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Health Policy Management in Professional Nursing

Examine the essential elements of nursing management.

There are managers and then there are leaders. What does it require to succeed at both?

Examine the attributes of effective managers and see how leadership and management theories can be applied to the nursing profession. As you consider how effective nursing management impacts patient care, you’ll identify organizations and agencies involved in setting the guidelines and benchmarks for patient safety.

In addition to basic nursing management functions and ways to maintain a healthy work environment, you’ll examine the manager’s role in budgeting and management of resources. You’ll also evaluate nursing care delivery models and explore what is involved in staffing a unit.

You’ll understand the importance of communicating clearly in order to avoid ambiguity in the workplace, and consider ways to select and develop an effective staff. You’ll also determine the role health care regulatory agencies play in quality improvement while examining risk-management strategies that improve health care.

An important skill for any manager to develop is conflict resolution. You’ll examine common personnel conflicts in health care and different strategies for mediation. In addition, you’ll consider the importance of delegating responsibilities and the legal issues pertaining to delegation.

Just as nursing managers are responsible for resolving conflict in the workplace, they are also called to resolve issues within the health care industry itself. You’ll see how nurses can act as change agents to improve and redefine health policy within the hospital, the community, and on local, state, and federal levels.

Sample Topics

  • Management and Leadership Tasks and Nursing Roles in Patient Safety
  • Management Roles and Budgeting Principles in Nursing
  • Nursing Care Delivery Models and Staffing
  • Creating and Maintaining Effective Staff and Quality Improvement
  • Delegation and Conflict Resolution
  • Nurses As Change Agents
  • Health Policy and Patient Care
  • Current Health Policies That Impact Nursing

Sample Assignment

You’ll create a PowerPoint presentation to share with your peers, evaluating how nursing can lead the understanding of—and impact the changes in—health policy.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Describe nursing management roles, settings, and styles.
  2. Analyze how nurses as managers affect patient care.
  3. Demonstrate proficiency in managerial tasks such as budgeting, planning, supervision, and delegation to improve patient care.
  4. Define health policy and how it is created.
  5. Describe federal, state, and local governments and their influence on health care and nursing practice.
  6. Discuss how nurses can be actively involved in policy development and implementation.
  7. Assess the role of nurses as advocates for vulnerable populations in policy development and implementation.

Programs that include this course