Nursing Leadership: Change Management and Innovation

Overview

Nursing Leadership: Driving Change & Innovation in Nursing Practice is an intermediate-level course designed for clinical nurses and nurse leaders who want to drive meaningful change in complex healthcare environments. As healthcare evolves, success depends on your ability to lead with clarity, test ideas systematically, and foster innovation at every level of care. In this course, you’ll learn practical strategies for applying change management principles, aligning initiatives with organizational goals, and creating conditions where frontline innovation can thrive. Through short videos, case studies, hands-on labs, and reflective coaching, you’ll build skills in PDSA cycles, stakeholder engagement, and idea incubation. Whether you're launching a unit-level pilot, scaling up a practice innovation, or shaping a more resilient nursing culture, this course will help you lead with purpose—and deliver lasting impact for patients, teams, and systems.

Syllabus

Lesson 1: Strategic Nursing Leadership: Applying Change and Innovation for Better Decisions

In this introductory lesson, learners will explore the foundational principles of change management and innovation within nursing leadership. They'll examine change models like Lewin’s and Kotter’s, identify common barriers to change, and apply leadership frameworks to guide teams through transitions effectively.

Lesson 2: Blueprints for Change: Designing Initiatives that Deliver Impact

In this lesson, learners will learn how to design and implement change initiatives using tools like PDSA cycles and stakeholder maps. Through case studies and planning frameworks, they'll gain the skills to build initiatives that address real healthcare challenges and gain organizational traction.

Lesson 3: Cultivating Innovation: Empowering Teams for Continuous Improvement

In this lesson, learners will explore what holds back innovation in nursing teams and how to overcome it. They’ll apply strategies like shared governance, idea incubation, and frontline engagement to drive continuous improvement. Through case analysis and planning exercises, learners will gain practical tools to lead a culture of innovation in clinical settings.