Graduates will be prepared to develop and direct high-quality patient care services while addressing the financial, organizational, and administrative imperatives that are the bottom line in the contemporary health care industry. The completely online format allows nurses to advance their education and develop sophisticated knowledge and skill in a manner that does not conflict with busy personal and professional lives.

The Master of Science in Nursing facilitates the development of skills demanded by today's complex health care industry. In addition to clinical resource management skills, students will become knowledgeable about the business and financial operations that form the foundation of integrated health care delivery systems.

Coursework

Curriculum Highlights
Managerial and Executive Internship Courses may be completed in your community

• Nursing and Health Systems Administration
• Financial Management of HealthCare Systems
• Managed Care and Reimbursement
• Case Management
• Legal and Risk Management Issues in Health Care

Residencies
Your tuition includes on-campus weekend residencies. The first weekend provides online technology training, opportunities to meet faculty and fellow learning team members, and an orientation to the program and the University. The final weekend students present capstone projects and celebrate graduation!

Course Descriptions

NURS 6123 Theoretical Basis for Advanced Nursing Practice
This course will provide an introduction to the nature of knowledge and theory through study of selected major philosophical and theoretical orientations that provide the foundation for nursing practice. 3 credits

NURS 6124 Forces in Health Care
Examines the issues and concepts relevant to understanding the relationships between social networks, biomedical ethics and health policy. 3 credits

NURS 6224 Nursing and Health Systems Administration
This course addresses the political, social, legal, and ethical realities affecting nursing administrators in integrated health care delivery systems. Theoretical as well as operational perspectives are presented, particularly as they distinguish nursing administration from business administration. Content focuses on developing broad knowledge of the emerging nursing and health care issues facing nurse managers and executives. Leadership skills are identified in managing care for diverse client populations. Specific emphasis is placed on epidemiological, sociocultural, financial, and political issues in a multicultural environment. Students analyze the interactions of government authorities, delivery systems, the financing of healthcare, regulation, competition, and organizational innovation. 3 credits

NURS 6304 Case Management
Investigates the role of the nurse case manager in a managed care environment, within and across organizations, with a focus on integrated health care delivery systems. The exploration of community resources as a source of client support, and the basic concepts of insurance, utilization management, legal/ethical dilemmas, discharge planning, and total quality management are selected educational components. The case management process will be explored fully with special attention to strategies employed to maximize reimbursement and minimize claims denials. Student will examine ways in which the case management process may be used to promote health and reduce exacerbations of disease. Case management initiatives employed with specific multicultural clinical populations will be discussed with a focus on patient and family education to maximize health. 3 credits

NURS 6305 Financial Management of Health Care Systems
This course will focus on the financial aspects of integrated health care delivery systems. Basic principles of economics and accounting will be reviewed as they relate to health care organizations. Students will learn about the types of financial statements used in health care organizations with a focus on operating statements, balance sheets, and various types of budgets. Emphasis will be on the synthesis of clinical and financial operations in ways that limit resource consumption and maximize resource utilization. 3 credits

NURS 6306 Legal and Risk Management Issues in Health Care
This course examines the increased importance of legal issues in healthcare administration and the attendant risks that these present to administrators in the current environment of managed care. Students will study legal principles that guide nurses in general and specialized areas of practice. The course will introduce nursing law, relate nursing practice to the legal system, and cover nursing law and the patient, nursing law and management, specialization and forensics. Risk management is the complex set of tasks, functions and decisions carried out with the objective of reducing organizational liability and losses. The course will address the broad and divergent elements of healthcare risk management that healthcare facilities and administrators need to guard against unexpected financial losses from casualty, worker’s compensation, and professional liability. 3 credits

NURS 7141 Nursing Research I
Methods of nursing research introduced in NURS 6123 are built upon through the critique of published studies and student proposals. Students develop a clinically focused, theoretically based research nursing research proposal. Emphasis is placed on the nature of scientific inquiry, role of research in knowledge and theory development, as well as ethics in conducting research. Prerequisite: NURS 6123. 3 credits

NURS 7143 Nursing Research II
In this second course of the graduate research sequence the student finalizes and implements the research proposal designed in NURS 7141. The focus is on data collection, data analysis and interpretation. Prerequisite: NURS 7141. 2 credits

NURS 7307 Managed Care and Reimbursement Systems
This practicum course examines the ways integrated health care delivery systems are reimbursed for services they provide. Types of managed care organizations and their organizational and operational structures are studied. Students will analyze patient billing and accounting practices in integrated delivery systems. During clinical experiences, students will examine processes employed in negotiating and contracting with hospitals and physicians, reimbursement, billing, and utilization of ancillary and emergency services. A major focus is on billing and payment cycles within healthcare organizations. Students will identify major revenue streams, payor sources, and regulatory topics such as entitlement programs, DRGs, and prospective payment systems. The practicum format allows the student to observe and participate in a variety of relevant experiences in an actual healthcare setting. 3 credits

NURS 7310 Managerial Internship in Health Systems Administration
The initial internship experience offers students the opportunity to develop midlevel leadership/management competencies within selected healthcare organizations. Theoretical knowledge that has been previously acquired will be applied and utilized in new and existing situations within the practice setting. Course focus is on the assessment of integrated health care delivery systems and on the multicultural constituencies served by these systems. Students will develop practical knowledge about the interrelationships of organizational units within matrix-based health care systems and the roles of nurse managers and administrators within these units. Students will have exposure to management practices and departmental operations initiatives in departments that interface with nursing units such as laboratory, pharmacy, radiology, security, housekeeping, maintenance, and others. 3 credits

NURS 7600 Executive Internship in Health Systems Administration
This executive-level internship experience offers students the opportunity to demonstrate advanced leadership/management competencies in a selected healthcare organization. Course focus is on the depth and breadth of integrated delivery system components and on the multicultural constituencies served by these systems. Learning outcomes stress creative leadership behaviors and the development of a strategic business initiative for a product or service that serves an organization’s constituency. 4 credits