Master of Advanced Nursing Practice (Nurse Practitioner)
Course code: MC-ANPNP
This course is available to domestic students only
February, July
Commonwealth Supported Places (CSPs) available
Access Melbourne is available
Course structure
Overview
Degree Structure
The Master of Advanced Nursing Practice (Nurse Practitioner) is offered over two years part time (see figure below). A two-and a half-year option and a three-year option can be provided after consultation with the course coordinator.
Intended Learning Outcomes
As a graduate of the Master of Nurse Practitioner, the graduate will have the advanced discipline specific knowledge and skills to:
- Provide safe, effective, person-centred health care to consumers (direct and comprehensive care).
- Influence health care systems and services to achieve better outcomes for consumers, their families, health care providers, the community and the health care system (support of systems).
- Educate self and others (consumers, health care professionals etc) regarding the focus of and available options for care (education).
- Apply evidence to practice, identify the clinical evidence gaps and inform and contribute to future clinical and research inquiry to address these gaps (Research).
- Demonstrate professional and clinical leadership in clinical, organisational, political and community forums and make scholarly contribution to the discipline and/or specialty (publication and professional leadership)
Generic skills
At the completion of this course, students should be able to demonstrate:
- the capacity for information seeking, retrieval and evaluation
- critical thinking and analytical skills
- an openness to new ideas
- the ability to communicate scientific knowledge through oral, written and web based media
- professional leadership skills
Sample course plan
View some sample course plans to help you select subjects that will meet the requirements for this coursework.
Students must successfully complete all subjects as outlined below (100 credit points). Students can discuss alternative study plans with the Course Coordinator.
| Accordion | |
|---|---|
Year 162.5 pts |
|
| Semester 1 · 37.5 pts | |
| Semester 2 · 25 pts | |
| Accordion | |
|---|---|
Year 250 pts |
|
| Year Long · 25 pts | |
| Semester 1 · 12.5 pts |
|
| Semester 2 · 12.5 pts |
|
Students must successfully complete all subjects as outlined below (100 credit points). Students can discuss alternative study plans with the Course Coordinator.
| Accordion | |
|---|---|
Year 112.5 pts |
|
| Semester 2 · 12.5 pts |
|
| Accordion | |
|---|---|
Year 237.5 pts |
|
| Semester 1 · 25 pts | |
| Semester 2 · 12.5 pts |
|
| Accordion | |
|---|---|
Year 350 pts |
|
| Semester 1 · 12.5 pts |
|
| Semester 2 · 25 pts | |
| Yearlong · 12.5 pts |
|
Explore this course
Explore the subjects you could choose as part of this degree.
Students complete all of the following:
| Accordion | |
|---|---|
| Introducing Advanced Practice · 12.5 pts |
This subject provides foundational knowledge and skills to introduce advanced practice nursing to the student. This subject will focus on the development of a nurse practitioner capable of providing high standards of clinically focused care. To achieve this, students will develop advanced health assessment and clinical decision-making skills that can be applied to identify the healthcare needs of consumers. |
| Clinical Leadership in Context · 12.5 pts |
The aim of this subject is to provide the student with the knowledge and skills to enable them to develop clinical leadership in their area of specialty. The subject considers contemporary issues related to professional practice and clinical leadership in advanced practice nursing roles. The core content of this subject will assist the student to understand the political, economic, professional, ethical, social and clinical influences on clinical leadership and advanced practice nursing models. Students will critique different models of clinical leadership, service delivery, governance structures, and methods for evaluating and sustaining measurable outcomes in practice. The subject will also assist students to identify their own learning and development needs with respect to clinical leadership and, where necessary, negotiate access to a range of resources to enable them to meet their learning objectives. |
| Introduction to Health Services Research · 12.5 pts |
This subject introduces students to health services research, that seeks to identify the most effective ways to organise, manage, finance, and deliver high quality care and improve patient safety. This kind of research is more concerned with delivery and access to care in contrast to medical research, which focuses on the development and evaluation of clinical treatments. The aim of health service research is to increase understanding of the process, mechanisms, and effects of health services for individuals, families, communities, and populations in order to improve overall health outcomes. Topics to be studied include the following:
The subject plans to include guest lectures drawing from the broad and extensive range of researchers with experience in Health Services Research in the Centre for Health Policy and MSGPH. |
| Developing Advanced Practice · 12.5 pts |
This subject builds on the content covered in NURS90134 Introducing Advanced Practice Nursing and has been designed to help prepare students for autonomous nurse practitioner practice. This subject will place an emphasis on expanding the student’s health assessment skills to include the judicious use of diagnostic investigations, the ability to synthesise individual health data and to develop sophisticated clinical decision-making capacity. Governance structures and innovations at both an organisational and governmental level will also be explored and how these ensure that safe, quality patient care is delivered. |
Students complete all of the following:
| Accordion | |
|---|---|
| Pharmacology for Health Professionals · 12.5 pts |
This subject extends the students' knowledge of the fundamental pharmacological principles of medication management, which can be adopted and utilised in the advanced practice setting. Students will use the foundational knowledge of pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and therapeutics, in order to critically analyse how medications affect physiological, biochemical and pathophysiological processes. With a greater appreciation of the action of drugs on body processes, students will be able to determine which medications should be administered to particular patients in order to ensure therapeutic effects are optimized and adverse effects are minimised. Students will articulate the key pharmacological characteristics of drug classes, as well as be able to derive and understand the specific nuances of individual drugs. This focus will ensure that students use critical thinking and problem solving abilities to facilitate them to prescribe, administer, monitor and evaluate medications in a rational and effective manner. Please note that this subject is conducted through the Department of Pharmacology & Therapeutics. |
| Quality Use of Medicines · 12.5 pts |
This subject addresses the application of pharmacokinetics and dynamics to clinical practice and introduces students to regulation and governance of prescribing, therapeutic planning across the life span, medication safety and risk and error management. This subject includes practical application of this knowledge in class and clinical practice and includes Integrated Professional Practice (IPP) hours. |
| Transitioning to Advanced Practice · 12.5 pts |
The aim of this subject is to support students completing this program to transition to nurse practitioner endorsement and advanced practice nursing. This subject will focus on developing the knowledge and skills to support students to prepare an application for nurse practitioner endorsement, maintain professional development following endorsement, and function as a role model, mentor, and clinical supervisor. Students will develop a plan to meet the practice expectations of all domains of nurse practitioner practice (clinical practice, education, leadership and research). This subject is also an opportunity for students to draw on the content addressed in other subjects to expand their scope of practice. |
| Health Innovation & Improvement Project · 12.5 pts |
This subject involves a learning contract/project plan to be negotiated between the student and the subject coordinator and completion of a substantive piece of work based on the contract/plan. The focus of the work is an innovative project aimed at improving health outcomes. Students will use the project to develop their capacity to apply and develop the evidence for practice and extend knowledge in an area of their choice that supplements their learning but is not taught in other subjects. The proposed work should also align with the student’s course learning objectives and be linked with other subjects for the purpose of sequential development of knowledge. |