M.S.N. in Health Systems Management
- Admission
- Career Opportunities for HSM Graduates
- Certification
- Clinical Sites
- Curriculum
- International Study
The Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing offers the Master of Science in Nursing degree in Health Systems Management to prepare nurse leaders for 21st century health-care challenges. This major provides students with the skills and competencies that recognized nurse leaders in the field have identified as essential for success in the current health-care system. Nurses must have the knowledge to lead in a new health-care system that can simultaneously incorporate modern technology, evidence-based decision making, information and outcomes management, along with nurses’ core values of quality care. An advanced-practice degree in health systems management provides an individual with the tools necessary for this system redesign.
The Health Systems Management major builds upon strong core content that includes theory, research, epidemiology, and ethics. Specialty area content includes organizational behavior, human resource management, financial management, health policy, and health care delivery systems. Clinical practicums afford students the opportunity for exploration, analysis, and application of advanced health systems management concepts. Emphasis is placed on the student’s clinical engagement in management projects requiring critical assessment, planning, intervention, and evaluation activities using theoretical models and management tools.
Loyola’s innovative 38-semester-hour master’s program prepares nurse leaders by combining core nursing and administration concepts and theories with subspecialty preparation in either Health-care Informatics or Outcomes Performance Management. These options afford students the opportunity to advance their skills, knowledge and competencies in areas beyond those usually associated with traditional graduate nursing administration programs.
The R.N. to M.S.N. admission option is a fast-track option for nurses with a diploma or an Associate of Arts degree in nursing from an accredited program who know they want to move straight toward earning a master's degree. The R.N. to M.S.N. program requires completion of between 147-159 semester hours, depending on the requirements for the specific M.S.N. major.
Career Opportunities for HSM Graduates
Loyola’s graduates are well-positioned for roles that require collaboration among disciplines, critical analyses of health-care outcomes, and the creation of innovative improvements in health-care delivery. Graduates enter a wide range of nursing careers and leadership positions, including:
- Nurse executive in primary and tertiary settings
- Project manager in institutional or industry settings
- Director or leader of quality-improvement programs in community hospitals, public-health agencies, and other health-care organizations
- A role in decision support system development and implementation
- A leadership role in system implementation
- A role in telehealth applications
Certification
All Health System Management graduates will have the content expertise to sit for the A.N.C.C. certification exam in nursing administration. Those specializing in Health-care Informatics can sit for the A.N.C.C. certification in this specialty. Those specializing in Outcomes Performance Management can be certified as a Professional in Health Care Quality by the Health Care Quality Certification Board of the National Association for Health Care Quality.
Clinical Sites
Loyola has collaborative partnerships in primary, tertiary, and non-traditional health care settings. Preceptors serve in top leadership roles in major organizations throughout the Chicago area. These sites include academic health centers, vendor organizations, leading professional and regulatory organizations, and agencies in medically underserved areas providing health care services to culturally diverse populations. Faculty members design the clinical practicums to meet each student’s individual needs, and preceptors are selected for expertise in the field.
International Study
The Niehoff School of Nursing provides students the opportunity to travel abroad in many areas of the world to enhance their educational experience. One example is the leadership elective course offered at Loyola’s Rome campus. The goal of this program is to enable graduate nursing students to gain multicultural and international experience.