Ministry of Health

NZ Government

    
 ©Copyright
 Published: 21/11/2007

History Postgraduate Certificate in Neonatal Nursing Advanced and Expanded Nursing Practice

Graduation Day 2003 Graduates from the Neonatal Service following completion of their Master of Nursing. From left to right: Allison Campbell, Diane Saint, and Penny Smith.

History

National Women's has a long history of offering ongoing education aimed at developing expertise in neonatal nursing. The original course was a hospital based neonatal intensive care nursing course, this was followed by the development of a "neonatal nurse practitioner" course held in collaboration with one of the technical institutions. These courses have developed and changed with the changing healthcare and educational climates over the years to meet the needs of nurses in this speciality.

The program is now housed within a Master of Nursing through Massey University.

Program options available:

The program is a clinically-based specialty program that offers the student a range of options.

These are:

1. Individual papers: Neonatal Science and Clinical Care of the Neonate I, Neonatal and Family Assessment, Neonatal Science and Clinical Care of the Neonate II.
2. A post-graduate certificate in neonatal nursing (formally the neonatal intensive care nursing course.
3. Advanced and expanded nursing practice course (formally the "Neonatal nurse practitioner" course)

Course Details

Postgraduate Certificate in Neonatal Nursing

This is a course offered to nurses currently in neonatal nursing practice. The aim of this course is to develop expertise in neonatal nursing and to prepare nurses wishing to continue into the advanced practice nursing course.

The course entails three ‘papers’ held in collaboration with Massey University. These papers are; Neonatal Science and Clinical Care of the Neonate I (168:725) worth 25 points, Neonatal and Family Assessment (168:727) and Practicum I (168:760) worth 12.5 points each. These papers are Masters level papers giving a total of 50 Masters level points.

The theoretical papers (Neonatal Science and Clinical Care of the Neonate I and Neonatal and Family Assessment) include 17 contact study days. The majority of these are held at National Women’s Hospital with some held at Middlemore Hospital and Massey University. Study days are generally in blocks of two or three days. The practicum paper is generally assessed in the neonatal unit in which the student is employed. These papers are also offered extramurally at Massey University.

Requirements to gain entry into the postgraduate certificate include:

1. Currently employed in a neonatal unit and have a minimum of two years experience (0.8 – full time) in neonatal nursing
2. Written evidence of support from your employer
3. A professional portfolio
4. New Zealand citizen or hold a residency permit

On completion of this course the student is able to exit with a postgraduate certificate in neonatal nursing, or to continue with their studies. Students wishing to continue with their studies can complete two more papers and exit with a Postgraduate diploma or complete six more 25-point papers and exit with a Master of Nursing with a neonatal endorsement.

Advanced and Expanded Nursing Practice

This course expands on the postgraduate certificate in neonatal nursing. The aim of the course is to prepare nurses to practice in an advanced and expanded clinical nursing practice role in a role modelled on the Neonatal Nurse Practitioner role practised in the United States.

This course entails three papers held in collaboration with Massey University. The papers are: Neonatal science and clinical care of the neonate II (168:726), Practicum II (168:761) and Practicum III(168:762).These papers are at Masters level; ‘Neonatal science and clinical care of the neonate II’ is worth 25 points and each ‘Practicum’ is worth 12.5 points, giving a total of 50 Masters level points.

Neonatal science and clinical care of the neonate II includes 16 study days completed over two semesters. The majority of study days are held at National Women's hospital with some at Middlemore and Waikato hospitals, and Massey University. The two practicum papers are run concurrently and include 13 weeks full time supervised advanced and expanded clinical practice in a variety of neonatal intensive care units.

Requirements to gain entry to this advanced and expanded nursing practice papers include:

1. Completion of the Neonatal Science and clinical care of the Neonate I (168.725), Neonatal and family assessment (168.727) and Practicum I (168.760) or recent equivalent.
2. Four years full time experience in neonatal intensive care nursing
3. Progression to expert neonatal nursing level (relevant to institutions clinical care pathway)
4. Documented support from the students employing institution
5. Meet the academic requirement for entry into post-graduate education.

On completion of this clinical Master of nursing program nurses may wish to apply for registration as a Nurse practitioner.

Updated by Bronwyn Jones, November 2002