News Releases

UWI launches Master’s in Advanced Nursing

For Release Upon Receipt - April 16, 2009

St. Augustine


The University of the West Indies (UWI), School of Advanced Nursing Education has introduced a postgraduate programme that will help to meet the Caribbean region’s need for high-quality health care, particularly in the field of Nursing.

The Master of Science in Advanced Nursing (MScN), the latest addition to the University’s Faculty of Medical Sciences in Mount Hope, Trinidad and Tobago, is the first accredited programme of its kind in that country. Set to launch in September 2009, the MScN will soon be equipping a new generation of nurses to assume leadership roles in the areas of nursing education, management, clinical specialties and other professional positions within the health care system.

MSN graduates will develop an understanding of health care policy, organisation and financing, and, participate in the design and implementation of care in a variety of health care systems, and assume a leadership role in the management of health care resources.

“Before this programme, advanced Nursing education at the postgraduate level almost did not exist in Trinidad and Tobago,” says Dr Meryl Price, Director of the UWI School of Advanced Nursing Education (SANE). She explained that, previously, local nurses who wanted to pursue an advanced nursing degree either had to go to Jamaica or migrate out of the Caribbean.

The MScN is also available to professionals wanting greater knowledge of the field of Nursing. The programme is expected to attract a number of highly motivated practising nursing healthcare professionals who are aspiring to acquire academic certification in advanced nursing education and administration. As such, it is being offered full-time in modular format, to facilitate those who prefer to remain in practice while studying.

Structured around the major components of theory, research and clinical, the MSN focuses on central concepts of leadership, critical thinking, decision making, evidence based practice and planned change. It eliminates the prolonged use of lecturing as the sole teaching method, by integrating a number of different forms of distance education, teleconferencing, Computer-Assisted Instruction (CAI), mentoring and service-based learning.

The UWI Medical Sciences Faculty plans to expose students to teaching from faculty in schools of nursing in the USA, Canada and UK, where SANE has established linkages with Michigan State University, College of Nursing, Mc Master University, School of Nursing, Sheffield University School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Virginia School of Nursing at Charlotteville, and University of California, LA School of Nursing.

Since its establishment in 2004, SANE has launched two undergraduate degree programmes—the Bachelor of Science (BSc) Nursing in 2005 and the BSc Nursing (Oncology) in 2007—and has continued to position itself as a major hub of academic development and advancement for nursing and midwifery personnel in Trinidad and Tobago and the wider Caribbean region. SANE’s latest postgraduate offering now makes it possible for graduates of the BSc programmes to fulfill their career trajectory. End

APPLICATION PROCEDURE: Online applications will remain open until July 2009. For application details, please visithttp://sta.uwi.edu/postgrad.apply.asp . Entry requirements include a BSc in Nursing or an equivalent. Candidates with other qualifications will be considered if they have at least 10 years experience. Applicants who do not gain admission may reapply.

FINANCIAL SUPPORT: The School of Advanced Nursing Education (SANE) may be able to provide some financial support for some students. Trinidad nationals are eligible for support under the GATE programme. For more information, please contact SANE at 868 662 5634 or 645 2640 Ext. 4759, (Fax) 868 662-5634, or (E-mail) sane@fms.uwi.tt, or visit our website:http://sta.uwi.edu/scholarships.asp

MORE OPTIONS FROM S.A.N.E.: The University of the West Indies, Faculty of Medical Sciences, School of Advanced Nursing Education (SANE) also offers a Bachelor of Science undergraduate degree programme in Nursing (full-time and part time) and an Oncology programme (full-time). Syllabi are online at http://www.sta.uwi.edu/fms/sane. For more information, visit us at Building 42, Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, Uriah Butler Highway, Champs Fleurs, or contact us at

sane@fms.uwi.tt , or (Tel.) 868 663 6684, or (Fax) 868 662 5634, or (PBX) 868 645 2640 Ext. 4754.

ABOUT THE PROGRAMME LEADER: Dr Meryl Price is the Director of the School of Advanced Nursing Education (SANE) at the Faculty of Medical Sciences, The University of the West Indies (UWI), St Augustine. She graduated from the University of Illinois and obtained her PhD at the Northwestern University. She has over 30 years of nursing experience and over 20 years experience in academia. Her specialisations include gerontology, psychiatric Nursing, Nursing Education and Human Development and social policy.

ABOUT UWI: The University of the West Indies (UWI) is an international university with over 40,000 students from over 40 countries and collaborative links with over 60 universities around the world. Through its seven Faculties, UWI offers undergraduate and postgraduate degree options in Engineering, Humanities & Education, Law, Medical Sciences, Pure & Applied Sciences, Science and Agriculture, and Social Sciences. Today, UWI is the largest and most longstanding higher education provider in the English-speaking Caribbean, with main campuses in Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, and Centres in Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, The Bahamas, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St Christopher (St Kitts) & Nevis, St Lucia, and St Vincent & the Grenadines. UWI recently launched its Open Campus, a virtual campus with over 50 physical site locations across the region, serving over 20 countries in the English-speaking Caribbean.

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