Master of Nursing in Child Nursing

Purpose

The primary purpose of the qualification is to produce graduates who will be equipped with the knowledge, skills and values necessary to practice as autonomous and socially responsible advanced child nurse practitioners, in accordance with the South African Nursing Council's scope of practice and its requirements for listing of an additional qualification.

Graduates will be equipped with advanced research and academic knowledge and skills in child nursing to contribute to knowledge production (epistemology) in this discipline in a variety of settings and at a level where they are prepared for advanced clinical practice (ontology and praxis) and specialised professional employment in the National Health Services. These Master's graduates are expected to display an ability to engage the complexities of current healthcare systems in their region and country of origin in innovative ways to enhance creative utilisation of a variety of resources.

The qualification is designed to prepare nurse specialists to contribute and provide clinical leadership in the re-designed South African National Health Service.

Rationale

There is no clinical training qualification at a Master's level for Paediatric Nurses in the country. The existing Master of Science in Nursing qualification prepares an academic nurse and/or nurse researcher. The professional Master of Nursing in Child Nursing qualification is aimed at preparing an advanced nurse practitioner.

The re-engineered South African healthcare system requires and makes provision for knowledgeable, well-prepared advanced nurse practitioners to provide clinical leadership and improved patient outcomes. While this currently applies particularly in primary care contexts, a primary healthcare approach will increasingly be utilised in the management of complex chronic illness. Expert knowledge is an essential element for quality nursing care and should be based on the scholarship of discovery, teaching, service and integration of best practice in a variety of contexts with varied resources. The focus is on nursing interventions that affect health outcomes and address relevant Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The institution will collaborate with the Child Nurse Practice Development Initiative, a unit in the Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, which has the expertise and is committed to leading practice change and improving the nursing care of children and their families.

The professional Master of Nursing in Child Nursing qualification is aligned with the National Department of Health's human resource strategy and the Occupation Specific Dispensation (OSD) whereby nurses employed at specialist level are required to have a clinical Master's qualification. In addition, the qualification is a response to the National Nursing Strategy (Department of Health, 2006) which called for an upgrade of all nursing qualifications to strengthen nursing education and clinical specialisation. SANC approval is not required as the qualification will yield no professional registration. The qualification will be registered as an additional qualification.

The design of the qualification takes cognisance of current work and thinking at national and international nursing forums: the South African Nursing Council (SANC) and Forum for University Nursing Departments in South Africa (FUNDISA); and the International Council of Nurses (ICN).

The Ministry of Health's strategy on nursing proposes significantly increasing training to nurses who will need supervision and support. The institution's Master's- child nurse practitioners will provide this support in clinical management of more complex conditions and situations. The child nurse practitioner will demonstrate scholarly leadership and deliver evidence-based practice healthcare as an independent practitioner within the multidisciplinary healthcare team. The institution and its teaching hospitals are in a unique position to offer supervision and training in clinical specialties.

Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL)

Access via RPL will be applied in accordance with the SANC 2013 guidelines.

Entry Requirements

The minimum requirements for admission to this qualification are

• A four-year Degree in Nursing.

Or

• An appropriate Postgraduate Diploma in Nursing.

And

• Registration with SANC with two years' clinical nursing experience in child nursing post-SANC registration.

This qualification comprises compulsory modules at Level 9 totalling 180 Credits.

• Clinical Research (faculty-wide offering), 30 Credits.
• Clinical Leadership (faculty-wide offering), 30 Credits.
• Advanced Child Nursing Practice A, 35 Credits.
• Advanced Child Nursing Practice B, 40 Credits.
• Research-related independent study, 45 Credits.

• Deal with complex issues requiring a high level of theoretical engagement in both systematic and creative ways, utilising Afro-centric solutions to the complexities of healthcare provision.
• Demonstrate clinical skills and practice guided by good outcomes in a multi-logical clinical environment.
• Critically appraise information and systems and design clinical improvement strategies requiring intellectual independence.
• Communicate well in a variety of media, electronic and interpersonal platforms.
• Make sound moral judgements using the data and information at one's disposal and communicate conclusions clearly to specialist and non-specialist audiences.
• Demonstrate self-direction and originality in tackling and solving problems.
• Act autonomously in planning and implementing tasks with a keen nursing orientation.
• Engage with the complexities of current healthcare systems in the region and country of origin in innovative ways to enhance creative utilisation of a variety of resources.
• Develop new knowledge and skills in child nursing.
• Engage critically with the principles, theories, issues and debates emerging nationally and globally in children's rights, child nursing and maternal health.

The following Associated Assessment Criteria will be applied in an integrated manner across the Exit Level Outcomes

• Apply advanced clinical knowledge and skill to assess and manage acute, critical and emerging instability and life-threatening conditions in children in ways that demonstrate astute engagement with, and critique of, current research or practices, as well as advanced scholarship in the particular field of child nursing.
• Apply knowledge and research literacy to evaluate current clinical evidence and to assess, discriminate between and select appropriate methods and processes of enquiry.
• Select and apply appropriate and creative methods, techniques, processes or technologies to complex practical and theoretical problems faced daily in multi-logical clinical settings in child nursing practice.
• Demonstrate clinical problem-solving and moral reasoning using a wide range of specialised skills to identify, describe, design and implement continuous and comprehensive care as the lead clinician for a particular sub-group of children.
• Plan for complex care provision and recovery with the aim to minimize risk and achieve the best outcomes for sick children.
• Demonstrate high levels of accountability and responsibility for dealing with the consequences of clinical decisions in a clinical lead role which includes a supervisory role within, and of, a clinical health care facility.
• Make decisions and generate solutions with the wider multi-disciplinary healthcare team and the family within available resources.

Integrated Assessment

Assessment will be an assignment and will be project-based and is both formative and summative.

Assessment of experiential learning will take place via a Portfolio of Evidence and practical examination at the end of Year 2.