Master of Clinical Nursing CA91

These programs are designed to meet the needs of registered nurses in areas such as perioperative, neonatal intensive care, coronary care, wound care, aged care or paediatrics, who work to meet the growing health needs within a society.

The programs present a partnership model of graduate nurse education where the theoretical components are offered by the Faculty and the integration and assessment of practice is coordinated and conducted by Faculty-approved nurse clinicians.

Entry

Applicants should:

• hold a current registration certificate in general nursing in their state or country
• plus have one of the following
• a three-year bachelor's degree in nursing from an Australian university; or
• a four-year bachelor's degree in nursing; or
• an honours degree in nursing from an Australian university; or
• a three-year nursing degree with a master's degree in another discipline; or
• another qualification equivalent to the above (this will be reviewed on a case by case basis).

Applicants should have had 6 months post-registration experience in the specialisation for which they are applying and be working in the area of specialisation. The length of experience in the speciality for which the student is applying should be acceptable to CQU and the applicant's employing organisation.

Recognition of Prior Learning for Applicants to the Master of Clinical Nursing Program

Application for Credit Transfer

Credit transfer will only be granted where a student is able to demonstrate that tertiary studies equivalent in content and depth to the CQU program has been successfully completed. Students should examine the course synopses in this handbook to determine the courses for which they may be eligible to claim exemption. For more information about credit transfer contact the program administrator.

Applicants who meet the entry criteria for the program and have completed one of the following Certificate Courses through CQU's Direct Edge may seek credit transfer for these studies to the equivalent of a Graduate Certificate when applying for entry to the Master of Clinical Nursing Program.

The certificate courses this clause applies to are the:

• Certificate in Perioperative Nursing
• Certificate in Neonatal Nursing
• Certificate in Paediatric Nursing
• Certificate in Child and Adolescent Community Health Nursing
• Certificate in Catheter Laboratory Nursing

Course Objectives

On completion of the course, it is expected that students will be able to:

• apply analytical and creative approaches to advanced practice;
• use epistemological, philosophical and advanced principles of health science to enhance practice;
• participate in discipline related activities using appropriate strategies of change gained from the course-work courses;
• practice as competent clinical nurse specialists;
• analyse contemporary issues in specialist nursing;
• apply research techniques to the development of theory-based models of practice.

Program Structure

To satisfy the requirements of the award, students must complete nine courses including a research project or 80 units of credit as outlined below.

The course is designed to allow the specialist nurse practitioners to further enhance their individual knowledge whilst working in their selected area of specialisation. Clinical areas include Critical Care, Acute Cardiac Care, Coronary Care, Advanced Cardiac Nursing, Perioperative Nursing, Neonatal Nursing, Paediatric Nursing, Child and Adolescent Community Health Nursing, Health and the Elderly and Wound Care.

The Graduate Certificate in Clinical Nursing with specialisation in Acute Cardiac Care and the Graduate Diploma of Clinical Nursing with specialisation in Coronary Care and Wound Care have been developed in conjunction with The Prince Charles Hospital, Brisbane.

Students are required to complete 8 courses plus a Research Project to receive the award of Master of Clinical Nursing.

Students studying the Critical Care or Acute Cardiac Care streams may exit after Year 1 (24 units of credit) with the Graduate Certificate in Clinical Nursing.

Students in all streams may exit after Year 2 (48 units of credit) with the Graduate Diploma of Clinical Nursing.

The final year of study consists of an elective and research.

Computer Requirements

It is a requirement of enrolment in the course that all students have access to the Internet. Students will be expected to undertake various components of study in the program using e-mail and the Internet.

Specialisations

Specialisations available at the Graduate Certificate level include:

• Acute Cardiac Care
• Critical Care

Areas of specialisation available at the Graduate Diploma level include:

• Critical Care
• Coronary Care
• Advanced Cardiac Nursing
• Perioperative Nursing
• Wound Management
• Health and the Elderly
• Neonatal Nursing
• Paedriatric Nursing
• Child and Adolescent Community Health Nursing

Students entering the Master of Clinical Nursing at the Graduate Diploma level must have successfully completed courses at/or equivalent to the Graduate Certificate level of the program OR a Certificate in their area of clinical speciality through CQU's Direct Edge, OR have other qualifications deemed appropriate by the CQU Clinical Masters Program Committee. Advanced Standing may be granted if students meet entry criteria,

Schedule: Master of Clinical Nursing

Year 1

Clinical Theory elective - choose one course from the list below:

Code	Course
Acute Cardiac Care
NURS20138	Acute Cardiac Care
OR
Wound Care
NURS20136	Wound Management
OR
Critical Care
NURS20131	Acute Care
OR
Health & the Elderly
NURS20132	Gerontological Health Studies
Plus students must complete the following two courses:
NURS20133	Nursing Specialisation A
NURS20134	Nursing Specialisation B

Graduate Certificate exit point (24 units of credit) - Graduate Certificate in Clinical Nursing

Year 2

Code	Course
NURS20130	Special Topics in Health
HLPB20003	Health Statistics & Epidemiology
NURS20137	Advanced Nursing Practice

Graduate Diploma exit point (48 units of credit) - Graduate Diploma of Clinical Nursing

Year 3

Code	Course
HMSC20031	Research Methodologies
NURS20147	Research Project
Plus one elective
Student to choose one elective from the following list:
NURS20129	Education in non-formal setting
HLTH20028	Philosophy and Ethics of Health Care
HMGT20006	Health Economics

Master's Award (80 units of credit) = Master of Clinical Nursing

Note: Students must successfully complete Year 1 courses prior to enrolling in Year 2 courses, and Year 2 courses prior to enrolling in Year 3 courses

Clinical Component

As these programs are grounded in clinical practice, the theory is written to correspond to activities in practice. Theory and practice subjects run parallel and complement one another.

Participants in the program are expected to have been working within an area that has enabled them to care for patients within their area of specialisation for at least 20 hours per week for at least 6 months prior to enrolment.

Students will continue to work in this area for at least 20 hours per week for the duration of the program.