Nurse Practitioner

The Master of Nurse Practitioner is a 54-unit course offered by the College of Nursing and Health Sciences in conjunction with participating hospitals and health agencies.

To qualify for the Master of Nurse Practitioner, a student must complete 54 units with a grade of Pass or NGP or better in each topic and complete the required Supernumerary Integrated Professional Practice, according to the program of study below. Except with the permission of the Dean (Education):

• no topic may be attempted more than twice
• a student may not include a topic that repeats work previously undertaken
• the program must be completed part-time within 4 years.

Not all topics are necessarily available in any given year.

The award of a grade of Fail (F) in the same topic on more than one occasion or in 9 units or more, or failure to complete the course within four years, may constitute prima facie evidence of unsatisfactory progress for the purposes of the University’s Policy on Student Progress.

Core - Year 1 & 2 topics

54 units comprising:

NURS9028 Transition to Nurse Practitioner (9 units) MMED9110 Principles of Pharmacology and Therapeutics (4.5 units) NURS9123 Epidemiology and Population Studies for Health Care Practice (4.5 units) NURS9027 Diagnostics for Nurse Practitioners (9 units) MMED9111 Pharmacology for Advanced Professional Practice (4.5 units) NURS9219 Introduction to Research (4.5 units) NURS9017 Extended Nursing Practice (PEP) (9 units) NURS9222 Advancing Research Knowledge to Inform Healthcare Practice (9 units)

Upon completion of the course, graduates are eligible to apply to the nursing regulatory authority to practisefor endorsement as a nurse practitioner.

Applicants must:

• hold a Bachelor of Nursing or equivalent qualification; and
• have current general registration as a registered nurse in Australia; and
• hold a postgraduate qualification at Australian Qualifications Framework Level 8 relevant, clinically, to the context of the applicant’s advanced nursing practice; and
• have a minimum of two years full-time equivalent practice as a registered nurse in a specialist clinical field in Australia; and
• have a minimum of two years current full-time equivalent practice at an advanced nursing practice* level in this same clinical field, as defined by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia, within the last six years in Australia; and
• provide evidence of approval from an employing organisation to complete the 300 hours of supernumerary integrated professional practice that is a requirement of the course, and evidence of supervisor availability.

*Advanced nursing practice (ANP): ANP is a continuum along which nurses develop their professional knowledge, clinical reasoning and judgement, skills and behaviours to higher levels of capability (that is recognisable). Nurses practising at an advanced level incorporate professional leadership, education and research into their clinically based practice. Their practice is effective and safe. They work within a generalist or specialist context and they are responsible and accountable in managing people who have complex health care requirements.

Advanced nursing practice is a level of practice and not a role. It is acknowledged that advanced nursing practice is specific to the individual within their context of practice.

Graduates of this course are expected to be able to:

• have developed advanced nursing knowledge and clinical practice skills necessary for the management and provision of effective comprehensive health care to particular populations of health consumers;
• integrate and apply the interdisciplinary skills and knowledge that are required to participate effectively in the planning, implementation and management of health care programs and services;
• have developed an advanced level of understanding of the legal, ethical and political dimensions of practice to provide leadership within nursing and their specialty area of practice;
• critically apply research skills to the resolution and improvement of health outcomes for consumers of clinical and community nursing practice.

Graduates will demonstrate integration of their learning with the Nursing and Midwifery Board's requirements for endorsed Nurse Practitioners by meeting the required national competency standards for practice.