cultural knowledge and sensitivity.
Patho-pharmacological classes help students gain knowledge of advanced nursing practices related to patho-physiologies, pharmaco-therapeutics, pharmacological treatments and socio-environmental impacts. Comprehensive health assessment classes teach students about the principles of health evaluations for individuals, groups and communities. Finally, there are graduate level classes on advanced nursing practice competencies and quality care improvement programs.
Leadership Classes
All Master of Nursing Leadership degree programs will include many classes on management and leadership. There are classes on the principles of performance management, which teaches students how to maximize productivity and motivation, and classes on administration that focus on streamlining HR, safety and quality procedures.
Health care IT classes will instruct students how to use data and analytics to advance the operational and personnel performances, according to Health IT. Health care business and finance courses will examine how to properly manage finances, budgets and patient billing. Strategic leadership courses illustrate how to monitor industry directions in order to plan and react to risks and change.
Related Resource: Top 15 Best Online Master’s in Nursing (MSN) Leadership Degree
Because Master of Nursing Leadership degrees are geared towards future nursing leaders, students will be expected to have active RN licenses and have considerable clinical experiences.