College of Nursing
Nursing
Nursing, Master of Science
Overview
In addition to University Requirements:
- Complete individual plan requirements.
| Minimum Units for Completion |
30 |
| Additional Admission Requirements |
Individual program admission requirements over and above admission to NAU are required. |
| Emphasis Required |
An emphasis is required for this degree. |
| Fieldwork Experience/Internship |
Required |
| Some online/blended coursework |
Required |
| Progression Plan Link |
View Program of Study |
Purpose Statement
The philosophy of the School of Nursing at Northern Arizona University is based on an ethic of caring that embraces students, faculty and staff, the university community, and the global community within which we live and work. We also believe that caring is a conscious intentional discipline that is part of nursing´s unique body of knowledge and is practiced in interdisciplinary contexts. Caring includes the creation and nurturing of an environment that recognizes that students, staff, and faculty have unique ways of viewing the world. This philosophy promotes excellence for nursing education and practice in an environment of constant change and emerging healthcare trends.
The faculty believes the transition to the role of competent professional nurse is a major developmental achievement. We believe that nursing is an art and science that is an integral component of healthcare. Applying the discipline of nursing to practice depends on a foundation of natural and human sciences, humanities and arts, the application of research, and the diverse backgrounds of learners. Societal influences in the evolving healthcare system challenge all involved in nursing education.
Education is a dynamic, lifelong collaborative process by which an individual pursues life goals, broadens human potential, develops thinking, and clarifies values. The faculty believes that learning is the intentional acquisition, application, and integration of knowledge, skills, and attitudes. Learning is shaped by the environment and developmental level of the learner and is ultimately the responsibility of the learner. Faculty plan, guide, and facilitate learning while supporting the learning needs of a diverse community of students. We believe that learning-centered experiences with rigorous expectations and actively engaged students result in higher-level thinkers and graduates prepared for real world practice. We value incorporating rural and global healthcare into a variety of educational experiences. Thus, education not only expands the thinking of the learner, but increases opportunities for application.
The faculty has developed a philosophy that values diverse persons, environment, health, nursing, and their interrelatedness. The following metaparadigm concepts guide the implementation of the organizing framework for the curriculum.
Strategic Systems Leadership Emphasis
This emphasis prepares nurses to become managers, supervisors, and administrators with the skills required to effectively lead specialty units, departments, and organizations in the healthcare industry. Our healthcare industry partners have emphasized academic education in fiscal, economic, ethical decision-making, and population-centered point-of-care coordination as areas of need.
Student Learning Outcomes
Outcomes align with Standards from the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE), and competencies from the American Organization for Nursing Leadership (AONL).
Overall Nursing Outcomes
- Apply effective respectful communication among diverse interdisciplinary groups to promote improved outcomes among diverse population and underserved groups.
- Synthesize broad ecological, global, and social determinates of health; principles of genetics and genomics; and epidemiological data to design and deliver evidence based, culturally relevant, clinical prevention, interventions, and strategies.
- Apply theories, regulatory, policies, and evidence-based knowledge in leading, as appropriate, interprofessional healthcare teams in the design, coordination, and evaluation of the delivery of care.
- Integrate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) principles, and evidence-based practices into healthcare practice to promote an inclusive environment and empower DEI leaders.
- Integrate evidence-based practice and information from research for use in person-centered and population health coordination of care as a system leader.
Strategic Systems Leadership Emphasis
Clinical Practice and Prevention
- Evaluate how healthcare financing, budgeting, value-based care, and workforce incentive models contribute to effective nursing and service line performance improvement.
- Promote diversity (and divergent thinking) as a mechanism that will drive innovative idea sharing and problem-solving within population health management and clinical practice.
Communication:
- Apply effective respectful communication among diverse interdisciplinary groups to promote improved outcomes among diverse population and underserved groups.
- Examine how to create cross-continuum collaboration that encourages frank and open discussion around ethical challenges and problem-solving.
- Differentiate effective and ineffective teamwork and communication.
Critical Reasoning:
- Perform rigorous critique of evidence derived from databases to generate meaningful evidence for nursing practice.
- Develop an understanding of how healthcare delivery systems are organized and financed (and how this affects patient care) and identify the economic, legal, and political factors that influence healthcare.
- Examine and create the operational objectives, goals, and specific strategies required to achieve the strategic system outcomes.
Leadership and Professionalism:
- Design and lead a quality improvement intervention project using evidence-based best practices targeting an identified real or potential patient safety, risk, adverse outcome, ineffective communication, inequity, or compliance concern.
- Synthesize knowledge of patient safety, quality improvement, DEI, ethical behavior, finance, and crisis management as a systems leader in an organizational strategic performance improvement project.
- Develop an understanding of how healthcare delivery systems are organized and financed (and how this affects patient care) and identify the economic, legal, and political factors that influence healthcare.
- Implement evidence-based plans based on trend analysis and quantify the impact on quality and safety from a leadership perspective.
- Differentiate ethical principles and corporate compliance standards.
- Examine, resolve, and learn from ethical dilemmas.
- Direct quality improvement methods to promote culturally responsive, safe, timely, effective, efficient, equitable, and patient-centered care.
- Implement a strategic system thinking approach in healthcare leadership practice.
Global and Population Health:
- Analyze healthcare system transformation to address health equity and social justice, thus reducing health disparities in vulnerable populations.
- Synthesize evidence for practice to determine appropriate application of interventions across diverse populations.
- Prioritize the social, cultural, and global factors that affect health in designed and delivering care across multiple contexts.
- Incorporate population data to identify cultural clusters within communities and engage patients and families in assessing needs, defining, and implementing solutions, and evaluating outcomes.
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