For students interested in a leadership role in a health care organization, the nursing administration and leadership concentration at the VCU School of Nursing offers a flexible and rewarding career path. Over the past three decades, this concentration has gained a reputation for educating some of the nation's top nursing leaders. With a vision of shaping the future of health care through innovative nursing leadership, the NAL concentration prepares nurses to play an essential systems-level role in promoting and sustaining high-quality and safe patient care. Students gain advanced knowledge and skills in the areas of leadership, administration, management, health care finance, budgeting, outcomes management and evidence-based organizational practices in health care. Graduates of the NAL concentration are prepared to succeed in nursing leadership positions and are eligible, depending on employment role, to apply for several different nursing administration certification exams offered through the American Nurses Credentialing Center of the American Nurses Association or the American Organization of Nurse Executives.