Nursing & Midwifery - Advanced Practice Nursing - Prescribing

Registered Advanced Nurse Practitioners (RANPs) are highly skilled clinicians and clinical leaders that deliver high quality, safe and effective person-centric care to a defined caseload of patients and their families. Enhance your nursing career with this qualification from the RCSI School of Nursing and Midwifery and prepare to practice professionally at a higher level of capability, autonomy and responsibility.



RANPs are increasingly driving change and innovation within Irish healthcare settings through the promotion of evidence-based practice, research dissemination, expert clinical practice and alignment of RANP roles and services with wider health strategy and health policy. You will develop the knowledge and clinical skills required for advanced practice nursing through critical reflection, practice experience and clinical competency development within your clinical practice.



This programme is delivered part-time over two years. Support is provided through the module lead, programme director and regular online drop-in sessions.



Suitable for

The MSc Advanced Practice Nursing (Prescribing) Programme is suitable for nurses who are interested in developing advanced practice nursing roles and services in collaboration with identified key stakeholders. This programme is suitable for nurses who meet the entry requirements and have not already successfully completed Nursing/Midwifery (Medicinal Product Prescribing).

What you will learn



Year 1

Advanced Research Methods

Advanced Leadership (Professional and Clinical)

Advanced Practice Clinical Practicum I

Pharmacology

Advanced Systematic Assessment

Professional Accountability in Nurse/Midwife Prescribing



Year 2

Generating Evidence for Practice

Advanced Practice Clinical Practicum II

Advanced Professional Accountability, Clinical Governance and Decision Making

Optional Specialist Module (x 1)

Have a minimum of an honour's primary degree in nursing or equivalent.



Hold an active registration on a division of the professional register maintained by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland.



Have three years’ recent post-registration clinical experience in nursing/midwifery (within the past five years), with the equivalent of one-year full time experience in the specific area of practice. This aligns with the standards and requirements for nurses and midwives with prescriptive authority of medicinal products.



Provide evidence of support from an employer and a completed Site Declaration Form (Advanced Practice Nursing Site Declaration Form All Applicants), signed by the director of nursing/public health/authorised nurse manager. The Site Declaration Form must contain confirmation of a designated medical practitioner mentor and/or ANP mentor.



Demonstrate evidence of continuing professional development.



Possess a competent level of information technology literacy.



Be currently employed as a nurse or midwife in the voluntary and statutory services of the Health Service Executive or a private health service organisation.



Recognition of prior learning (RPL)

Learning occurs in many contexts, including work, involvement in social and community activities, and learning through life experience generally. Recognition of prior learning (RPL) does not give credit for experience as such – rather, it considers learning that was acquired as a result of the experience.



RPL may be used to gain admission to programmes where an applicant may not have obtained the standard entry requirements. This is considered on a case-by-case basis.



Exemptions from programme modules that duplicate learning already demonstrably acquired through prior learning may also be considered on a case-by-case basis.



English language requirement exceptions

English language requirements for RCSI Postgraduate programmes are published on the RCSI website at https://www.rcsi.com/dublin/postgraduate/policies-and-guidelines/english-language-requirements



If you have completed undergraduate/postgraduate full-time studies in the medium of the English language (three or more years cumulatively) or are registered with the NMBI, you are exempt from these requirements.

2 years



Mode of delivery

Hybrid - Part-time

Next start date September 2025

On the successful completion of this programme, nurses are eligible to proceed to registration as Registered Advanced Nurse Practitioners (RANP) and Registered Nurse Prescribers (RNP) of medicinal products with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland.



Progression options could also include pursuing a professional doctorate.