Clinical Systems Management

The primary purpose of the MS in nursing Clinical Systems Management program is to prepare registered nurses for successful careers in a variety of healthcare settings. Using an instructional and outcomes assessment model, the program provides a flexible means for registered nurses, including those from diverse and underserved populations, to obtain a master's degree.
The curriculum includes graduate core and specialty courses designed to prepare registered nurses to function in the role of a leader or manager across organizational systems. The program is designed to build on previous knowledge, education, and experience and serves as a foundation for doctoral study. The pursuit of lifelong learning, which is essential for practice in the profession, is one of the tenets of Excelsior College.
The faculty believes that nurses prepared at the master's level use specialty knowledge to engage in clinical reasoning and the decision-making process to enhance nursing practice. Graduates of master's programs are able to assess, analyze, plan, implement, and evaluate individual/organizational outcomes. As leaders, graduates of master's programs assume roles that foster team building, create partnerships and promote collaboration within nursing and across disciplines. Master's prepared nurses use knowledge from nursing and other disciplines to influence health policy, foster staff performance and encourage systems thinking.

National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission (NLNAC)

None

A two day retreat on the Albany campus is a component of the capstone.

38 credits

1. Articulates the role of the master's prepared nurse within the philosophical, ethical, and theoretical framework of nursing science.
2. Uses knowledge and analytical skills to  appraise the contextual environment of health care in order to inform and influence decision making across the health-care system.
3. Applies knowledge and skills from multiple disciplines in the use of clinical and management information systems to improve client care.
4. Establishes collaborative partnerships with diverse constituencies and interdisciplinary teams to pursue health-related goals and influence change.
5. Applies principles and theories of performance improvement, systems thinking, health policy, and resource allocation to manage the health-care enterprise or outcomes.
6. Assumes a leadership role in developing systems that provide care for individuals and populations.
7. Uses advanced communication strategies with multiple stakeholders to address professional and health-care system issues and achieve goals.
8. Develops approaches to health-care delivery that address the ethical, legal, social, and political requirements of diverse populations and stakeholders.
9. Creates culturally sensitive and responsive environments of care. 
10. Incorporates the scope of practice, professional standards, and specialty knowledge to implement the role of the master's prepared nurse in a variety of settings.
11. Develops evidence-based practice using the research process to enhance safe, cost-effective, quality care.
12. Takes responsibility for life-long learning, acts as a role model, and makes contributions to the profession.

Excelsior College’s Graduate Nursing program uses rubrics to assess academic achievement. Each outcome is directly assessed during the final course requirement; the Capstone.  The components of the Capstone including a project, an online seminar, and a leadership retreat presentation are designed to have students apply their knowledge, skills, and behaviors to real-life situations.  Faculty teams review the students’ work using criterion-referenced rubrics.  Students must achieve a minimal grade of B for each component of the Capstone to be successful.   The MS in Nursing program has recently changed their assessment methods.  Results in the new format include data since Nov 2009.  The distribution of capstone grades among students in teh Clinical Systems Management specialty is as follows: 98% A (43), 2%B (1), 0%C or below (0).

Not applicable