This course follows the Health Care Innovation Theory and Application course. In this course, students will be instructed on how to use the principles of the first course to identify opportunities in health care (e.g., problems to be solved). Nurses and health care professionals work around problems every day. Yet, rarely are these workarounds viewed as system level opportunities for improvements. This course will emphasize the critical thinking and creativity needed to identify a problem, and instead of determining how to solve for one, focus on how one might be able to solve for many. By the end of this course, students should feel confident in their ability to recognize opportunities and begin to move toward a system (e.g., organizational) level thinking instead of an individual level thinking. This course is focused on the individual as the innovator.

This course will introduce the essential concepts of organizational change, leadership and project management necessary to build and foster a culture of health care innovation. To innovate, one must also have an environment that allows innovation to grow and flourish. While we do need individuals to know how to think and act innovatively, we also need leaders who can embrace these behaviors and build a culture that supports such efforts. Traditionally, our health care environments have tended to reward “we’ve always done it this way” behaviors and stunt those who identify opportunities for improvement as disruptive. Through this course, students will learn the importance of effective leadership with any organizational change. Project management is an essential skill for any leader in health care and especially that of new changes being introduced to an environment.