Nursing (NURS) 614
Foundations of Advanced Practice Nursing
Delivery Mode: Paced/home-study online
Credits: 3
Area of Study: Applied Studies
Prerequisite: None
Centre: Centre for Nursing and Health Studies
Introduction
NURS 614 Foundations of Advanced Practice Nursing will examine four advanced practice nursing (APN) roles: nurse midwife, nurse anesthetist, nurse practitioner and clinical nurse specialist. Topics such as the education and regulation of APNs and the competencies required in each of these roles will be addressed. Community development and primary health care principles will serve as a framework to explore these advanced practice nursing roles in the Canadian health care context.
Course Goals
At the end of this course, the student should be able to:
- delineate characteristics and competencies of APNs, including CNS, NP, NM, NA.
- describe the process of educating and regulating APNs nationally and provincially.
- analyze theoretical and research underpinnings of advanced nursing roles.
- explore principles of community health development (connective processes, collaboration, empowerment, advocacy, organizational actions), primary health care (accessibility, participation, collaboration, health promotion, appropriate technology) and determinants of health.
- apply concepts related to scope of practice and continuity of care to care of clients across the life span.
- discuss components of APN roles, including expert guidance and coaching, consultation, clinical and professional leadership collaboration, ethical decision-making, advocacy, and change.
- identify sources of evidence that can inform the practice of nurse practitioners, including health indicators, research, and clinical guidelines.
- recognize the influence of cultural norms on the health practices of patients and families.
- apply the community development process in the provision of community health development services, including assessment of community needs and strengths, diagnosis of priority community health concerns, and promotion of community health.
Course Materials
Textbooks
Hamric, A., Spross, J., & Hanson, C. (2009). Advanced nursing practice: An integrative approach (4th ed.). St. Louis: Elsevier Saunders.
Vollman A, Anderson E, McFarlane J (2011). Canadian Community as partner (3rd ed). Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer/Lippincott Williams and Wilkins.
Course Structure
NURS 614 is an asynchronous online course. Students are expected to connect to an Internet Service Provider at their own expense.
Technical Requirements
In order to successfully complete this course, you must own or have ready access to certain computer hardware and software programs. For complete and up-to-date information on the minimum computer requirements required to complete the graduate nursing courses, visit the Centre for Nursing and Health Studies technical site.
Course Outline
NURS 614 consists of 15 weeks grouped into seven units.
Unit 1: Defining Advanced Practice Nursing
Unit one defines advanced practice nursing and introduces the roles included under the APN umbrella including clinical nurse specialist, nurse practitioner, nurse anesthetist and nurse midwife. Students will examine the history of these roles in Canada and the world.
Unit 2: Examining the Nurse Practitioner Role
Unit two examines the education and regulations of APNs in Canada. The roles of various federal and provincial government and professional bodies in regulating and influencing APN practice will be explored. Students will examine the economic s of APN roles in the context of the Canadian Health Care System including various funding and practice models and will gain an understanding of how advanced practice nursing roles are evaluated.
Unit 3: Models of Advanced Practice Nursing
Unit 3 focuses on nursing models relevant to advanced practice nursing. Students will examine selected nursing models and will examine the relevance of these theoretical models to APN practice.
Unit 4: Core competencies of the APN role
Unit 4 focuses on the core competencies underpinning APN roles. Students will explore the concepts of coaching and teaching, consultation, research, leadership, collaboration and ethical decision making.
Unit 5: Community Development Principles and Primary Health Care Principles
In Unit 5, students study a model to promote healthy living and multisectoral engagement in community health development initiatives. That model is the "Community as Partner" model and in this unit, students explore the model and being to collect community data to support community health development planning in future courses.
Unit 6: Evidence Based Practice
Nurse practitioners base their practice on evidence, including both research-based evidence and clinical expertise. This unit introduces students to the meaning of evidence-based practice and identifies sources of evidence that can be used to inform practice.
Unit 7: Cultural Influences on Health Care Decision Making
Understanding the influence of culture on health care practices and decision making is an essential component of advanced practice nursing. This unit explores the cultural context of health care and provides students with an opportunity to examine various belief systems as they apply to health care practices.
Assessment Structure
| Assessment Item | Percentage of Total Grade |
| Conference Participation and required postings | 30% |
| Assignment 1 – Role Paper | 25% |
| Assignment 2 - Community Assessment Project | 30% |
| Assignment 3- Case Vignettes | 15% |
| Total | 100% |
In order to pass NURS 614, you must achieve a minimum mark of 60% on conference participation, and on the three written assignments. An overall course mark of C- (60%) is required.
If the minimum mark is not achieved on any element of the assessment structure (conference participation or written assignments) then a failing grade will be assigned for NURS 614.
Conference Participation (30%)
Feedback regarding conference participation will be ongoing. Quality of input (not quantity) is the goal. Feedback will focus on the student's ability to provide organized and original contributions that reflect analysis and synthesis of the material presented.
Assignment 1
Students will be expected to interview an advanced practice nurse and to relate the findings of this interview in a scholarly paper, comparing the role of the APN to the theoretical components of the role as outlined in the literature.
Assignment 2
Assignment 2 consists of completing the Community Health Development Assignment.
Assignment 3
Students will write a series of short responses to selected case studies exploring components of the APN role.
Athabasca University reserves the right to amend course outlines occasionally and without notice. Courses offered by other delivery methods may vary from their individualized-study counterparts.
Last updated by G. Zahara 09/10/2013 12:09:42
