The Post-Master’s Certificate in Nurse Practitioner Specialty Practice (NPSP)
The Post-Master’s Certificate in Nurse Practitioner Specialty Practice (NPSP) supports licensed Nurse Practitioners to achieve additional knowledge and clinical practice skills within an area of specialization. Program duration is 8-10 months. The curriculum for this certificate program begins with didactic learning in the specialty area, building on advanced practice clinical knowledge and skills, progressing to work integrated clinical fellowship hours and ongoing academic learning with an interprofessional team of learners in a specialty clinical environment. Clinical experiences may be supplemented by all levels of laboratory simulation.
For the NPSP program, the Faculty’s minimum admission requirements are:
- Completion of an undergraduate degree in Nursing.
- Completion of a Masters-level degree which has qualified the NPSP applicant to license as an NP.
- The required admission GPA must be at least 3.0 on the 4-point scale from the University of Alberta, or an equivalent institution. The admission GPA will be calculated on the most recent 60 credits of graded coursework completed, including the applicant’s graduate course credits.
- Evidence of a minimum of 4,500 hours of licensed registered nurse clinical practice.
- Active full or provisional NP license in a Canadian province or territory.
- The requirement for a test of English Language Proficiency (ELP) will be waived for applicants who are currently licensed as an RN or NP with a Canadian nursing regulator.
- Canadian Indigenous History and Contemporary Context Requirement
- To attend to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s calls to action, the Faculty of Nursing requires all incoming graduate students to be familiar with Canadian Indigenous history and contemporary context, which are essential to nursing. After admission, but prior to beginning the NPSP, incoming students must complete the U of A Indigenous Canada Massive Open Online Course (MOOC).
- This is a 12-module, non-credit course.
- Students formally register and receive a certificate of completion.
- The registration cost for this course is $66.00. Please plan for this expense in your budget.
- Completion of a previous course can be used to fulfill this requirement. If a student has completed a similar course, they can submit the course outline and evidence of completion for review by the Faculty of Nursing Graduate Office.
- To attend to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s calls to action, the Faculty of Nursing requires all incoming graduate students to be familiar with Canadian Indigenous history and contemporary context, which are essential to nursing. After admission, but prior to beginning the NPSP, incoming students must complete the U of A Indigenous Canada Massive Open Online Course (MOOC).
Specializations
Specializations will be developed to address identified workforce needs. The first specialization to be developed will be a Rural Care NPSP. Additional specializations will follow, with discussions between the Ministry of Health, health care providers, and the University of Alberta Faculty of Nursing guiding pursuit of additional NPSP specializations.
Course Exemptions and Transfer Credits for NPSP Applicants
Applicants for the NPSP program will not be granted course exemptions. Transfer credits may only be considered from an accepted specialty certification program within Canada that is addressing the same specialty area of practice. These requests would be considered on a case-by-case basis with consideration of the applicability of previous coursework, the grade achieved, and the currency (normally within the previous 6 years).