The Master in Nursing and Midwifery has an academic superstructure which follows the Bachelor in Nursing and Midwifery. This academic programme is offered at the University of Antwerp in collaboration with Artesis Plantijn Hogeschool Antwerpen, Karel de Grote Hogeschool and HZ University of Applied Sciences. Antwerp University Association’s collaboration with an international partner opens the door to an innovative approach to this training programme. The programme is competence-based, and recommendations for good medical and nursing education - such as the Dublin descriptors and the CanMeds roles (medical expert, communicator, team player, manager, health promoter, scientist and professional) - have contributed to its build-up.
The Nursing and Midwifery Department at the University of Antwerp consciously chose to offer a generic, high-quality academic programme. At the international level it ties in with the Master in Nursing, which offers nurses and midwives the opportunity to continue their studies at academic Master level. A nurse or midwife with a Master degree can then continue to work in the academic world, focussing on issues of intervention, innovation and implementation processes in healthcare. In doing so, alumni will pursue clinical leadership, research, evidence-based practice and an academic attitude.
The starting point here was to ensure that students master all of the four roles identified in analyses of people and society and the reflections of professionals. These roles are:
- Master in Nursing and Midwifery: clinical leader
- Master in Nursing and Midwifery: researcher
- Master in Nursing and Midwifery: evidence-based expert
- Master in Nursing and Midwifery: academic healthcare provider