Editor’s note: This article has been revised with additional information.
As a top nursing school with a unified academic-practice environment, the School of Nursing is positioned to produce leaders who improve quality and control the cost of health care, test interventions in real world settings, and advance use of research findings by diverse populations. To ready these leaders, UMSN now has a division of Systems Leadership and Effectiveness Science.
The emerging discipline of effectiveness science uses comparisons and context to determine what treatments work for whom and in what setting. It helps consumers, clinicians, purchasers and policy makers make informed decisions that will improve individual and population-level care by always using the best possible evidence.
The UMSN division of Systems Leadership and Effectiveness Science now offers a Master of Science degree program in Health Systems, Nursing Leadership, and Effectiveness Science. Formerly known as the M.S. in Nursing Business and Health Systems, the program’s revision and renaming was approved by the Rackham Executive Board in February 2014. The master’s program now offers two distinct areas of focus: leadership and informatics.
In addition, both nurses and non-nurses can earn UMSN’s Certificate in Health Informatics with completion of 16 credits — which also prepares students to sit for a variety of informatics certifications.
The leadership focus provides the knowledge and skills needed to lead inter-professional teams in complex environments, assess the impact of health and communication technology, and improve efficiency of health systems and organizations. It also offers an access point for collaborative research and development of methods for integrating evidence-based practice in clinical and community settings.
The informatics focus provides a foundation for working with data in health communications, policy, research, and administration. It enhances the expertise of those who see the challenges of our changing health system and want to play a role in its transformation.
Systems Leadership and Effectiveness Science at UMSN is accepting applications through May 1 for fall 2014 admissions. With a Web-blended curriculum, students attend approximately four-to-eight distributed days of on-site classes each semester, supplemented by virtual learning experiences. Admitted students to fall term are offered a full-time (1.5-year) or part-time (3-year) program plan. The master’s degree is awarded by the Rackham Graduate School at U-M.
