Catalog 73 - National University

School of Health and Human Services(Prerequisites: “C” or better in NSG 412)NSG 410 Community: Population Focus***(Prerequisites: “C” or better in NSG 411)NSG 340 Nursing Leadership/Management**(Prerequisite: “C” or better in 410)NSG 340A Leadership/Management Clinical** (1.5 quarter units)(Prerequisite: “C” or better in NSG 410)NSG 440 Issues in Professional Nursing (capstone course)(Prerequisites: completion of all other required nursingcourses)** Content required for licensure by CA Board of RegisteredNursing***This course requires a clinical practicum of 32 hoursGRADUATE DEGREES■ MASTER OF HEALTHCAREADMINISTRATION (MHA) (733)Faculty Advisor: Terry Schmidt • (858) 309-3483 • tschmidt@nu.eduThe Master of Healthcare Administration (MHA) is a graduateprofessional degree designed to enhance the practice of healthcareadministration/management by preparing students for entry leveland middle management roles in healthcare organizations.Healthcare management involves the organization, financing anddelivery of services to prevent and treat illness and disease,including programs that serve the public and private sectors at alllevels—local, state, and federal. Faculty members have expertise indiverse fields such as management, economics, law, medicine,public health, planning, sociology, and statistics. They are united bya common commitment to solving problems and developinginnovations related to the access, cost, and quality of healthcare.The MHA program emphasizes the conceptual and analytical skillsrequired to understand and manage today’s healthcare organizationand prepare for tomorrow’s challenges. Special attention is given tothe social contributions of the profession and its unique peopledependentfocus. Also featured are experiential opportunities inproject management, teamwork and leadership. Ideal candidatesfor the MHA program are those students looking for careeradvancement from middle to upper middle management; thoselooking for career transition into healthcare administration fromother professions; and those looking to advance fromclinical/technical roles to management roles. Graduates willenhance their opportunities for professional growth and jobplacement through carefully planned internships and amultidisciplinary team-based capstone experience. The MHAprogram is an associate member institution of the Association ofUniversity Programs in Health Administration (AUPHA).Program Learning OutcomesIn accordance with the competency guidelines established by theNational Center for Healthcare Leadership (NCHL), the Master ofHealthcare Administration program prepares graduates to:• Adopt an achievement-oriented professional philosophy byhabitually creating and assessing measurable personal andorganizational goals.• Solve complex problems in a healthcare environment byemploying rigorous analytical skills.• Align strategic priorities of a healthcare organization with theneeds and values of the community it serves.• Conduct financial analysis and explain financial and accountinginformation, prepare and manage budgets, and make soundlong-term investment decisions in a healthcare organization.• Maintain professional currency with health, organizational,industry, and professional trends and developments.• Apply complex concepts and develop creative solutions to be aninnovative healthcare manager.• Formulate strategic plans based on business, economic,demographic, ethno-cultural, political, and regulatory trendsand developments, and develop an evolving vision for theorganization and the health industry that results in long-termsuccess and viability.• Establish metrics for individual and organizationalaccountability to standards of performance.• Energize stakeholders and sustain their commitment to changesin approaches, processes, and strategies.• Work cooperatively with others as part of a team or group,including demonstrating positive attitudes about the team, itsmembers, and its ability to get its mission accomplished.• Speak and write in a clear, logical, and grammatical manner informal and informal situations, to prepare cogent businesspresentations, and to facilitate a group.• Persuade and convince others to support a point of view,position, or recommendation.• Employ administrative and clinical information technology anddecision-support tools in process and performanceimprovement.• Identify formal and informal decision-making structures andpower relationships in a healthcare organization.• Apply statistical and financial methods and metrics to set goalsand measure clinical as well as organizational performance.Graduates will adopt a commitment to and employment ofevidence-based techniques for decision making.• Analyze and design or improve an organizational process,including incorporating the principles of quality management aswell as customer satisfaction.• Plan, execute, and oversee a multi-year, large-scale healthcarerelatedproject involving significant resources, scope, andimpact.• Implement staff development and other management practicesthat represent contemporary best practices, comply with legaland regulatory requirements, and optimize the performance ofthe workforce.• Demonstrate application of ethical and professional practices tohealthcare management.• Establish, build, and sustain professional contacts for thepurpose of building networks of people with common goals andinterests.• Self-assess personal strengths and development needs, includingone’s impact on others.• Build the breadth and depth of a healthcare organization’shuman capability.• Be a leader, from assembling a senior management team thatpossesses balanced capabilities to setting the mission, values,and norms, as well as holding the team members accountableindividually and as a group for results.Degree Requirements(16 courses; 72 quarter units)To receive an MHA degree, students must complete at least 72quarter units of graduate work. A total of 13.5 quarter units ofgraduate credit may be granted for equivalent graduate workcompleted at another institution, as it applies to this degree andprovided the units were not used in earning another advanceddegree. Refer to the section on graduate admission requirements forspecific information regarding application and evaluation.Core Requirements(16 courses; 72 quarter units)It is required that students take the following courses in theHealth andHuman Services273