Master in Nursing with a Specialization in Healthcare Management

Program Overview

The Master's in Nursing with a Specialization in Healthcare Management trains nurses with high technical competence and ethical standards to solve health, management, and education problems, with a focus on effective decision-making and fulfilling institutional objectives. The program emphasizes management skills, quality care, and continuous improvement, preparing graduates for leadership roles in healthcare organizations, universities, and research institutions.

Program Outline

Degree Overview:

The Master in Nursing with a Specialization in Healthcare Management aims to train nursing professionals with high technical competence, professional ethics, and social commitment. The program updates and deepens knowledge to help graduates identify and solve health, management, and education problems, improving their work and research performance. It offers comprehensive preparation with tools and concepts to enrich training and improve personal and work competencies, contributing to institutional objectives within changing healthcare center environments. This is achieved through theoretical knowledge, practical case analysis, and exercises to advance understanding of nursing's main action areas. The program is designed for nurses wanting management training in healthcare organizations and universities. Successful completion leads to a Master's Degree in Nursing with a Specialization in Healthcare Management, issued by the enrolled university. The general objective is to acquire new management knowledge and tools for effective decision-making and fulfilling institutional objectives. Specific objectives include strengthening theoretical-methodological nursing bases, managing quality health and nursing care, valuing the educational process in professional tasks, conducting bioethical assessments, contributing to continuous healthcare service improvement, developing effective nursing management skills, establishing effective communication and leadership, and contributing to improved healthcare and nursing services.

Outline:

The Master's program has a 90-credit structure, taking 12 to 24 months to complete. The curriculum is divided into two parts:

Part I: SUBJECTS (80 CREDITS)

This part covers nosological aspects of professional nursing and management skills within healthcare organizations. It trains students to effectively manage nursing care using critical judgment and scientific evidence. Modules and subjects include:

• Module 1: MANDATORY BLOCK: Concepts, Theory, and Models in Nursing; Science of Human Care; Nursing, Quality, and Accreditation Processes; Health Education; Family and Community Nursing; Epidemiology I; Management of Health Services; Economy; Strategic Management of Human Resources; Project Planning and Management; Organizational Structure and Change; Conflict Resolution/Transformation in the Healthcare Sector; Interpersonal Communication Techniques; Team Management Techniques; Stress and Burnout; Research Methods; Data Visualization for Decision-Making.
• Concepts, Theories, and Models in Nursing: Covers basic elements for studying nursing conceptual models and differentiating between them and theories.
Topics include: Introduction to Theories and Models in Nursing; Historical Perspective of Nursing Theories; Nursing Theorists and Their Models.
• Ethical Foundations of Bioethics: Covers ethical foundations, the bioethical method, and ethical principles influencing bioethical assessment of human acts.
Topics include: Origin and Definition; Ethical Tripod; Integral Vision of Human Action.
• Foundations of Humanization and Dehumanization in Health: Provides a global vision of humanization and its relationship to quality professional relations in healthcare.
Topics include: Introduction; Dehumanization in Health; Humanization in Health; Emotional Intelligence and Humanization of Health.
• Aid Relationship: Explores the aid relationship model inspired by Humanistic Psychology.
Topics include: Toward a Definition of the Concept of Aid Relationship; Empathetic Attitude; Active Listening; Answer in the Aid Relationship Dialog. Empathic Answer; Unconditional Acceptance in the Aid Relationship; The Skill to Customize, Confrontation and Aid Relationship; Authenticity in the Aid Relationship.
• Science of Human Care: Focuses on holistic human care and integrating fundamental concepts in patient care.
Topics include: Introduction to Science of Human Care; Holistic Perspective of Care: From Epistemology to Practice; Factors That Influence in Care; Cultivating Self-Care as a Professional Nurse; Therapies and Alternative Care.
• Psychosocial Aspects of Aging: Covers physical, psychological, and social changes of aging.
Topics include: Sensory and Motor Functioning; Psychomotor Activity and Old Age; Communication and Language in the Aging Process; Intellectual Functioning; Psychology of Memory in Elderly People; Psychosocial Theories Personality; Partner and Elderly People; Successful Aging Life Styles.
• Nursing, Quality, and Accreditation Processes: Increases knowledge and skills in managing and delivering services in clinical processes and executing units, promoting continuous process improvement.
Topics include: Basic Concepts of Care Quality; Nursing and Care Quality Management; Management by Processes; Patient Safety in Nursing Care; Quality Unit Quality Coordinator; Knowledge Management Training Quality Management; Care Standardization Care Commission; Care Quality in Hospitalization Units; Nursing Practice Standardization and Normalization as the Basis of the Quality and the Use of Information Technologies.
• Health Education: Trains professionals in teaching other professionals.
Topics include: Learning Factors; Curricular Design, Programming and Development of Competencies; Learning Methodologies in the Classroom; Creation, Adaptation and Evaluation of Materials; Analysis of Technological Resources and Design of Creative Activities; Learning Evaluation.
• Nursing Based on Evidence: Integrates the nursing process based on evidence, critical judgment, and available evidence in decision-making.
Topics include: Introduction to Nursing Based on Evidence; Nursing Based on Evidence Process; Formulation of a Clinical Question; Searching for the Best Scientific Literature; Analysis of the Scientific Literature; Decision Making.
• Mental Health Nursing: Covers knowledge and tools for managing patients with psychopathology.
Topics include: Clinical and Psychopathological Aspects; Treatment and Nursing Care in Mental Disorder; Most Relevant Aspects of the Legislation on Mental Health.
• Family and Community Nursing: Plans nursing care throughout the life cycle at the family and community level.
Topics include: Introduction to Family and Community Nursing; Community Nursing in Childhood and Adolescence; Community Nursing in Adults and Elderly Adults; Community Nursing in Women; Nursing Home Care; Domestic Violence.
• Health Services Management: Covers main concepts of health services management, technical aspects, and implementation of systems for improved management.
Topics include: Management of Health Services; Technical Aspects of Management Control; Implementation of an Integrated System of Management Control.
• Strategic Management of HR: Designs the conceptual and methodological framework for recognizing the strategic and systemic approach of current Human Resources Management (HRM) and the importance of staff in achieving objectives.
Topics include: Overview of the Effects of Globalization in Human Resources; Overview of the HR Director Functions; New Technologies in the HR Management and Control of HR Management Systems; Motivation Theory of Human Behavior; Staff Training as a Strategic Factor; Emphasis on the Staff; Management by Departments. Topics include: Performance Management Based on Competencies; Performance Criteria; Performance Evaluation Phases; Competencies Assessment; The Evaluation Interview; Preparation of a Competency Profile; Review of the Position Competency Profiles; Development of Strategic Management on the Basis of Potential.
• Structure and Organizational Change: Shows the transformation process in current organizations and analyzes future trends.
Topics include: Organizational Evolution; Scenarios and Organizational Evaluation; Organizational Structure; The Change as a Crucial Aspect in the Direction of the Human Resources Strategy; Information Systems in the Organization.
• Resolution/Transformation of Conflicts in the Area of Health: Builds conceptual and practical training for mediating conflicts in health institutions.
Topics include: Psychosocial Analysis of the Health Agents: Patients, Professionals and Institutions; The Attention in Health: Multiplicity of Agents; Theory and Practice in the Area of Mediation and Negotiation in the Conflicts That Are Generated in the Area of Health.
• Interpersonal Communication Techniques: Identifies elements involved in communication processes, listing items and describing roles of different characters in a workspace.
• Work Teams Management Techniques: Provides theoretical and practical elements on groups and work teams, their characteristics, and techniques for effective management.
Topics include: Group and Team Concepts, Their Differential Characteristics; Practical Applications to Motivate Work Teams; Competition Linked to Team Work; Members and Roles in a Work Team.
• Stress and Burnout: Teaches how to manage stressful situations in healthcare organizations.
Topics include: The Most Important Concepts and Approaches in the Confrontation of Occupational Stress; Techniques and Tools for the Stress Management; Causal Factors of Occupational Stress; Incidences of Stress Depending on Personal Variables.
• Scientific Research Methods: Studies techniques and stages of scientific research, analysis between variables, guidelines for data organization, and logical reasoning for comparing populations.
Topics include: The Scientific Method; Research Techniques; The Research Process; Research Final Report.
• Epidemiology: Provides basic tools to understand and apply epidemiology in health studies, including guidelines on quality internet searches.
Topics include: Clinical Epidemiology Methodology and Implementation; Running Medicine Research Based on Evidences; Evaluation Tools; Internet Scientific Documentation and Access to Database and Web Sites About Health Sciences.
• Research Seminar I and II: Students apply knowledge to design strategies and methods for resolving original research problems.
• Master's Degree Final Project or Degree Thesis: An original, personal work contributing to a strong applied component, based on previous modules.

Assessment:

The text mentions that during the 12-24 month program duration, students must successfully pass all corresponding evaluations as well as the Final Project. The Master's Final Project (MDFP) is evaluated based on presentation, originality of the topic, structure, and content by a tribunal of Master's Degree tutors.

Teaching:

The program uses a methodology that integrates knowledge and skills through integrative exercises of knowledge acquisition and internalization of project practices. The teaching staff includes a list of Doctors and Masters-level individuals with expertise in various relevant fields (see the "Management," "Teaching staff and Authors" sections of the provided text for a complete list of faculty).

Careers:

Graduates can conduct research projects to improve their work centers and provide quality healthcare services. They can assume positions with healthcare management functions in hospitals, primary care centers, public or private social and healthcare centers, and NGOs. Graduates may also work as teachers and researchers. Note: Professional practice is regulated by each country's law.

Other:

FUNIBER periodically allocates funds for FUNIBER Training Scholarships. The Evaluation Committee determines scholarship eligibility. The program's content may be subject to slight modifications depending on updates or improvements.