MSN: Health Care Quality and Patient Safety Emphasis
MSN: Health Care Quality and Patient Safety Emphasis
Start your GCU
journey today.
journey today.
We're here to help.
GCU offers you the opportunity to complete this MSN degree online.1 Online learning may be a more practical choice for busy professionals with many obligations.
As you complete your courses, you will have access to online learning resources and support that GCU provides.
Clinical, practicum and immersion hours completed locally.
To learn more about enrolling in GCU’s health care quality and patient safety emphasis MSN program, fill out the form on this page.
GCU has been institutionally accredited by the Higher Learning Commission since 1968. Our accreditation status reflects the quality of our instruction and our ability in reaching established educational standards.
For more information on the accreditation of nursing programs and other university approvals, please visit our University Accreditation and Regulations page.
Designed for nurses seeking to improve their knowledge and skills in the area of healthcare quality and patient safety, this master’s in nursing degree covers a variety of valuable coursework. You’ll focus on nationally recognized expectations and metrics for quality, examine different approaches to support quality improvement measures and learn about technologies that support clinical decision-making for patient safety.
Throughout this master’s program, you will focus on these key areas:
Quality Improvement
Explore the quality improvement process and the most commonly used models and tools for improving healthcare
Patient Safety
Evaluate methods to track, assess, analyze and review data relating to patient safety issues
Change Management
Learn about the elements of change management, how to identify criteria for success in change areas and how to plan phases and goals for implementation
Stakeholder Engagement
Gain skills to identify various stakeholders and roles, set goals and expectations, plan stakeholder engagement and identify ways to mitigate obstacles in healthcare project management
Project Management
Examine project management models and approaches in healthcare settings
Safety Initiatives
Learn how to implement healthcare quality and safety initiatives
Up to 12 credits or 1/3 of the total program requirements in transfer (whichever is less)
Credits: Fill out the Lopes Eval to find out what will transfer
Admission Requirements (Master's)
OR 2.5+ Unweighted GPA and
Admission requirements may differ based on degree level, program and modality, or transfer status. Some programs of study may require a higher GPA and/or other qualifying criteria for admission. Please review full admission and program requirements in the University Policy Handbook.
* Degree must be from an accredited college or program that has been approved by GCU.
** Combined verbal/quantitative, after August 2011 (1,000 combined verbal and quantitative, prior to August 2011).
Enhance your nursing education and position yourself to potentially take your career to the next level in health care quality and patient safety. Grand Canyon University’s College of Nursing and Health Care Professions is proud to offer this MSN degree for nurses who want to work to improve quality and patient safety within nursing.
In this program, you’ll have the opportunity to gain advanced knowledge and skills to take on a wide range of roles within the health care field. From a clinician to a community advocate to a systems manager, you’ll wear many hats as you learn how to incorporate diverse concepts into cohesive solutions.
If you desire to advance your education and have the opportunity to become knowledgeable in healthcare quality and patient safety, read through some frequently asked questions and answers below to learn more about pursuing this career.
Quality care is measured in terms of how effective an organization is in achieving desired healthcare outcomes. Healthcare quality is safe, effective, patient-centered, timely, efficient and equitable.2
Patient safety focuses on preventing harm to patients. This focuses on working to reduce the risk of negative occurrences through establishing a system of care that prevents error, learns from mistakes and is derived from healthcare professionals, organizations and patients that emphasize a safe culture.2
Healthcare quality and patient safety go hand in hand in the healthcare field to deliver and maintain safe, effective, quality care. Patient safety is one of the many desired outcomes of healthcare quality. Establishing and working to maintain patient safety increases the likelihood that a healthcare organization will be successful in achieving its healthcare quality measures.2
If you’re an experienced nurse who is seeking to position yourself for the possibility of career advancement or are looking to gain a deeper understanding of nursing in the patient safety and healthcare quality field, earning your MSN degree in this focus may be worth it for you. In your program, you will have the opportunity to gain relevant skills that are applicable to clinical settings. You will also explore theories, technologies, communication strategies and critical thinking skills that all relevant to pursuing a career in healthcare quality and patient safety.
With this degree, you may become equipped to make a difference in the healthcare field.
Specializing in quality and safety in nursing can prepare you for roles such as:
Quality and patient safety coordinator
Director of risk and quality
Director of nursing
Patient safety officer
Regional director of quality management
Vice president of care coordination
Chief nursing officer
Our MSN: Health Care Quality and Patient Safety emphasis program covers research, collaboration, communication, data analysis, project management and much more.
Along with honing important nursing leadership skills — such as clinical and organizational decision-making — you will focus on critical thinking, evidence-based research. You will examine how to improve health care systems and patient outcomes from all aspects.
