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Curriculum: PHCNP Certificate

Curriculum: PHCNP Certificate

The Primary Health Care Nurse Practitioner (PHCNP) Certificate program prepares professional nurses to write the College of Nurses of Ontario (external link) ’s NP – Primary Health Care (Ontario) exam and work as Nurse Practitioners in a variety of practice and leadership roles and settings.

The curriculum provides students with a strong foundation in advanced theory, research, and clinical practice, integrating self-direction as an essential element in the role of the Nurse Practitioner.

The program consists of 7 required Courses:

Students examine theoretical and practice related concepts in pathophysiology as a basis for advanced nursing practice. Students explore alterations in physiological function with an emphasis on age-related, acute, episodic, and chronic conditions found in primary health care practice.

Students compare and contrast advanced practice nursing and related frameworks to develop, integrate, sustain, and evaluate the role of the nurse practitioner within primary health care. Students critically analyze and develop strategies to implement advanced practice nursing competencies with a focus on the community.

Students analyze and critique concepts and frameworks essential to advanced health assessment and diagnosis using clinical reasoning skills. They apply clinical, theoretical and research knowledge in a comprehensive and focused health assessment for the individual client’s diagnostic plan of care.

Pre/co-requisite: Pathophysiology for Nurse Practitioners
Seminar: 3 hours per week
Clinical: 6 hours per week

Students integrate knowledge and apply conceptual frameworks integral to advanced health assessment and diagnosis in advanced nursing practice. Students demonstrate initiative, responsibility, and accountability in complex decision making for individuals, groups, and/or families within the nurse practitioner scope of practice based on current research findings.

Pre-requisite: AHAD I
Seminar: 3 hours per week
Clinical: 6 hours per week

Students critically appraise and interpret concepts and frameworks integral to pharmacotherapy, advanced counseling, and complementary therapies for common conditions across the lifespan. Students develop, initiate, manage, and evaluate therapeutics plans of care that incorporate client values and acceptability, goals of therapy, analysis of different approaches, pharmacotherapeutic principles.

Co/pre-requisites: AHAD I
Seminar: 3 hours per week
Clinical: 6 hours per week

Students integrate conceptual frameworks and evidence underlying the study of pharmacotherapy, advanced counseling, and complementary therapies for complex client situations. Students demonstrate substantive initiative, responsibility, and accountability in complex decision making.

Pre-requisite: Therapeutics I
Co-requisite: AHAD II
Seminar: 3 hours per week
Clinical: 6 hours per week

Students synthesize and integrate knowledge of research, theory, philosophy, ethics, clinical care, education and leadership to provide primary health care to diverse populations across the lifespan. Demonstrate autonomy in decision-making and the critical analysis of organizational and system issues that influence scope of practice and professional accountability.

Pre-Requisites: All other core MN and PHCNP field courses
Co-requisites: Major Research Paper
Seminar: 3 hours per week
Clinical: 32 hours per week