Postgraduate Diploma in Nursing
Course details
| NZQF Level | 8 |
|---|
About the course
This programme provides registered nurses with the opportunity to extend their clinical knowledge and skills in a specific area of practice including registered nurse prescribing in primary health and speciality teams. It is delivered through a combination of block courses and online. A candidate may take up to four years to complete this postgraduate diploma.
The programme consists of four modules: two core modules and two practise modules covering a range of advanced speciality practice areas.
After successfully completing any two postgraduate nursing modules students may choose to exit with the Postgraduate Certificate in Nursing. They can then return to complete the postgraduate diploma at a later date provided this is within four years of their first enrolment in the Postgraduate Diploma in Nursing programme.
Registered Nurse Prescribing endorsement
Wintec offers prescribing practicums for nurses who want to become registered nurse prescribers in primary health and speciality teams.
The programme is in response to the recently introduced regulation that allows suitably qualified nurses working in collaborative teams to prescribe from a restricted list of medications for people with common and long-term conditions. The Wintec Postgraduate Diploma of Nursing – Registered Nurse Pathway is specifically for nurses who have at least three years of experience and are looking to become a registered nurse prescriber. The programme, which will take two years (part-time) to complete, requires the study of pathophysiology, pharmacology, assessment, clinical reasoning and long-term and related conditions, prior to undertaking a supervised prescribing practicum of 150 hours.
Entry requirements
- Candidates are required to have gained:
- An undergraduate Nursing degree, or other undergraduate degree assessed as relevant by the Centre for Health and Social Practice Postgraduate Programme Committee, conferred by a New Zealand tertiary education institution, or
- a qualification approved as equivalent by the Postgraduate Programme Committee.
Candidates who have not gained a relevant undergraduate degree or equivalent qualification may submit a portfolio for informal transfer of credit and, if the application is successful, may be admitted on an equivalent basis.
Candidates for the Māori Mental Health endorsement must meet the following additional and specific requirements for entry to the programme. Such applicants must:
- Have at least two years' of clinical experience in the mental health field, gained within the past five years, and
- identify as Māori, demonstrating knowledge of their whānau, hapū and iwi, and
- demonstrate understanding of the role of tikanga Māori within their own nursing practice.
- Candidates for the Registered Nurse Prescribing endorsement must meet the following additional and specific requirements for entry to the programme. Such candidates must:
- Have completed three years' equivalent full-time practice in an area of common and longterm conditions nursing.
- Demonstrate up-to-date clinical knowledge relevant to their intended area of prescribing practice and have attained a B grade in NURS801 Integrated Science and Assessment, NURS804 Pharmacology for Nursing Practice, and NURS812 Advanced Practice in Longterm Conditions.
- Have a collaborative working relationship within an interprofessional team and the support of a designated, authorised prescriber (DAP), (a vocationally registered medical practitioner or nurse practitioner who has current indemnity insurance ) as a mentor who will provide clinical supervision for prescribing practice.
- Have professional/personal indemnity insurance.
- Be employed within an organisation that enables nurse prescribing through policy, audit, peer review and accessibility of continuing education, while undertaking the prescribing practicum.
- Have documented approval from an area of clinical practice in which to undertake the prescribing practicum.
Selection Criteria In addition to the above criteria, all candidates must hold a current New Zealand practising certificate as a Registered Nurse.
Unless otherwise stated, all candidates must have completed a minimum of six months of post-registration clinical experience within the past five years.
All candidates must be employed for a minimum of 16 hours per week.
Where there are more applications than the number of places available, selection will be determined on the basis of:
- Whether candidates meet the pre-requisites for each paper, and
- commitment to study as demonstrated at admission interviews, and
- references supplied.
Where the industry and/or community have indicated a need for graduates from the programme with a particular specialisation, and/or have provided sponsorship for candidates to undertake modules leading to a particular specialisation, applicants for that specialisation and/or those modules may be given priority.
Candidates will complete their enrolment before the commencement of each semester.
Candidates for the Postgraduate Diploma in Nursing (Māori Mental Health) will normally be enrolled in a part-time programme of study over two years, to enable them to fulfil the clinical requirements of that endorsement stream.
Candidates for the Postgraduate Diploma in Nursing, Registered Nurse Prescribing endorsement, will normally be enrolled in a part-time programme of study over two years, to enable them to fulfil requirements for the supervised Prescribing Practicum.
*This course is not available to international students.
About the provider
Based in Hamilton, the Waikato Institute of Technology (Wintec), is one of the country’s largest institutes of technology. We deliver high-quality education across vocational (technical) and professional fields of study to approximately 13,000 students, across over 130 different courses.
At Wintec students are educated in a way that builds their confidence and gets them work-ready. We differ from other types of tertiary providers in the way students get the chance to put their theoretical learning into practice from the very start. You will get to work on real-life projects based on relevant topics and themes as if you were in the workplace. You will also get involved in work placements. This means that by the time you graduate, you will be confident in your skills and knowledge, and know-how to apply your learnings. Our academic staff have years of industry experience between them, which means they can guide you on your journey.
Wintec maintains collaborative relationships with local industry and iwi to identify the needs of the region and community. Fostering strong networks that our students and graduates benefit from is a high priority for us. Understanding the needs of local industry, what type of graduates they need now, and what they will need in the future is critical to assisting industry and our graduates.