Health and Human Sciences
Nursing school receives grant to open graduate healthcare leadership and informatics track
9/11/2009
The Byrdine F. Lewis School of Nursing received over $800,000 from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Health Resources and Services Administration to establish a new master’s degree track in Nursing Leadership and Healthcare Innovations. The three year grant provides funding for the development of the program, as well as for faculty and a staff administrator. The nursing school has already initiated the new concentration, which features optional courses in nursing informatics and nursing leadership, and ten students have enrolled for fall 2009. Georgia State will become the only university in Atlanta to offer the nursing informatics concentration and the second statewide.
By offering a degree concentration in nursing leadership and informatics, Georgia State is helping to fill a gap in the healthcare system. As healthcare strives to become more efficient, particularly through the use of technology, a need has arisen for nurses who understand both patient care and how technology can be used to improve care. With this increased use of technology, including the transition to personal health cards for all citizens by 2014, nurse informaticists who can translate technology into practice are in great demand.
“The need for a master’s degree track in nursing leadership and healthcare innovations is enormous. Nurse leaders are needed to implement innovative strategies for enhancing patient care outcomes and maximizing the use of technology in practice,” says Cece Grindel, associate director for graduate nursing.
The School of Nursing is collaborating with Georgia State’s Institute of Health Administration in the Robinson College of Business to implement the new nursing master’s concentration. For more information on the degree program’s curriculum, click here.