Family Nurse Practitioner Program &
Master of Science in Nursing
The Nursing Program at the University of Northern
British Columbia has now gained RNABC and internal approval to launch
two new degrees in advanced nursing practice designated a Master
of Science in Nursing (MScN). There will be two streams to this
new Master’s degree program:
These two streams share five core courses in common. Students taking
the academic MScN will then complete three additional courses and a
thesis or major project. This degree conforms with traditional Master’s
degrees offered at UNBC. Students taking the FNP stream will complete
four clinical courses and three practicum/internship experiences.
The curriculum framework provides an overview of the required courses to be undertaken in each MScN offering
The Master in Nursing Science: Family Nurse Practitioner is a practice
oriented, theory-based degree that prepares graduates to be autonomous
practitioners, leaders, role models, and educators in primary health
care. The focus of the UNBC MScN: Family Nurse Practitioner Program
will be general family practice – that is, care across all life stages.
Family Nurse Practitioners are registered nurses with advanced
education and skills to provide a broad range of health care services
from a holistic nursing perspective. They will be involved in
diagnosing, prescribing, ordering diagnostic tests, and managing
diseases, disorders, and conditions within a professionally regulated
scope of practice. They will practice in a variety of health care
settings and work in close collaboration with existing health care
professionals and service providers.
In British Columbia, the goal of introducing Family Nurse Practitioners
is to improve client health outcomes by increasing accessibility to
health care services, expanding clients’ health care options, and
filling gaps that presently exist in health care delivery. Although the
role of the Family Nurse Practitioner includes some activities in
common with physicians, they are not substitute physicians. The
Registered Nurses Association of British Columbia (RNABC) is
responsible for the regulation of Family Nurse Practitioners through
approval of education programs and registration processes that include two
examinations and an ongoing quality assurance program for renewal of
registration, including the establishment of standards, limits, and
conditions on the scope of practice. The government is responsible for
developing Family Nurse Practitioner legislation and funding employment
and compensation issues.
The University of Victoria and the University of British Columbia
admitted their first FNP students Master’s in September 2003 and
graduates from those programs will be entering practice in August 2005.
The government provided funding for the UNBC FNP program with the
stipulation that UNBC adapt the curricula already available at these
two institutions to meet the particular health care needs of northern
BC. The UNBC FNP program admited its first 11 students in September
2005 and has room for 15 students in each year.
Rationale
The Northern Health Authority provides health services to an area which
covers 65% of the province with a population distribution and geography
that challenges access to health care. This region has the highest
mortality rate and the lowest health status in the province. 35 percent of all BC First Nations people (15.6% of the
population) live in the Northern Health Authority region. In addition,
by 2010 the projected growth rate of seniors is 48%. Family Nurse
Practitioners will play a vital role by increasing access to primary
health care across all life stages. In particular, sound evidence
suggests that nurse practitioners play an important role in the
clinical management of common health conditions, establishing
prevention and health promotion programs, managing chronic illnesses,
and caring for seniors and other people with mental health and
addiction challenges. Therefore, educating and preparing Family Nurse
Practitioners to work in northern BC is essential.
Efforts will be made to enroll First Nations students and ultimately
educated nurse practitioners will become preceptors, mentors, and
educators for the Family Nurse Practitioner Program at UNBC. UNBC is
ideally suited to undertake this important initiative as it describes
itself as “in the north, for the north”. A key focus
of the UNBC MScN: Family Nurse Practitioner Program will be to ensure
graduates meet and improve the health care needs of northern BC
populations.
Family Nurse Practitioner Program Goals
Graduate outcomes of the Family Nurse Practitioner Master’s degree are directed by the following program goals. To:
compliment existing knowledge and experience in nursing practice
by adding an advanced level of knowledge from nursing and other
sciences and bodies of knowledge, including designated medical
knowledge;
develop mastery of knowledge and skills related to the primary
health care of individuals and families within the context of community
and across the lifespan;
be knowledgeable and sensitive to the particular needs and practice expectations of working in northern and remote regions;
be critically reflective practitioners and role models as they develop and enact their Family Nurse Practitioner role;
develop a focused vision of high quality, evidence-based nursing
practice for health promotion, injury/illness prevention, and illness
care management in relation to the Family Nurse Practitioner role
within the context of community;
be educators to individuals, families, groups, and communities
provide professional leadership and direct care in advanced
practice within nursing and across other health and social service
disciplines;
collaborate effectively with individuals, families, communities,
and other health and social service professionals to ensure high
quality, comprehensive, holistic primary health care;
contribute to knowledge development within nursing and primary
health care generally and specifically to the development and growth of
nurse practitioner disciplinary knowledge and practice;
promote the delivery and management of evidence-based, client and community focused care;
influence, negotiate, and manage change within nursing and
primary health care that enhances the health and well-being of the
community and the critical role of nurse practitioners to that end.
demonstrate responsibility and accountability in the enactment of
the RNABC/CRNBC Competencies Required of Nurse Practitioners in BC as
applied in the family stream of nurse practitioner practice, including
the integration and performance of advanced nursing competencies as
well as those unique to the nurse practitioner scope of practice; the
Standards for Nurse Practitioner for Prescribing and Dispensing Drugs
and Nurse Practitioner Physician Consultation and any other standards,
limits, and conditions established by the college as applied to the
family stream in a variety of health care contexts;
enact a strong sense of moral, ethical, professional, and legal
standards of practice leading to confident, efficacious practitioners.
MScN Academic Program Goals
Graduate outcomes of the Master’s of Science in Nursing degree are directed by the following program goals. To:
be knowledgeable and sensitive to the particular needs and practice expectations of working in northern and remote regions;
be critically reflective practitioners;
be leaders, role models, researchers, and educators in health care, educational settings, and to the general public;
develop a focused vision of high quality, evidence-based nursing
practice for health promotion, injury/illness prevention, and illness
care management;
provide professional leadership and direct care in advanced
practice within nursing and across other health and social service
disciplines;
contribute to knowledge development within nursing;
promote the delivery and management of evidence-based, client and community focused care;
influence, negotiate, and manage change within nursing and health
care that enhances the health and well-being of the individuals,
families, groups, and the community;
enact a strong sense of moral, ethical, professional, and legal standards of practice.
Timeline: The first 11 students entered the Master of Science in Nursing: Family Nurse Practitioner Program in September 2005. The
academic Master’s in Nursing Science will follow in approximately two
years.
Program Delivery: Student will have the option to take the FNP degree
full- or part-time. The full-time program consists of six semesters over
two years. Part-time students have four years to complete their degree.
The course sequence table shows the courses by semester over a two-year
timeframe. Part-time students will take courses as they are offered in
the program. However, there will be some prerequisite requirements for
the nurse practitioner specific courses. All but one of the theory
courses will be taken in a web-based distance delivery format, while all
practice courses will require initial on-site instruction.
