Master of Nursing (Nurse Practitioner)

Description

Aim

To prepare Registered Nurses to advance and extend their scope of specialist practice to the level required for a Nurse Practitioner

Content/structure

The concepts of nursing, health and illness are studied with a focus on assessment of health status, identifying health and illness risks and needs, formulating appropriate differential diagnosis based on comprehensive assessment data, establishing mutually acceptable health and treatment plans that maximise outcomes for clients, family and/or the community. Foundational courses are designed to inform contemporary nurse practitioner practice including legal and ethical issues pertaining to autonomous and multi-disciplinary practice. Research based courses will further the scholarship of nursing practice by using evidence-based research to inform practice, defining research questions and allowing the student to critically evaluate their role as advanced practitioners in the delivery of health care, inclusive of monitoring and ensuring the quality of health care provision. The Project course or Option course provides an opportunity for students to further extend their specialist knowledge, scholarship and leadership in nursing practice. Clinically focused courses allow students to develop the role of the nurse practitioner in advanced health assessment, investigative (invasive and non-invasive) procedures, and identifying and prescribing appropriate pharmacological agents and non-pharmacological interventions. The Nurse Practitioner Internship courses will assess the student's clinical competency in their area of specialist practice. The student will work under direction and with the support of a Clinical Support Team throughout the program.

The program is comprised of 10 courses and requires successful completion of 54 units of study.

Requirements

All applicants must:

be Registered Nurses holding a Current Practising Certificate in South Australia.(Accreditation for this program will be sought with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of South Australia in the first instance, so will only be available to South Australian Registered Nurses.); and
hold a 3 year undergraduate degree and a Graduate Diploma or Graduate Certificate or equivalent in the relevant speciality area of practice.

Additional Requirements:

To be accepted into the program, applicants will need to establish a Clinical Support Team in their specialty area of practice to assist them in the development and extension of their specialist practice (See Rule 1). The Clinical Support Team will need to be approved by the Program Director.

Applicants will be expected to have a minimum of 5 years full-time equivalent experience as a registered nurse, including 3 years full-time equivalent as a Registered Nurse in a specialty area and 1 year full-time equivalent at an advanced practice level in the relevant specialty area of practice.

At the time of application to SATAC GradStart, applicants must also submit the following documents electronically to the Program Director:-

Employer Support form
Support form from each of the proposed members of the Clinical Support Team
Detailed Curriculum Vitae
This program is not available to international students.

Notes

Students enrolled in NURS 5139 Nurse Practitioner Internship 1 and NURS 5140 Nurse Practitioner Internship 2, are required to identify a Clinical Support Team that includes expert practitioners and an academic staff member, all of whom are expected to commit at least one hour per week to work with the student and to asses the student's clinical competencies using the ANMC National Competency Standards for the Nurse Practitioner.