Program Requirements
Admission Requirements
Admission to the Post MSN Certificate in Palliative Care program requires both a baccalaureate degree and a Master of Nursing degree from institutions accredited by a regional accrediting association.
Students should have computing skills sufficient to complete graduate work. Admission decisions will be influenced by experience in the field and the educational goals of individual applicants.
See How to Apply for details on a complete admission application.
Required course sequence for the Post-MSN Palliative Care Certificate Program (22 units; 540 clinical hours)
- NURS 532C Advanced Concepts of Palliative Care Nursing Across the Lifespan in Acute Care (2 units)
- NURS 533F Advanced Concepts of Palliative Care Nursing Across the Lifespan in Acute Care Field Study (3 units-135 clinical hours)
- NURS 534C Advanced Concepts of Palliative Care Nursing Across the Lifespan in the Community (2 units)
- NURS 535F Advanced Concepts of Palliative Care Nursing Across the Lifespan in the Community Field Study (3units-135 clinical hours)
- NURS 536 Advanced Chronic Illness Concepts (2 units)
- NURS TBA Current Topics in Pain Management (1 unit)
- NURS TBA Palliative Care for Special Populations (1 unit)
- NURS TBA Loss, Grief, and Bereavement (2 units)
- NURS TBA Advanced Practice Palliative Care Externship (6 units-270 clinical hours)
Academic Objectives: The Advanced Practice Nurse Concentration Student Learning Outcomes will serve the Post-MSN Palliative Care Certificate. Students will:
1. Provide patient/family-centered palliative care as an Advanced Practice Nurse, recognizing the patient/family as full partners in decision making.
2. Provide holistic patient/family centered care as an Advanced Practice Nurse to promote health, well-being and quality of life across the lifespan for individuals and their families who are on a palliative care trajectory.
3. Function as an integral member of an interdisciplinary team to contribute the nursing knowledge and skill set needed to augment and support the contributions of other disciplines. The interdisciplinary team is organized around solving a common set of problems to optimize the holistic care of the patient.
4. Integrate appropriate technologies to improve health care, demonstrate information literacy skills and use technology systems that capture data for the evaluation of palliative nursing care.
5. Anticipate variations in practice and is proactive in implementing interventions to ensure quality; Apply skills in peer review to promote a culture of interdisciplinary excellence; Evaluate the relationship among cost, access, quality and safety of care provided in a variety of settings, for those with advanced illness.
6. Integrate palliative care knowledge from the disciplines represented by the interdisciplinary team within the context of nursing science, and critically analyze data and evidence improving nursing practice. Translate research and other forms of knowledge to improve practice process and outcomes.
7. Assume complex and advanced leadership roles, foster collaboration with multiple stakeholders, and analyze organizational, economic and health policy issues that affect delivery of hospice and palliative care.
8. Demonstrate an understanding of the interdependence of policy and practice, advocate for ethical policies, and analyze ethical, legal, and social factors influencing policy development.
9. Utilize an interdisciplinary approach t integrate ethical principles in decision making, evaluate the ethical consequences of decisions, and apply ethically sound solutions to complex issues related to individuals, populations, and systems of care associated with a palliative care trajectory.
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