Advanced Clinical Practice MSc

Date: 01 September 2011 to 31 August 2014

Location: Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen

Advanced clinical practitioners are highly experienced and educated members of the care team who are able to diagnose and treat health care needs or make a referral to an appropriate specialist if needed.

They can take a comprehensive patient history, carry out detailed assessments and use their expert knowledge and clinical judgement to identify potential appropriate plans of treatment and care. They have a knowledge of clinical practice that allows them to carry out treatment, including the prescribing of medicines, use their extensive practice experience to plan and provide skilled and competent care and evaluate the effectiveness of interventions.

This course will provide you with a comprehensive programme of preparation that develops an advanced level of practice. It recognises the accepted international benchmark for advanced practice.

Our clinical partners in NHS Scotland have contributed to the development of the course so that you can develop your knowledge and skills required to engage in the delivery of an advanced level of practice. The course is structured around the real challenges facing advanced clinical practitioners and each module will draw from and build on your own professional experience.

Who should attend

This course is ideal for registered nurses with a degree and normally two or more years of practical experience. In addition, because of the work based nature of the course all students must be working in clinical practice.

The strong emphasis on practice-based learning will allow you to apply your new knowledge to your own area of practice and mould the course to best suit your own learning requirements. Flexibility is not only contained within the modular content of the course, but also in the mode of delivery. Modular content is delivered via a blended learning approach, with a mix of face-to-face and online.

Benefits for you as an individual

You will gain more confidence in yourself as a person and as a professional. You will develop the skills you need to enable you to question your practice and make appropriate decisions about health care. This will in turn benefit other staff around you.

Career opportunities

This course will prepare you for an advanced clinical role in a range of health care settings. You will develop the decision making, research and leadership skills required to deal with complex clinical situations. The course is designed to allow you to continue and develop your knowledge and skills within your own areas of practice, enabling you to accelerate your career progression.

Programme

The course commences each September, and is delivered part-time over a three year period.

You will learn to:

develop a robust theoretical and practical knowledge base
explore the professional and clinical implications of working as an autonomous practitioner
practice at an advanced level in a modern health service
examine and develop the necessary leadership skills
devise and develop a relevant evidence based project.