Poster Presentation
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
9:45 AM - 11:00 AM
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
1:00 PM - 2:15 PM
Quality-Based Strategic Planning in a New Master's Entry Clinical Nurse Leader Program
Gail Schoen Lemaire, PHD, APRN, BC, Department of Family and Community Health: Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing, University of Maryland, School of Nursing, Baltimore, MD, USA
| Learning Objective #1: describe essential characteristics of anticipated outcomes within a planned quality based strategic approach to continuous quality improvement in a Master’s Entry Clinical Nurse Leader Program. |
| Learning Objective #2: discuss the application of nine essential elements of quality based strategic planning to continuous quality improvement within an entry-level master’s Clinical Nurse Leader Program. |
Leadership in educational program development requires a strategic approach that is responsive to changes within the health care system and the nursing profession and their impact on program capacity to provide quality, cost-effective nursing education. The University of Maryland School of Nursing (UMSON), as part of the American Association of Colleges of Nursing Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL) project, has developed a master’s entry into nursing program for students with a previous bachelor’s degree in a non-nursing discipline. A continuous quality improvement strategy is being created to deal with the ‘growing pains’ of this new Program and encourage collaboration, teamwork, problem solving, and ongoing process improvement. This quality based strategic planning (QBSP) approach synthesized by Horak (1997) from diverse strategic planning and quality improvement models, will direct activities toward positive outcomes for students, faculty, staff, and community stakeholders (patients and health care agencies). A focused, quality improvement approach can generate effective goal-directed strategies by assuring that planned outcomes meet seven key elements. These elements include durability, improvement over previously identified outcomes, stated direction, flexibility, priority focus, interdependence, and fundamental value relative to Program vision, mission, philosophy, function, goals, and objectives. The QBSP approach is systematic, customer-focused, and consistent with the UMSON school-wide, learner centered strategic plan. The approach uses the clinical and organizational developmental four-phase model that requires continuous and overlapping assessment, planning, implementation, and evaluation. QBSP provides a framework for action that will result in services that will continue to meet or exceed the expectations of students, patients, faculty, administration, and the community. In addition to the model’s four phases, QBSP is based on nine essential elements that guide strategic action. This presentation will describe The CNL Program’s QBSP approach and elaborate on the application of seven key aspects of planned outcomes and the nine critical elements of QBSP.