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Organizational Leadership

The School of Nursing's Organizational Leadership specialty will help you drive continuous improvement in health outcomes and patient-centered care.

Those in nursing administration are finding themselves up against complex challenges in today's health care system. To address this, KU's Organizational Leadership specialty emphasizes leadership practices that drive continuous improvement in health outcomes and patients, with special emphasis on balancing productivity and care quality.

The program prepares nurse leaders with fundamental knowledge and skills in organizational behavior, interprofessional collaboration, clinical operations, system design, information systems, quality and safety measurement, risk management, fiscal operations, leading change and project management. Specialized skills in organizational politics and policy development, implementation and impact analysis will be acquired.

Graduates with the Master of Science in Nursing, Organizational Leadership specialty are prepared to function at entry to mid-level leadership and management positions in a variety of settings. All required courses for the program are offered online.

Stackable Program: To encourage career and academic progression, students who have completed the Health Systems Leadership Certificate have special Graduate Studies approval to apply the five certificate courses (NRSG 880, 881, 883, 885, and 891) to the master's program degree requirements.

Summary of Course Requirements

Common Core

Course Number Course Credit hours
NRSG 748 Theories for Practice and Research: Individual, Family, Community 3
NRSG 754 Health Care Research 3
NRSG 755 Professionalism in Advanced Nursing Practice 3
NRSG 898 Scholarly Project in Nursing 2
Subtotal: 11

Leadership Core

Course Number Course Credit hours
NRSG 880 Organizational Foundations for Leading Change 3
NRSG 885 Evaluation and Analysis for Health Care Effectiveness 2
NRSG 808 Social Context for Health Care Policy 2
NRSG 826 Global Perspectives and Diversity in Health Care 2
IPHI 820 Program, Project, and Communication Planning 2
  Subtotal: 11

Organizational Leadership Specialty Core

Course Number Course Credit Hours
HP&M 822 Healthcare Economics 3
NRSG 881 Applied Budgeting and Finance 3
NRSG 882 or
NRSG 883
NRSG 882: Quality Management;
NRSG 883: Complexity Science Approaches to Improve Organizational Effectiveness
3
NRSG 891 Human Resources and Workforce Development 3
NRSG 886 Practicum in Organizational Leadership
  Subtotal: 15
  Total Credits Required: 37

Dual Degree Program

Master of Science in Nursing (Organizational Leadership) (MS)
Master of Health Services Administration (MHSA)

Students who wish to earn master's degrees in both Nursing (organizational leadership specialty) and Health Services Administration may elect the dual degree option. By combining some course work, the two degrees may be completed in a shorter time frame. Students in the MS/MHSA dual degree program must complete a total of 61 graduate credit hours: 32 credit hours of MHSA curriculum in Department of Population Health and 29 hours in the School of Nursing. If completed separately, the MS in nursing requires 37 credit hours and the MHSA degree requires 56 credit hours.

For more information about the dual degree program, please contact Nichole Evans, program manager, MHSA Program, at nevans2@kumc.edu.

Nursing students embracing at graduation

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Master of Science in Nursing

KU School of Nursing
3901 Rainbow Boulevard
Mail Stop 2029
Kansas City, KS 66160
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