Certification in Healthcare Quality Post-Graduate Patient Safety Certificate

With no set class meeting times, you can learn on your schedule and access online course materials 24/7.

Affordable

Take advantage of some of the lowest online tuition rates in the nation.

Respected

Founded in 1932, Southern New Hampshire University is a private, nonprofit institution with over 100,000 graduates across the country. SNHU is regionally accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE), which advocates for institutional improvement and public assurance of quality.

Recently, SNHU has been nationally recognized for leading the way toward more innovative, affordable and achievable education:

• “Most Innovative” regional university honors from U.S. News & World Report each year since 2015
• A $1 million grant from Google.org to explore soft skills assessments for high-need youth
• Recognition as a 2017 Digital Learning Innovator by the Online Learning Consortium

Network

At Southern New Hampshire University, you'll have access to a powerful network of more than 200,000 students, alumni and staff that can help support you long after graduation. Our instructors offer relevant, real-world expertise to help you understand and navigate the field. Plus, with our growing, nationwide alumni network, you'll have the potential to tap into a number of internship and career opportunities.

96.5% of students would recommend SNHU.* Discover why SNHU may be right for you.

Acceptance decisions are made on a rolling basis throughout the year for our five graduate terms. You can apply at any time and get a decision within days of submitting all required materials. To apply, simply contact an admission counselor, who can help you explore financial options. Your counselor can also walk you through the application process, which involves completing a graduate application ($40 fee) and providing transcripts.

• A minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 from an accredited nursing or health professions graduate program
• Provisional acceptance may be extended to applicants with an undergraduate GPA between 2.67 and 2.99
• Registered nurse applicants who wish to pursue this certificate must meet MSN nursing program admission requirements.

SNHU nursing programs are not authorized in the state of Washington or US territories and we are not accepting students residing in Washington state or US territories into Nursing programs at this time. Currently enrolled students who move into the state of Washington or a US territory will not be able to continue in nursing courses until they move out of the state of Washington or the US territory. Prospective students are encouraged to contact Admission, and current students should contact their Advisor, for more information.

Simply contact an admission counselor, who can help you explore financial options, answer all your questions and walk you through the application process, which includes:

• Completing a graduate application ($40 fee)
• Providing undergraduate transcripts

If you're looking for a credential that demonstrates your knowledge in healthcare quality, our online post-graduate certificate in patient safety and quality is a strong place to start.

Designed for nurses and healthcare professionals who have already earned their master's, the program can be completed in less than a year. The 4 courses cover critical concepts including healthcare quality and improvement, data collection, regulatory compliance and data evaluation. It's important to note that all of these areas are consistent with the material covered in the CPHQ exam.

Southern New Hampshire University is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE). The post-graduate patient safety and quality certificate program follows strategies outlined in the Institute of Medicine's report, "The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health."

If you have some education and practical experience under your belt, and would like to continue on this pathway, consider one of these 2 highly sought after credentials in healthcare quality:

Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality (CPHQ)

The CPHQ is offered by the National Association for Healthcare Quality (NAHQ) and was developed by the Healthcare Quality Certification Commission (HQCC). With over 12,000 recipients, it is widely considered the industry standard for healthcare quality.⁴

The exam consists of 140 multiple-choice questions that test aptitude in organizational leadership, health data analytics, performance and process improvement and patient safety.

The CPHQ exam is also unique in that there is no minimum education requirement to sit in.⁴

As Dr. Deb Murray, associate dean at SNHU, points out, the HQCC "celebrates the elimination of barriers such as minimum education and experience requirements," thereby equalizing the field for nurses and healthcare professionals looking to advance their careers.

While exam readiness may be freely decided by the individual candidate, it is recommended that those sitting in for the exam have at least 2 years of professional healthcare experience prior to testing.

Certified Professional in Patient Safety (CPPS)

The CPPS exam is offered by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) and administered by the Certification Board for Professionals in Patient Safety (CBPPS).⁵

The test covers five core patient safety domains: culture, leadership, patient safety risks and solutions, measuring and improving performance, and systems thinking and design/human factors.

Unlike the CPHQ, eligible candidates must fulfill one of the following prerequisites before they can sit for the CPPS exam:⁵

• Bachelor's degree or higher plus 3 years of experience (includes time spent in clinical rotations and residency programs) in a health care setting or with a provider of services to the health care industry
• Associate degree or equivalent plus 5 years of experience (includes time spent in clinical rotations) in a health care setting or with a provider of services to the health care industry

While these topics are intertwined, there are some specific ways to differentiate quality and patient safety. Let's compare the two.

Patient safety

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines patient safety as a healthcare discipline that "aims to prevent and reduce risks, errors and harm that occur to patients during provision of health care."³

As healthcare systems become more mature and complex, the likelihood of human errors rise. Take, for example, the delivery of medications. Prescriptions go through a long chain of people and processes before getting to the patient; Doctors, pharmacists and nurses all play a role. But what happens if, say, two medications with similar packaging get swapped? Set procedures can help prevent these incidences from occurring.

Along with medication errors, WHO specifically notes a number of other patient safety situations, including:³

• Unsafe injection, transfusion or surgical care procedures
• Healthcare associated infections
• Diagnostic and radiation errors
• Sepsis
• Venous thromboembolism (blood clots)

Standardized checks-and-balances can catch and correct human errors. But without a protective system in place, the damage could be dangerous and costly; In fact, preventable human error reportedly sets hospitals back nearly $42 billion USD annually.³

This is just one of the many reasons the World Health Organization (WHO) has named patient safety a "global health priority."3

Quality

The Institute of Medicine (IOM) defines health care quality as "the degree to which health care services... increase the likelihood of desired health outcomes and are consistent with current professional knowledge."⁶

In an effort to meet the highest industry standards, IOM categorizes 6 domains of health quality:⁶

1. Effectiveness. Providing care processes and achieving outcomes as supported by scientific evidence.
2. Efficiency. Maximizing the quality of a comparable unit of health care delivered or unit of health benefit achieved for a given unit of health care resources used.
3. Equity. Providing health care of equal quality to those who may differ in personal characteristics other than their clinical condition or preferences for care.
4. Patient centeredness. Meeting patients' needs and preferences and providing education and support.
5. Safety. Mitigating actual or potential bodily harm.
6. Timeliness. Obtaining needed care while minimizing delays.

At the end of the day, evaluating both quality and patient safety is critical. Consider the timely example of infection control practices, and how they can stop the spread of a new virus. Patient safety can be improved through sterilization and use of personal protective equipment (PPE) such as masks, face shields, respirators, gloves and gowns. Diagnostics and vaccines, on the other hand, are tested for quality and accreditation to ensure they meet current standards as outlined by the greater medical community. All of these efforts are ultimately designed to "flatten the curve" and keep patients, medical professionals and the entire global community safe.