Health Studies

The purpose of this course is to prepare students for evidence-based practice. Students will become consumers and communicators of allied health care research at the level of the novice clinician. Students will learn the fundamentals of evidence-based practice as well as the importance of research when developing clinical practice guidelines and/or standards of care. Students will identify a clinical problem, read and analyze research related to this problem and reverse-engineer an existing clinical practice guideline and/or standard of practice to determine if it meets the criteria for evidence-based practice.

This course is based upon the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) Open School competencies in Safe and Quality Health Care Delivery. Students will develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes required to deliver high-quality care to patients and families. A focus of the course will be on identifying methods and strategies for evaluating safe delivery practices, integrating concepts of high-quality care delivery in practice and identifying potential areas in need of improvement in the practice setting. Additional concepts of interdisciplinary teamwork will be discussed to promote high-quality and safe health care delivery practices and quality improvement initiatives.

This course examines classical and contemporary theories and models of leadership and management as deployed in the health care environment. Requirements for effective leadership and management at the levels of self, work unit and organization will be analyzed. Hallmarks of effective health care leadership and management will be explored using case studies. Students explore their own assumptions and values about leadership and management, which is a process that evolves over the course of the semester.

The Health Studies Research Capstone is the students’ synthesis of learning from previous courses, which is accomplished via the completion of a Capstone project. The Capstone project is a 40-hour quality improvement project completed at the students’ place of employment. Students identify an area of interest with an opportunity for change in their professional work setting. Students conduct an assessment, complete a comprehensive literature review and develop a strategy for implementation of change. The project incorporates inter-professional collaboration and displays effective leadership, culminating in an oral and PowerPoint or poster presentation. This course requires a minimum of 40 hours of experiential time in the field. Students must meet with the Health Studies Program Coordinator at least one (1) month prior to the start of HEA 486 to have their Capstone project approved.