Nursing health care administration joint degree offers nurses more business
Suzanne Davidson ’96, ‘01

The College of Nursing is giving graduate students more business than ever these days, thanks to a joint degree program in health care administration.  The degree, established in 1999, enables a student to earn both a masters degree in nursing and a certificate in business administration from the College of Commerce and Finance. It is the first partnership of its kind between the two colleges, and it reflects the shifting roles of the nurse administrator.

“More and more, healthcare CEO’s are looking for nurses who have strong business skills.” said Dr. Claire Manfredi, director of the graduate nursing program. “That’s the advantage of this particular approach; it provides both the business skills and the advanced nursing knowledge as well.”  As hospitals and health care agencies focus on the business component of management, greater demands are being made upon nurses in management positions. Today, nurses in health care management positions must be prepared to integrate and apply business acumen with clinical knowledge.

The joint degree program was created specifically to address this need. Courses in the College of Commerce and Finance include Accounting, Corporate Finance, Health Care Economics, Organizational Theories, and Marketing.  The courses are masters level business courses, part of the MBA core curriculum. “[The degree is ] for nurses who are interested in health care administration, and it provides them with the business skills that they need in order to be administrators in a health care setting today. Those are the courses and skills that they would not get in an ordinary graduate program,“ stated Manfredi.

Tyonne Hinson ’01 is a case in point. She was the first graduate of the joint degree program. Her story is a testament to the changing needs of the nurse administrator and to the success of the joint degree program.  Hinson chose the program because “I knew I wanted a masters in nursing, but I chose this program because I wanted to be business savvy. A lot of other schools have nursing administration programs,  but this program allowed me to take classes in the MBA school and receive certification.” While Hinson admits that the 45-credit program was challenging, even as a full time student, she believed in the value of what she was learning. “The program was great, but it was challenging. I loved the interaction with the MBA students They expected us to perform like their MBS counterparts with undergraduate degrees in business, or backgrounds. At times, this was the most challenging part of the program. It just required us to work harder and be more determined to succeed, as we always did.”

Hinson also enjoyed the one-on-one mentoring of the nursing program. She credits Dr. Claire Manfredi and Dr. Patricia Haynor for helping her succeed. “They were very supportive mentored me a great deal. I think it’s very important that a program is very personalized and helps you to be connected with people in the field. I met a lot of different people who helped me grow thanks to their support. “

Upon her graduation, Hinson received a number of offers for administrative positions in hospitals throughout the region. She was heavily recruited. “I was pretty excited,” she said. Eventually she was discovered by a recruiter who was conducting a nationwide search for a nurse manager for Bay State Medical Center in Springfield, Massachusetts. Hinson now manages the 55-bed Level 3 Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, the second largest in the state.  She supervises 120 staff members including nurses, technical associates and administrative staff workers.  Hinson is excited about her new position.  “I have been received so wonderfully,” she said.

The joint health care administration degree was the result of the hard work of a committed group consisting of members of the nursing and the MBA programs. The joint committee worked together to develop the program, looking carefully at demands in healthcare today and what kind of preparation students need to be successful in that environment. Committee talked with CEO’s of health care centers and VP’s for nursing at these facilities. Based upon what health care administrators voiced about preparation needs for future health care administrators, they crafted a program that would give Villanova students a competitive edge. “This program makes our students more marketable,” said Manfredi, “they really feel much more prepared going into administrative positions with these business skills”.

Hinson agreed, ”It’s been instrumental in my understanding the financials of health care, and now I will be able to build my unit in a profitable way. The marketing skills I learned have enabled me to see my families as consumers and think about ways to go above and beyond to improve our services.”

The College of Nursing program has as its goal to consistently grow and evolve in view of the ever-present demands and changes in health care and health care delivery. Tyonne Hinson is living proof that they are doing just that.