The care for patients in critical conditions and their families is a highly specialised, challenging and demanding area of health care practice. Critical care nursing is the nursing field focusing on the utmost care of patients who require mechanical ventilation through endotracheal intubation and vasoactive intravenous medications following extensive injury, surgery or life-threatening illness.
Critical care is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year. The modern Intensive Care concept was coined in 1952 in response to the devastating polio epidemic in Copenhagen, Denmark. Unfortunately, Covid-19, another pandemic, is looming on the horizon, bringing critical care back to the front of the national and international agenda. In the Palestinian context, the expansion in the establishment of health institutions, as well as the trend towards achieving accreditation standards related to improving the health care provided, in addition to rapid scientific and technological progress, has led to an increase in the need for highly qualified nursing cadres in various specialities who can make a change in health care provided to the individual, family and society.
The global trend of the nursing profession requires that specialisation in nursing be at the graduate level. It was necessary to establish a specialised program at the master’s level to prepare professional practitioners with a significant degree of knowledge and specialised clinical nursing skill based on advanced theoretical and practical foundations and to enable these practitioners to employ Scientific and nursing knowledge and theories in the field of providing clinical nursing care in subspecialties in line with the international classification of specialised nurses in line with the needs of society in general and the hospital sector in particular
The program’s mission is to improve nursing practice in critical care settings and train competent, skilful and responsible nurses. It encourages accountability and commitment in continuing education, contributes to the body of knowledge in nursing through guided and independent research studies, and facilitates evidence-based practice. In addition, it fosters decision making, critical thinking and creative work. The postgraduate programme in nursing aims to prepare graduates to assume responsibilities as Clinical Nurse Specialists, Nurse Practitioners, Educators, Researchers and Administrators in a wide variety of professional settings, nationally and internationally.
The College of Biomedical Sciences at Palestine Ahliya University believes that Nursing, like health science, requires prompt updating of knowledge and skills in clinical speciality to render quality services and maintain collaboration with other health professionals. Therefore, postgraduate programmes prepare nurses to assume leadership positions in nursing and allied health fields as specialists, practitioners, consultants, educators, researchers, administrators and researchers in various settings to meet the health care priorities and the changing needs of society.
أن يكون المتقدم حاصل على درجة البكالوريوس بتقدير جيد على الأقل في التمريض من جامعة معترف بها .
First: General Rules &Conditions:
- This plan conforms to the valid regulations of the programs of graduate studies.
- The Terms and Conditions of Admission to the Course
- Holding a BSc degree in nursing.
- One year of clinical experience or teaching/training experience in speciality-related fields.
- An active member of the Palestinian Nursing and Midwifery Council and adhere at all times to their Code of Professionals.
- Able and welling to participate in the national master’s entrance requirement and become qualified as per the Palestine Ahliya University procedures.
- Being mentally and physically healthy
Second: General competencies
Communication skills, interviewing, reporting, critical thinking, professionalism as well as:
- Concepts and theories in nursing
- Evidence-based practice
- Research methodology in nursing
- Statistics for nursing research
Third: Specific Competencies and Skills (Special Qualifications)
- To deliver skilled and evidenced-based nursing care and intervention for patients who need intensive care.
- To assess patients non-invasively and help invasive assessment of patients in critical care units.
- To interpret and analyse clinical data, primary and secondary.
- Acquiring qualifications for conducting applied research and employing the findings to solve nursing problems in the care of patients.
Graduate nurses can work in various intensive care departments both in public and private sectors as Direct Care Providers, Researchers, Trainers, Supervisors and Program Managers:
- Neonatal intensive care units.
- Pediatric intensive care units.
- Cardiac intensive care units.
- Surgical intensive care units.
- Intensive care units for burns.
- Emergency departments.
- As teachers in universities.
- As trainers for nursing students.
- esUtilise up-to-date knowledge and holistic perspective in advanced critical care nursing management of health and disease states.
- Demonstrate competence within the area of clinical sspecialisation in Critical care nursing by applying nursing knowledge and skills and other sciences to promote the health of individuals, families, and communities.
- Practice within the professional, legal and ethical advanced practice context.
- Maximise the use of information technology applications to enhance advanced roles of critical care nursing practice, education, and research.
- Apply research and evidence-based nursing practice to improve nursing practice, quality of client care, safety and outcomes.
- Apply leadership skills and decision making in providing nursing care and safe care delivery to individuals, populations, or communities across the health care delivery system.
- Demonstrate competencies in communication, collaboration, and consultation skills required in the advanced interprofessional teams and health care recipients in the advanced nursing management of health and disease states.
- Develop and improve the role of educator in nursing practice within the area of clinical sspecialisation in Critical care nursing.
- Prepare and present an oral presentation to a professional standard.
- Write a research proposal to a professional standard (For Comprehensive Track).
- Write original research to a professional standard that builds up knowledge in the nursing discipline and other related sciences (For Thesis Track).