NUR 402: Healthcare Leadership, Quality Improvement, and Policy Integration

This course prepares the baccalaureate-prepared nurse to function as a leader within complex healthcare systems. Emphasis is placed on leadership theories, systems thinking, and clinical judgment to analyze organizational structure, culture, and processes that influence healthcare delivery and patient outcomes. Students apply quality improvement methodologies and performance measurement tools to evaluate outcomes and design strategies that improve patient safety, care quality, health equity, and organizational performance. The course also examines healthcare policy, regulatory and accreditation requirements, and healthcare finance to understand their impact on access, cost, quality, and outcomes across diverse populations.

Leadership and management concepts, including delegation, team development, conflict resolution, and interprofessional collaboration, are integrated throughout the course. Ethical and legal principles are applied to complex clinical and organizational decision-making, with emphasis on professional accountability and advocacy. Students explore the use of informatics, data analytics, and healthcare technologies in leadership decision-making and quality improvement, including the use of data and regulatory standards in the development of quality initiatives. Change management theories and leadership strategies are applied to support sustainable improvements in healthcare systems.