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in Leadership, Analytics and Innovation

This program prepares nurse leaders to move health care forward. If you’re ready to learn how to lead decision-making in health care using data to drive actions, then you are ready to earn your Master of Science in Nursing at the University of Michigan.

Advance your career with the Michigan Difference.

Program Highlights

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33 Credits (27 Credits in Core/Foundational Courses, 6 Credits of Electives in Area of Student Interest)
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2-Year and 3-Year Program Length Options Available
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2 Cohorts Per Year (Fall & Winter)
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On-campus Orientation
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4-day On-campus Intensive
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Consolidated Immersion
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#8 Nursing Master’s Program - 2020 U.S. News Best Graduate Schools
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Certificate in Health Informatics Available
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Who Is This Program For?

This program was designed for action-oriented, data-driven nurse leaders who want to tackle detailed, analytical decision-making and advance into leadership roles. If you want to work on creating a long-term, sustainable impact in health care at the team, system and national policy levels – this program is for you. Our online MSN program opens up new opportunities for nurses whose schedules and personal demands prevent them from attending a traditional brick-and-mortar program.

Key Dates and Deadlines

Fall 2021

January 15, 2021
Early application deadline
April 15, 2021
Regular application deadline
June 1, 2021
Final application deadline

Winter 2022

August 1, 2021
Regular Application Deadline
October 15, 2021
Final application deadline

Class Descriptions

Applied Biostatistics for Clinical Practice

This biostatistics course covers fundamental statistical concepts and methods for health professionals who need to analyze clinical data and interpret research. Major topics include descriptive statistics, probability theory, statistical inference, hypothesis testing, correlation, regression, survival analysis and diagnostic test performance.

Foundations of Leadership

This graduate-level course examines the foundations and context of nursing leadership to impact and drive both nursing and health care organizations in creating transformative structures for high-quality and value-based patient care across the continuum.

Foundations in Innovation and Implementation in Health and Health Care

This course will prepare students to lead the process of innovation in and transformation of nursing and health care. Health care innovation is described as any new idea, nursing practice, model of care, clinical measure or health care technology that is perceived as new by an individual, and other units of adoption that improve the efficiency, effectiveness, quality, safety, sustainability and affordability of health care.

Foundations of Quality Science and Performance Analytics

This course reviews principles of quality science and approaches to analyzing current and historical data to predict future events and trends in health care systems. The course focuses on applications of effective decision-making and deployment of scarce resources. The role of government regulation and accrediting bodies on quality and performance improvement will also be discussed.

Strategic Resources and Healthcare Operations Leadership

This is a course designed to provide health care leaders with the competency needed to lead teams in the operations of the organization using practices that are strategically aligned in financial and economic, human resources, strategic planning, marketing and applied technology principles. Using data as a strategic asset in key communication and operational decisions is simulated within the course. Data-driven models and tools are discussed, evaluated and applied to address resource allocation and distribution for optimal operational efficiency and value-based care delivery. Students will become proficient in strategic business/project planning and organizational goal alignment.

Foundations of Health Informatics

This course will deepen the understanding of how informatics fundamentally impacts care process, outcomes, value, costs and efficiency. In addition to the introduction of fundamental informatics theories, principles and practices, this course highlights the identification, definition, coordination, acquisition, storage analysis and communication of data as a part of critical success factors for the organization and for nursing practice.

Decision Science for Complex Health Systems

This course emphasizes the theoretical underpinnings of decision science and the applications of a variety of analytic tools, models and methods that drive decision analysis under conditions of uncertainty, risk and sensitivity. Decision science tools are applied to understand impact on outcomes such as public health, policy, resource allocation, quality and safety.

Sociotechnical Approaches in Practice

This course explores components of sociotechnical frameworks that underlie the development, deployment and maintenance of organizational change. Strategic planning and strategies used to analyze and model health system requirements are emphasized. New and emerging innovations are assessed for their impact and potential strategic value to an organization.

Evaluation in Health Care Systems

The exponential growth of health care innovation requires ongoing monitoring and evaluation of new or significantly improved products, services, processes and systems. This course provides an overall review, monitoring and evaluation of programs, processes and innovation in health care, including methods and challenges unique to the evaluation of health information systems and technologies. A variety of monitoring and evaluation frameworks, standards and tools will be examined. Examples from health systems and national and international health programs will be used for discussion, analysis and evaluation.

Meet Our Faculty

Michelle L. Aebersold


Michelle L. Aebersold


PhD, RN, CHSE, FAAN
Clinical Associate Professor and Faculty Lead for Innovation, Research, and Technology Development - With expertise in high-fidelity and virtual reality simulation, Dr. Aebersold researches the use of simulation to align clinician and student practice behaviors with research evidence to improve learner and health outcomes. She uses both computer- and mannequin-based simulation in her courses, as well as case-based learning and other innovative teaching strategies.
Matthew A. Davis

Matthew A. Davis

MPH, PhD
Associate Professor – Dr. Davis is a health services researcher with expertise in data science. His research uses large sources of data to study important policy-driven issues, and he investigates health service substitution for nonspecific back pain. He is well-versed in introductory statistics, epidemiology, data management and programming, health services research methods and the appraisal of clinical research. He also researches the application of data mining methods to health care claims data and the use of social media data to measure social support and public opinion.
Marcelline Harris

Marcelline Harris

PhD, RN
Associate Professor – Dr. Harris specializes in clinical informatics and nursing health services research, with an emphasis on computable knowledge representation strategies and the use of electronic data for nursing health services research. She is also interested in EMR convergence, decision support, data warehousing, data governance and establishing processes for business analytics.
Yun Jiang

Yun Jiang

PhD, MS, RN
Associate Professor – Dr. Jiang researches informatics- and data-driven solutions for chronic condition self-management, focusing on cancer medication adherence and symptom self-management. She works to discover consumer health self-management behavior patterns from data and to develop information-technology-based support to empower and engage patients and families in self-management.
Marjorie C. McCullagh

Marjorie C. McCullagh

PhD, RN, APHN-BC, COHN-S, FAAOHN, FAAN
Professor - Dr. McCullagh is experienced in teaching nursing at the undergraduate and graduate levels, in both didactic and clinical settings employing a variety of teaching-learning methods, including case study analyses, videos, gaming, and web-based technologies in both face-to-face and distance learning formats. The focus of her program of research is to promote health among workers by eliminating work-related toxic exposures. Dr. McCullagh serves as director of The University of Michigan Center for Occupational Health and Safety Engineering (COHSE), which is a NIOSH Education and Research Center (ERC). She is also recognized by the American Academy of Nursing as a Nursing Edge Runner for her program of research and care delivery called Quiet4Health Farm. This initiative recognizes nurse-designed models of care and interventions that impact cost, improve healthcare quality and enhance consumer satisfaction.
Barbara Medvec

Barbara Medvec

DNP, RN, NEA-BC
Clinical Associate Professor – Dr. Medvec’s research is focused on exploring the relationship of nurse manager practice environment and the implementation leadership behaviors of nurse managers in supporting nursing staff use of evidence-based practice. With expertise in leadership, practice innovation, value-based care, ambulatory/continuum of care and strategic and transformational planning, she supports chief nursing officers in organizational design, transformational leadership and nursing excellence.
Marie-Anne Rosemberg

Marie-Anne Rosemberg

PhD, RN
Assistant Professor and Vice Chair of Research, Department of Systems, Populations and Leadership – With an emphasis on occupational health, Dr. Rosemberg’s program of research is focused on optimizing the health of low-wage service workers at risk of experiencing one or multiple chronic conditions. She studies the stressors, allostatic load and health outcomes among women hotel housekeepers, and works to increase and advance knowledge of hypertension and self-management among African-American women and new U.S. immigrants.
Rhonda Schoville

Rhonda Schoville

PhD, MSBA, RN
Clinical Assistant Professor – Prior to joining the University of Michigan School of Nursing, Dr. Schoville served in a variety of leadership roles relating to nursing informatics, consultation and coordination for the transformation of care processes and outcomes within nursing. Her research is focused on technology and innovation adoption, clinical informatics, product/innovation development, implementation science and the development of new processes and tools to enhance care.

Career Paths for Grads

This MSN program prepares students for:

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Leadership Roles

  • Coordinator
  • Educator
  • Manager
  • Supervisor
  • Specialist
  • Director
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Informatics Roles

  • Informatics Leader
  • Specialist
  • Project Director
  • Consultant
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Roles Across the Care Continuum

  • Traditional acute care roles
  • Nontraditional industry roles
  • Care management, case management
  • Quality & safety, risk management
  • Populations and practice focus
  • Health policy & advocacy

Frequently Asked Questions

Have a question? Check for an answer below.

All core/foundational courses for this degree will take place online. For students living nearby, elective courses may be taken on campus

Students will participate in an initial 2-day on-campus orientation at the start of their program, allowing them to start the program with personal connections. Once annually, an on-campus 4-day intensive will be held, typically in March, beginning on a Tuesday and ending on a Friday. During this time, students have the opportunity to meet their classmates and their faculty as well as to participate in in-person, activity-based learning that synthesizes their online content.

Digital tools will be provided to facilitate connections between students and their faculty and classmates, including the availability of virtual office hours. An annual on-campus intensive will provide the opportunity for students to interact with both classmates and faculty in person. Online students also become a part of the U-M community, just as traditional on-the-ground students would.

Immersions are a critical element of learning in the Leadership, Analytics and Innovation MSN, providing hands-on job training. Our faculty works closely with students to identify immersion placements. Immersion placements are with preceptors and mentors who have practice/content experience in the student’s areas of interest.

Immersions are based on individual interests and can include executive/senior leaders as well as nontraditional industry leaders. This means that there is a huge range of possibilities that can be taken as immersions – this is a critical aspect of customizing our program to fit student needs.

Immersions serve as an opportunity for students to explore new paths and career trajectories. Students will declare areas of interest early in their program and electives/immersion will be available to augment and integrate their course competencies with experiential learning.

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A Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) is required for this program.
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