Wichita State University will offer for the first time this fall a Master of Science in Nursing Leadership and Administration — a program developed in coordination with nursing leadership at Via Christi Health.

Enrollment for the new degree offering, which was approved by the Kansas Board of Regents in June, has already started.

"Linda Goodwin, chief nursing officer for Via Christi Hospital in Wichita, approached us because they needed such a program as part of their pursuit of Magnet Recognition," said Betty Smith-Campbell, who chairs the WSU School of Nursing. "Our mission is to improve the health of our community — and responding to the needs of our community partners supports that goal — so faculty got busy and made it happen."

Ensuring high level of care

The Magnet Recognition Program, which recognizes health care organizations for quality patient care, nursing excellence and innovations in professional nursing practice, is the leading source of successful nursing practices and strategies worldwide.

On average, more than half of the nursing decision-makers at Magnet-recognized organizations have graduate degrees. This is important to patients and their families because a growing body of research has established a clear link between higher levels of nursing education and better patient outcomes.

"Our goal is to be among the Magnet-recognized leaders in nursing care so that we can ensure that we are providing the highest level of care possible to the patients and families we serve," said Goodwin. "As such, we greatly appreciate WSU's partnership in developing a graduate-level program to help prepare the nursing leaders who will design and assess care going forward."

Other factors driving the need for graduate level nursing education include the rapid expansion of knowledge underlying practice; increased complexity of patient care; national concerns about the quality of care and patient safety; shortages of doctoral-prepared nursing faculty, and increasing educational expectations for the preparation of other health professionals.

"Health care delivery has changed dramatically in the past 15 years, signaling the need for a new conceptualization of master's nursing education to better serve the patient care needs of the nation," according to Kathleen Potempa, president of the American Nurses Credentialing Center, which developed the Magnet program. "Nursing's academic leaders have met this challenge by evolving core competency expectations used to prepare master's program graduates to assume increasing accountabilities, responsibilities and leadership roles across health care settings."

About the Wichita State University School of Nursing

The past decade has been one of innovation, creation and collaboration for the Wichita State University School of Nursing, one of the largest nursing schools in Kansas. Accomplishments include:

• Expansion of class size in Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN), making it the largest program in the state;
• Addition of an early admission BSN option for high school students;
• Creation of an accelerated BSN program with one-year completion;
• Creation of an RN-BSN online program for registered nurses with an associate degree or diploma in nursing;
• Addition of two new Master of Science in Nursing concentrations: leadership/administration and education;
• Development of the Doctorate of Nursing Practice degree;
• Above national average pass rates for registered nurse and nurse practitioner exams.

The WSU School of Nursing is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education.

About the Magnet Recognition Program

• US News & World Report uses Magnet designation as a primary competence indicator in its assessment of almost 5,000 hospitals to rank and report the best medical centers in 16 specialties.
• Eight of the top 10 medical centers on the US News Best Hospitals in America Honor Roll are ANCC Magnet organizations. (2011-2012).
• Six of the top eight hospitals in the US News Children's Hospital Honor Roll are ANCC Magnet recognized. (2011-2012)

For more information about Magnet Recognition, go to http://www.wichita.edu/j/?1714.