MSN Adult Acute Care Nurse Practitioner

Application Fee Waived!



Don't have time to fill out
the application now?

We'll email you a link to the application
so you can still have the application fee
waived when you are ready.


Questions?

Have a program specialist contact you
Learn more about the MSN Acute Care NP
Print | Email To A Friend | Share Share

Curriculum

This is a 55 credit graduate program designed for nurse practitioners.

*Please be aware that curriculum changes and a plan of study will be added to this page in the near future.


Core Couses (18 Credits)
INFO 526Information, Innovation & Technology in Advanced Nursing Practice3.00 credits
NURS 500Confronting Issues in Contemporary Health Care Environments3.00 credits
NURS 502Advanced Ethical Decision Making in Health Care3.00 credits
NURS 527Evidence Based Approaches to Practice3.00 credits
RSCH 519Introduction to Biostatistics3.00 credits
RSCH 523Methods for Health Research3.00 credits

Support Courses (14 Credits)
NURS 548Advanced Pathophysiology3.00 credits
NURS 549Advanced Pharmacology3.00 credits
NURS 550Advanced Physical Assessment & Diagnostic Reasoning4.00 credits
NURS 554Pharmacology for Acute Care Nurse Practitioners3.00 credits
NURS 664Professional Issues for Nurse Practitioners1.00 credits

Clinical Courses (20 Credits)
NURS 570Adult Acute Care Nurse Practitioner I: Role and Scope of Practice5.00 credits
NURS 571Adult Acute Care Nurse Practitioner II: Management and Care of Clients in Medical Settings5.00 credits
NURS 572Adult Acute Care Nurse Practitioner III: Management and Care of Clients in Surgical Settings5.00 credits
NURS 573Adult Acute Care Nurse Practitioner IV:Management and Care of Clients in Critical Care Settings5.00 credits

Electives (3 Credits)

Course Descriptions

INFO 526 Information, Innovation & Technology in Advanced Nursing Practice - 3.00 credits

This course is designed to provide an in-depth introduction to information systems and technologies that support practice and improve patient care and outcomes. Development of information management and technology skills (which meet ANA Informatics Competencies) will be incorporated throughout the course. Content is directed toward assisting the student in understanding the relationship between patient care and complex information and data issues involved in clinical practice.

Back to course list

NURS 500 Confronting Issues in Contemporary Health Care Environments - 3.00 credits

Confronting Issues in Contemporary Health Care Environments examines Health care policy and policies in terms of contemporary issues related to advanced practice nursing, health care access, quality and cost. The focus of this course is the critical analysis of health policy and legal issues.

Back to course list

NURS 502 Advanced Ethical Decision Making in Health Care - 3.00 credits

This is a course for masters students who have already had some experience in ethical decision making, both academically in the classroom and in practice. This course will take an interdisciplinary focus, as ethical decision making at this level rarely ever is the decision of a single discipline. A variety of ethical topics will be analyzed from various perspectives and depths in an effort to more broadly and more profoundly address the moral difficulties that the advanced practice practitioner in an interdisciplinary environment is likely to encounter.

Back to course list

NURS 527 Evidence Based Approaches to Practice - 3.00 credits

This course focuses on using research to guide evidence-based practice. Communication, collaboration, and decision making skills from a multidisciplinary approach essential to collect, evaluate, and apply research to practice will be emphasized. During this course the student will learn to (1) conduct efficient, thorough searches of the research literature; (2) evaluate the quality of a body of research through an appraisal of design, methodology, and data analysis; (3) summarize the findings from an overall body of research; and (4) apply research evidence to issues of current nursing practice.

Back to course list

RSCH 519 Introduction to Biostatistics - 3.00 credits

This is an introductory course which focuses on the fundamentals of biostatistics for health sciences graduate students. Excel-based and SPSS assignments will be used to supplement the content.

Back to course list

RSCH 523 Methods for Health Research - 3.00 credits

The course is designed to provide professional graduate students with the skills necessary to evaluate the relationship between practice and published research. The course content includes an overview of research concepts, ethics in research, literature searches and reviews, quantitative and qualitative research methods and designs, and data collection, analysis and interpretation techniques. An interdisciplinary team of faculty teaches the course using a problem solving approach. When feasible, concepts and problems are addressed by students in interdisciplinary teams. Through evaluation of published research in an interdisciplinary context, the skills of evidence-based practice are developed.

Back to course list

NURS 548 Advanced Pathophysiology - 3.00 credits

Building on a foundation of normal physiology, students are exposed to the major disturbances of normal function and the basic mechanisms involved in disease of the major organ systems. The course includes discussion of the general aspects of the common human pathophysiological conditions and syndromes.

Back to course list

NURS 549 Advanced Pharmacology - 3.00 credits

This course is designed to build on prior pharmacologic study of actions and effects of drugs on the human system across the life span. Students will study pharmacologic mechanisms of action, effects on organ systems, routes of administration, pharmacokinetics, therapeutic uses, considerations related to age and physiologic state, adverse reactions, contraindications, and drop interactions.

Back to course list

NURS 550 Advanced Physical Assessment & Diagnostic Reasoning - 4.00 credits

This course is designed to introduce the experienced clinical nurse to advanced clinical history taking and physical assessment for adult and pediatric patients. Course content focuses on concepts, theory and practice obtaining comprehensive health histories for patients of all ages and states of health.

Back to course list

NURS 554 Pharmacology for Acute Care Nurse Practitioners - 3.00 credits

This course is designed to prepare the Acute Care Nurse Practitioner student for the safe managing and prescribing of therapeutic agents utilized in acute care settings. Students will build on prior pharmacologic study of actions and effects of medications on the human system across the adult life span.

Back to course list

NURS 664 Professional Issues for Nurse Practitioners - 1.00 credits

This required course is the application and integration of the role and competencies of the nurse practitioner. The roles of the nurse practitioner as clinician, educator, researcher, expert, and leader are presented and explored. Interpretation and application of professional issues, practice issues, legislative issues, certification issues, insurance issues, legal issues and ethical conflict resolution in advanced nursing practice are explored and integrated into a model of interdisciplinary collaborative practice.

Back to course list

NURS 570 Adult Acute Care Nurse Practitioner I: Role and Scope of Practice - 5.00 credits

This course is designed to capture the essence of the role of the Acute Care Nurse Practitioner in comprehensive, complex environments. Professional issues related to the scope of practice for integrating into a complex system are explored. Students prepare for entry into a high intensity system by understanding the interdisciplinary facets of acute care.

Back to course list

NURS 571 Adult Acute Care Nurse Practitioner II: Management and Care of Clients in Medical Settings - 5.00 credits

This course is designed to introduce students to the practice of the Acute Care Nurse Practitioner in managing the medical problems in the complex acute, critical, and chronically ill clients who are hospitalized.

Back to course list

NURS 572 Adult Acute Care Nurse Practitioner III: Management and Care of Clients in Surgical Settings - 5.00 credits

This course is designed to introduce students to the practice of the Acute Care Nurse Practitioner in managing the surgical problems in the complex acute, critical and chronically ill clients who are hospitalized.

Back to course list

NURS 573 Adult Acute Care Nurse Practitioner IV:Management and Care of Clients in Critical Care Settings - 5.00 credits

This course is designed to introduce students to the practice of the Acute Care Nurse Practitioner in managing problems in complex critically ill clients who are hospitalized.

Back to course list