Health Care Leadership Essentials for Nurses
“Our dynamic Health Care Leadership Essentials for Nurses program will advance your career and give you the knowledge and skills needed to strategically strengthen health systems and improve health care outcomes worldwide.” —Stephanie L. Ferguson, PhD, RN, FAAN, Program Director
About the Program
This self-paced leadership development program equips mid-level nurse managers with essential skills in performance management, negotiation, health care technology, resource management, quality improvement, and more. Start any time.
Program Fees
- Standard Price $650.00
Program Overview
Transform Your Nursing Leadership Impact—on Your Own Schedule
This online, self-paced program is designed to empower working nurses with the leadership skills needed to advance in their careers. Led by distinguished Harvard faculty and industry experts, this course covers essential competencies such as performance management, negotiation, financial management, and quality improvement. Participants will develop practical frameworks and tools to address organizational challenges and implement meaningful changes in their workplace, with a strong focus on immediate application and real-world impact.
Throughout five flexible modules, you’ll build expertise in contemporary leadership, negotiation, communication, and the integration of emerging technologies like AI into health care delivery. The program also emphasizes systems thinking, resource management, and the creation of effective quality improvement initiatives. By participating, you’ll gain advanced skills to drive innovation, enhance patient care, and positively influence health system outcomes.
Upcoming Program Details
- Effectively drive organizational innovation and improvements across health systems
- Successfully lead public health and primary care settings to achieve better health outcomes
- Implement successful performance management strategies that improve organizational and patient outcomes
- Effectively negotiate and communicate in the workplace
- Apply analytic frameworks to evaluate health system outcomes, outputs, and functions
- Critically analyze health systems using systems-thinking principles
- Understand the latest technological and AI innovations in health care
- Develop a framework for improvement of health services delivery
Module 1: 7 C’s of Leadership (Rifat Atun)
Module 2: Strategies for Performance Management (Stephanie Ferguson)
Module 3: Financial Management: Basic Principles and Tools of Resource Management (Richard B. Siegrist Jr.)
Module 4: Negotiations and Effective Communications (Stephanie Ferguson)
Module 5: Health Care Technology: Implications for Nursing (Heather Mattie)
Module 6: Quality Improvement & Cost Effectiveness (Stephanie Ferguson)
Module 7: Framework for Improvement of Health Services Delivery (Stephanie Ferguson)
Current faculty, subject to change
Rifat Atun
Director
Executive and Continuing Education
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Professor of Global Health Systems
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Stephanie Ferguson
Professor of the Practice of Health Policy and Management
Department of Health Policy and Management
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Faculty Director
Harvard Global Nursing Leadership Program
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Heather Mattie
Lecturer on Biostatistics, Co-Director, Health Data Science Master’s Program, Director of EDIB Programs
Department of Biostatistics
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Richard B. Siegrist Jr.
Senior Lecturer on Health Care Management
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Health Care Leadership Essentials for Nurses is an executive nursing leadership program targeting mid-level nurse managers, nurse navigators, charge nurses, nurse supervisors, hospital, public health and ambulatory care administrators, and regulators. It is also open to nurses working in health policy arenas, informatics, quality improvement, public and private health settings, and pharmaceutical companies, governmental agencies across the globe.
Credits & Logistics
All participants will receive a Certificate of Participation upon completion of the program.
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health will grant 1 Continuing Education Units (CEUs) for this program, equivalent to 7 contact hours of education. Participants can apply these contact hours toward other professional education accrediting organizations.
All credits subject to final agenda.
U.S. boards of nursing accept contact hours toward continuing education requirements for licensure renewal when earned from approved or nationally accredited providers. Because requirements vary by state, please confirm applicability with your state board of nursing. Nurses outside the U.S. should check with their local licensing authority.
Where can I access the sessions?
Upon receipt of payment, you will get an email inviting you to join our online learning platform, Canvas, where you can access all the videos and materials
How long do I have to complete the course?
This is a flexible online course, and you can progress at your own pace. However, we recommend completing the course within 6 months, although you can certainly finish it much sooner.
How many hours of content does this course contain?
The program contains 3 hours of video content with additional readings and exercises that total approximately 7 hours of learning time
Do I get a certificate as part of this program?
You will receive a Certificate of Participation from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health upon completing the course modules.