Fees For the fees applicable to this program, please access the website;

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MASTER oF NURSE PRACTITIoNER

overview

The Master of Nurse Practitioner is an academic program designed to provide opportunities for registered nurses to expand their skills and extend their scope of practice to prepare them for roles as nurse practitioners. To be eligible for entry into the Master of Nurse Practitioner, candidates must have completed a Graduate Diploma/Master of Nursing Science (Stage 1), or an equivalent degree, in the specialty for the stream of nurse practitioner in which they aim to practice.

The Master of Nurse Practitioner will provide graduates with a rigorous grounding in research methods, extended clinical practice skills, advanced health assessment, applied pharmacology, diagnostics, critical analysis, clinical management and leadership. The Master of Nurse Practitioner is accredited with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia.

Program Duration

To qualify for the Master of Nurse Practitioner a candidate shall satisfactorily complete an academic program (24 units) of full time study extending over at least one year or a program of part time study extending over at least two years.

Fees

For the fees applicable to this program, please access the website; www.adelaide.edu.au/

Program Coordinator

Philippa Rasmussen

Telephone: +61 8 8313 3866

Email: philippa.rasmussen@adelaide.edu.au

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Admission Criteria

An applicant for admission to the program for the Master of Nurse Practitioner shall:

1. have qualified for a Graduate Diploma/Master of Nursing Science (Stage 1) in the specialty in which they propose to practice as a Nurse Practitioner or equivalent

2. have minimum of 5000 hours of contemporary nursing practice of which 1700 hours minimum is at an advanced practice level in the relevant specialty area of practice

3. evidence of current employment of at least 0.6 FTE as a Nurse Practitioner candidate in South Australia in the nominated specialty

4. be a Registered Nurse, or be eligible for registration as a nurse in Australia; and 5. have obtained the approval of the School of Nursing.

Qualification Requirements

To complete the core courses, Extended Clinical Practice I and Extended Clinical Practice II, continuing employment at a minimum fraction of 0.6 FTE in an area that supports active candidature as a nurse practitioner is required. If the student changes their employment status and can no longer meet the requirement above for continuing employment they may transfer to the Master of Nursing Science.

STAGE 2 (24 UNITS)

CoRE CoURSES

All candidates shall complete the following core courses:

7017Ho Extended Clinical Practice I

Units: 3 units

Teaching period: Semester 1

Contact hours: one on campus workshop and flexible learning mode

Content: This course is designed to prepare students for extended clinical practice in their chosen specialty. The course will begin by focusing on advanced assessment, investigations and differential diagnosis. Students will then work with their clinical mentors to become competent in the clinical skills they require to function in their scope of practice as a nurse practitioner. Students will be required to develop a nurse practitioner portfolio. This will include case studies and exemplars demonstrating complex decision making and client care along with records of education sessions and professional activities. Students will be required to perform three patient assessments to be evaluated by their clinical mentor.

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7018Ho Extended Clinical Practice II

Units: 3 units

Contact hours: one on campus workshop and flexible learning mode

Content: Nurse practitioners practise as members of an interdisciplinary team and within a professional and legal framework. Thus, this course will focus on issues such as legislation, risk management, guidelines and protocols, clinical pathways, cultural safety, consumer collaboration, professional standards, interdisciplinary team work, referral, clinical supervision, leadership and management.

7015Ho Applied Pharmacology in Nursing

Units: 3 units

Contact hours: Flexible learning mode

Content: This course will build on understanding of drug use, prescribing and administration. Discussion will include the South Australian and Australian legal requirements for the prescription and administration of drugs, ethical issues involved in the cost, prescription and clinical trials of drugs, and the process of collating a patient’s medication history. Drugs will be discussed according to their classes of action. Students will learn how drugs are chosen for particular effects. The pharmacological principles of pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, adverse effects,

contraindications and precautions will be described using examples from different drug classes. Polypharmacy and the quality use of medicines will also be presented. Students will be taught the concepts of safe prescribing and administration.

All candidates shall complete ONE of the following core courses:

7102 Research Literacy

Units: 3 units

Teaching period: Semester 1 or Semester 2 Contact hours: Flexible learning mode

Content: This course is designed to familiarise students with the methodologies used in health reaserch. Students will learn about empirical methods such as experimental studies and also the fundamentals of interpretive and critical methodologies, such as phenomenology. The aim is for student to learn how to read and critically evaluate research relating to their practice.

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7002Ho Interpretive and Critical Research in Health

Units: 3 units

Teaching period: Semester 1 or Semester 2

Contact hours: Flexible learning mode with optional on-campus tutorials in Semester 1 only Content: This course will outline the interpretive and critical paradigms and focus

on research design from this perspective. Topics will include the critique of positivism and an introduction to interpretive methodologies, such as grounded theory, ethnography and phenomenology and critical methodologies, such as feminist research and action research. Practical research activities such as literature searching, conducting interviews and coding qualitative data will also be provided.

And one of the following options: (1) Research, (2) Coursework

oPTIoN 1: RESEARCH

7005Ho Research Dissertation

Units: 12 units

Teaching period: Semester 1 or Semester 2 Contact hours: Negotiated with Supervisor

Content: This component of the program requires the student to identify a research question or problem; obtain appropriate ethical approval for the study; to carry out a small research study based on this question; and to submit a fully developed report.

NB: Part-time students will conduct 6 units a semester; full-time students will conduct 12 units in one semester.

oPTIoN 2: CoURSEWoRk

7012Ho Systematic Reviews of Research

Units: 3 units

Teaching period: Semester 1 or Semester 2

Contact hours: Flexible learning mode with optional on-campus tutorials

Content: This course is designed to enable students to understand why reviews of research are needed and their role in health care decision making, develop skills to critically evaluate different types of reviews in order to maked informed decisions for changes in practce and develop skills in reviewing the research literature to enable them to undetake their own systematic review.

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7013Ho Systematic Review Project

Units: 6 units

Content: This course provides students with the opportunity to explore one aspect of their nursing practice through the conduct of a focussed systematic review. Conducting a systematic review of the literature assists in developing skills in preparing a review protocol, undertaking a literature search, appraising research, summarising and synthesising the findings from independent studies.

And one of the following:

7003Ho International Issues in Nursing Service Delivery

Units: 3 units

Content: This course is designed to introduce students to a variety of topical issues related to the health care system and the nurses’ roles within it, both at a national

and international level. Topics will include health and the environment, the epidemiology of disease, epidemiological tools, poverty, global conflict, the economics of health care, political awareness, leadership and spheres of nursing.

7011Ho Leadership and Management in Nursing

Units: 3 units

Contact hours: Flexible learning mode

Content: This course will explore contemporary issues in relation to health management in clinical nursing practice. Topics will include; health service organisation, strategic planning, financial planning, human resource management and clinical leadership.

PUB HLTH 7074 Introdution to Biostatistics

Units 3 units

Teaching period: Semester 1 Contact hours: 2 hours per week

Content: By the end of the course, students should grasp basic concepts in statistics; have an understanding of quantative research strategies; begin to critically assess literature in the public health domain which employs statistical methods, and appreciate the use of statistics in making decisions in the face of uncertainty.

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Applications

For application and admission information see Student Centre web site: www.adelaide.edu.au/programs Application for this program is made through the SATAC GradStart admissions portal.

Web site: www.satac.edu.au SATAC code: 3CM114

Applicants must also complete an “Additional Information Request Form”, available at the School of Nursing web site. This form should be submitted within ten working days after applying to SATAC.

Contact Details

Please contact the School of Nursing for information. Telephone: +61 8 8313 3595

Email: nursing@adelaide.edu.au

Further information available at www.health.adelaide.edu.au/nursing