A) PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS

The Master of Nursing program has two streams: the Thesis Stream and the Nurse Practitioner Stream. The Master’s program is built on the existing strengths of the faculty and the focus of Primary Health Care, which is the foundation for the curriculum in the current undergraduate program. Graduates from both streams will be prepared to function in an advanced practice role in Primary Health Care settings. The MN Thesis graduate will be prepared to engage in a variety of advanced practice roles including, but not limited to, direct care of individuals; families, communities or populations; education; administration and research. The MN Nurse Practitioner graduate will be prepared to manage the health needs of individuals; families; groups and communities across the lifespan. Graduates of the Nurse Practitioner Stream will be eligible to write the Canadian Nurse Practitioners Examination: Family/All Ages (CNPE: F/AA). The degree designated upon successful completion of either stream is a Master of Nursing (MN).

Thesis Stream: 8 courses plus thesis
NURS 6100 – Foundations of Graduate Study
NURS 6110 – Theoretical Foundations of Nursing
NURS 6120 – Advanced Primary Health Care
NURS 6130 – Quantitative Nursing Research
NURS 6140 – Qualitative Nursing Research
NURS 6210 – Ethics in Nursing
NURS 6220 – Advanced Nursing Practice
NURS 6360 – Biostatistics
NURS 6000 – Thesis
27 credit hours plus 9 for thesis

TOTAL of 36 credit hours

Please note: Admission to the Thesis stream occurs annually

NP Stream: 10 courses
NURS 6010 – Advanced Human Physiology and Pathophysiology
NURS 6120 – Advanced Primary Health Care
NURS 6150 – Advanced Health Assessment
NURS 6160 – Pharmacotherapeutics for Advanced Practice
NURS 6170 – Evidence-Based Practice and the Nurse Practitioner
NURS 6310 – Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Across the Life Span
NURS 6320 – Episodic Health Care Across the Life Span
NURS 6330 – Professional Role of the Nurse Practitioner
NURS 6340 – Chronic Disease Management
NURS 6350 – Nurse Practitioner Practicum

TOTAL of 43 credit hours and 700 clinical hours

Please note: Admission to the Nurse Practitioner Stream occurs every second year.

NURSING COURSES

NURS 6000 THESIS
Under the supervision of a faculty advisor and a thesis committee, the student will write a thesis based on research related to an approved topic. The thesis must demonstrate the candidate’s capacity for independent work, and should include a critical evaluation of the principal works published on the subject of the thesis. It should make an original contribution to the body of knowledge in that field of study.
HOURS OF CREDIT: 9 (Pass/Fail)

NURS 6010 ADVANCED HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY & PATHOPHYSIOLOGY
This course discusses the function of human organ systems, emphasizing disease states. Seminars and independent study will focus on how to diagnose diseases, minimize disease risk and formulate therapeutic management plans. A combination of formal lectures, seminars, directed readings and case studies is used.
Cross-level listed with Biology 4010.
PREREQUISITE: Enrolment in the Master of Nursing, Nurse Practitioner (NP) stream
LECTURE: 3 hours
SEMINAR: 2-3 hours
HOURS OF CREDIT: 3

NURS 6100 FOUNDATIONS OF GRADUATE STUDY
This course is designed to develop and consolidate advanced information and writing skills required for scholarly work. Students will learn to pose research questions, use evidence to support claims and communicate evidence-based practice. The course will foster a culture of graduate study.
LECTURE/SEMINAR: 3 hours
HOURS OF CREDIT: 3 (Pass/Fail)

NURS 6110 THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS OF NURSING
This course focuses on the nature and use of inquiry in the development and refinement of nursing knowledge. It provides students with the opportunity to discuss and analyze conceptual, philosophical, and theoretical bases for advanced nursing practice from a primary health care perspective. Students will critically examine theories from nursing, as well as borrowed theories from other disciplines that inform and guide nursing practice, research, and education. Students will analyze concepts relevant to advanced nursing practice and critique and discuss the value of theory to the future of nursing. During this course, students will develop increasing competence in professional oral and written communication.
LECTURE/SEMINAR: 3 hours
HOURS OF CREDIT: 3

NURS 6120 ADVANCED PRIMARY HEALTH CARE
This course will draw upon theory on the social determinants of health, primary health care, wellness promotion, program planning and evaluation, population health, and healthy public policy. Links to social, cultural, environmental, political, and economic contexts that impact on health, equity, and health disparities will be critically analyzed. Research-based evidence central to primary health care and advanced nursing practice will be examined. Emphasis throughout will be placed on upstream, participatory, and collaborative approaches to the development of population health initiatives and healthy public policy.
LECTURE/SEMINAR: 3 hours
HOURS OF CREDIT: 3

NURS 6130 QUANTITATIVE NURSING RESEARCH
The purpose of this course is to develop the student’s ability to critique and use existing quantitative research and to conduct original quantitative research. The research process will be examined with respect to the philosophical underpinnings of quantitative research; research ethics; developing research problems, questions, and hypotheses; writing literature reviews; using conceptual/theoretical frameworks; using experimental, quasi-experimental, and non-experimental designs; sampling; measurement; collecting and analyzing data; interpreting results; and assessing rigor.
LECTURE/SEMINAR: 3 hours
HOURS OF CREDIT: 3

NURS 6140 QUALITATIVE NURSING RESEARCH
The purpose of this course is to develop the student’s ability to critique and use existing qualitative research and to conduct original qualitative research. The epistemological and ontological underpinnings of qualitative research will be explored. The qualitative research process will be examined with respect to research ethics; developing research questions and objectives; using qualitative methodologies of ethnography, phenomenology, grounded theory, critical and feminist theory, participatory action research, and narrative inquiry; sampling; collecting and analyzing data; interpreting results; and assessing trustworthiness.
LECTURE/SEMINAR: 3 hours
HOURS OF CREDIT: 3

NURS 6150 ADVANCED HEALTH ASSESSMENT
With a focus on detailed history taking, interpretation, synthesis, diagnostic differentiation and formulation, and documentation of clinical findings, this course enhances and refines the student’s clinical, theoretical, and scientific knowledge base related to health assessment. Aspects of diagnostic reasoning will be investigated, critically reviewed, and applied to clinical case studies across the lifespan. Elements of advanced client assessment including physical and mental status; psychosocial, family, community, cultural, and diversity factors; the implications of social determinants of health; and risk appraisal will be addressed in terms of their impact upon a client’s health status. Approaches to effective written and verbal communication of findings and diagnostic reasoning will feature prominently in this course.
LECTURE: 3 hours
LAB: 2 hours
HOURS OF CREDIT: 4

NURS 6160 PHARMACOTHERAPEUTICS FOR ADVANCED PRACTICE
This course provides students with an opportunity to acquire the advanced knowledge required to critically appraise/interpret concepts integral to pharmacotherapy and advanced counseling in the treatment of common conditions seen across the lifespan in primary health care settings. Building upon basic pharmacologic principles and the pharmacologic actions of the major drug classes, learning will focus on the preparation of students to develop, initiate, manage, and evaluate patient-centred therapeutic plans of care. In addition, students will analyze different pharmacotherapeutic principles and approaches in relation to physiologic systems, with an emphasis on the competent application of these pharmaceutical agents. Legal aspects related to prescriptive authority will be fully addressed. A combination of formal lectures, seminars, directed readings, and case studies will be used.
PREREQUISITE: Enrolment in the Master of Nursing program, Nurse Practitioner stream
LECTURE: 3 hours
SEMINAR: 2-3 hours
HOURS OF CREDIT: 3

NURS 6170 EVIDENCE-BASED PRACTICE AND THE NURSE PRACTITIONER
Advanced practice is grounded in the ability of registered nurses to evaluate evidence, to apply relevant findings to guide practice and influence policy, and to utilize data to assess the quality of patient care and positively influence patient outcomes and health care delivery.  In this course, students develop the knowledge and skills to critically appraise qualitative and quantitative research, systematic reviews, meta-analyses, meta-syntheses, evidence-based guidelines, and other data sources used to inform clinical practice, clinical decision-making, and policy development.  The research process, knowledge development, and the role of research in evidence-based practice are central to this course.
PREREQUISITE: Enrolment in the Master of Nursing program, Nurse Practitioner stream
HOURS OF CREDIT:  3

NURS 6210 ETHICS IN NURSING
In all aspects of their professional lives, nurses encounter ethical issues. Grounded in primary health care, this course will identify issues which occur when caring for clients across the life span using a framework of ethical principles and theories. Nurses explore current critical issues encountered in nursing and health care as the relationship with the health care system and society is considered.
LECTURE/SEMINAR: 3 hours
HOURS OF CREDIT: 3

NURS 6220 ADVANCED NURSING PRACTICE
In this course, students synthesize and integrate knowledge of research, theory, philosophy, ethics, clinical care, education, organizational change, and leadership to provide primary health care to diverse populations across the lifespan. They will demonstrate autonomy in decision-making and the critical analysis of organizational and system issues that influence scope of practice and professional accountability. In the clinical experience, students will demonstrate their competence in integrating the theory of advanced nursing practice in a chosen domain, based on availability of clinical agency experts and faculty expertise.
LECTURE/SEMINAR: 3 hours
CLINICAL EXPERIENCE: 72 hours across the course
HOURS OF CREDIT: 6

NURS 6310 HEALTH PROMOTION AND DISEASE PREVENTION ACROSS THE LIFE SPAN
This course will focus on the teaching-coaching function of the nurse practitioner in health promotion, screening and disease prevention activities across the life span for individuals, families and communities. Epidemiological principles and health promotion goals will be examined, with emphasis on cultural and environmental influences, individual assessment, and evidence informed practice. Methods of inter-sectoral collaboration and intervention strategies to optimize health-seeking behaviours within the context of the family, group, and/or community will be explored.
LECTURE/SEMINAR: 3 hours
CLINICAL EXPERIENCE: 100 hours across the course
HOURS OF CREDIT: 6

NURS 6320 EPISODIC HEALTH CARE ACROSS THE LIFE SPAN
This course deals with the diagnosis and management of episodic and common acute health conditions experienced by clients across the life span. Pathophysiology, assessment, and diagnostic strategies specific to the acute and common problems of clients of all ages will be stressed. Nursing strategies used to restore, maintain and enhance health are emphasized, as are the biological, psychological, social and cultural aspects of care.
PREREQUISITES: NURS 6010 and NURS 6160
LECTURE/SEMINAR: 3 hours
CLINICAL EXPERIENCE: 200 hours across the course
HOURS OF CREDIT: 6

NURS 6330 PROFESSIONAL ROLE OF THE NURSE PRACTITIONER
This course assists the student to explain and promote the role of the nurse practitioner. It addresses political, social, and economic forces related to the scope of practice, as well as system and organizational issues that may affect the delivery of care. Emphasis is placed on the legal and ethical considerations for the nurse practitioner in an extended practice environment. The skills in leadership and collaborative interdisciplinary practice necessary to perform the NP role will also be emphasized.
LECTURE/SEMINAR: 3 hours
HOURS OF CREDIT: 3

NURS 6340 CHRONIC DISEASE MANAGEMENT
This course applies concepts of pharmacology, advanced counselling, and complementary therapies to clients and specific populations with chronic health conditions across the life span. The focus will be on nursing interventions that assist clients with multiple care needs to manage their chronic disease conditions, while optimizing health and preventing/ minimizing disability. The selection of clinical interventions, clinical decision-making, and evaluation of strategies used to enhance the health outcomes for the chronically ill will be stressed. Emphasis is placed on evidence informed practice and accepted clinical guidelines.
PREREQUISITES: NURS 6010 and NURS 6160
LECTURE/SEMINAR: 3 hours
CLINICAL EXPERIENCE: 200 hours across the course
HOURS OF CREDIT: 6

NURS 6350 NURSE PRACTITIONER PRACTICUM
This course provides the student with an opportunity to integrate and consolidate theory, research, and advanced knowledge and skills required of the nurse practitioner in providing primary health care to clients, families, groups and communities experiencing common episodic and chronic health related problems/illnesses. The focus will be on the refinement of critical thinking skills, clinical reasoning, and advanced practice clinical judgment in assessment, diagnosis, and management of clients’ health. Collaboration with clients, families, and other health care professionals will be emphasized. Students will develop role competencies under the supervision of a faculty member and a clinical preceptor negotiated by the student and professor.
PREREQUISITES: NURS 6010 and NURS 6160
CLINICAL EXPERIENCE: 200 hours across the course
SEMINAR: 3 hours
HOURS OF CREDIT: 6 (Pass/Fail)

NURS 6360 BIOSTATISTICS
This course is designed to present the fundamental concepts of statistical applications to quantitative methods for graduate students in applied health sciences. The presentation of the course and accompanying materials are organized into five distinct sections: 1) data management and reporting, 2) processing continuous data to produce descriptive statistics, 3) processing discrete data to produce descriptive statistics, 4) concepts related to probability, and 5) testing hypotheses and measuring effect size.
LECTURE: 3 hours
LABORATORY: A series of assignments has been created that students can access via the web. This will constitute the laboratory component of the course.
HOURS OF CREDIT: 3