New UT Program Develops Leadership and Business Skills for Today’s Nurses
HOUSTON—(Aug. 10, 2005)—The nursing profession has changed dramatically over the years, and today’s nurses play a vital role as full-fledged members of the health care team. They not only are on the front line of support for patient care, but they also are finding it important to understand research and best practices, staffing standards and formulas, health care economics, how excellence is built in cultures, and how quality is measured.
The University of Texas School of Nursing at Houston has developed the Nursing Leadership and Administration in Health Services Master’s Program Nurses in response to this growing need for expanded nursing education.
This special advanced, non-clinical degree—rooted in organizational development and psychology and other business sciences, as well as nursing—aims to teach nurses leadership skills for both the clinical setting and the academic world. It focuses on showing nurses how to work in teams through customized, guided learning of contemporary leadership and business practices, using case studies, projects and program evaluation.
“The program was developed after we did an analysis of the top nursing administration programs in the United States,” said Pamela Klauer Triolo, Ph.D., R.N., FAAN, program designer and director. “We took the best practices of leadership development from around the country, in the hospital sector, the for-profit sector and the academic world, and integrated them into our program.”
Totaling 36-39 hours, the UT School of Nursing program includes courses in statistics, research and theory. The focus of the 14 hours in leadership is on organizational development, performance improvement, leadership science and managing human resources. Six hours of elective courses in business, informatics, instructional design, or finance can be taken at any universities around the country.
“This program is phenomenal,” said Rose-Mary Ashworth, a nurse and senior clinical research specialist at The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. “I took my first class for the program this summer, and I have already learned so much. Nurses need to be leaders, and to be a good leader you must not only look, listen, and act, you must also continually learn. This course has stretched me far beyond what I thought I could do, and I have learned and grown so much as a result. I recommend this course for all nurses.”
“We are looking for high-performing, committed nurses who want to make a difference in health care, either in formal management positions or in clinical and teaching roles,” said Triolo, who has 20 years of executive experience in hospitals and has been a Chief Nurse of two academic health centers.
By Shannon Rasp