Master of Science in Nursing: Acute Care Nurse Practitioner with an Emphasis in Adult-Gerontology
Overview
Discover Our Acute Care Nurse Practitioner Program
The Master of Science in Nursing: Acute Care Nurse Practitioner with an Emphasis in Adult-Gerontology program prepares experienced registered nurses to provide competent advanced practice nursing care in complex, acute and critical care settings through an evidence-based program of study. Graduates are eligible for certification as Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioners. The program combines courses in advanced health assessment, clinical diagnosis, procedural skill acquisition and care management of adult and geriatric acute care patients, subacute patients, complex patients and patients with exacerbations of chronic illness. Clinical experiences emphasize the physiological and psychosocial impact of acute and critical illness on the patient, family and community, and prepare the Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner in the diagnosis and management of acute and life-threatening health problems. This program includes 675 hours of directly supervised clinical practice with qualified preceptors and two separate on-campus experiences. A post-master's certificate program is available to those nurses who already have a Master of Science in Nursing degree.
As a student in this acute care nurse practitioner program, you are engaged in learning advanced theories and practices related to all areas of direct acute care of gerontology patients.
The adult-gerontology acute care nurse practitioner degree coursework includes two campus experiences designed to provide hands-on skills training and collaboration with peers, as well as preparation for your nursing practitioner certification exam. The three-day experience in ANP-635 includes instructor-led training in suturing, incision and drainage, casting and splinting, endotracheal intubation, arterial line and central venous catheter insertion, lumbar puncture and chest tube insertion. Classroom instruction includes radiology interpretation, ventilator management and hemodynamic monitoring.
The one-day campus experience in course ANP-654 provides intensive preparation and practice for certification exams, including individualized remediation planning as well as specific topic reviews.
The baccalaureate degree in nursing and master’s degree in nursing at Grand Canyon University (GCU) are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE). Select states may have additional requirements to meet their standards. Graduates may qualify for certification as adult-gerontology acute care nurse practitioners (ACNP-AG) from the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) or the American Association of Critical Care Nurses (AACN).
Professional Standards
The Master of Science in Nursing: Acute Care Nurse Practitioner with an Emphasis in Adult-Gerontology program is built to meet standards set by the American Association of Critical Care Nurses (AACN): The Essentials of Master’s Education in Nursing; the American Nursing Association (ANA) Scope and Standards of Practice; the Inter-Professional Collaborative Practice (IPEC) Core Competencies for Interprofessional Collaborative Practice; and the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties (NONPF).
Degree Outcomes
Make a Difference in the Lives of the Elderly
This acute care nurse practitioner program combines courses in advanced health assessment, clinical diagnosis, procedural skill acquisition and care management of adult and geriatric acute care patients, sub-acute patients and/or patients with exacerbations of chronic illness. The adult-gerontology acute care nurse practitioner program includes directly supervised clinical practice with qualified preceptors.
What You Will Learn
Study Diagnostic and Critical Care for Older Adults
Topics of this online acute care nurse practitioner program include:
- Managing the adult-gerontology patient who is highly vulnerable to complications
- Understanding normal function and diagnostic markers indicative of illness
- Disease detection and diagnosis
- Pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic principles of drug action
- Practicum course allows you practice in a supervised clinical
- Reviewing the research process and applying evidenced-based research to the practice setting
- Integrating knowledge of population health into culturally relevant health promotion and intervention
Career Outcomes
Become a Nurse Practitioner with an Adult-Gerontology Focus
This advanced course for acute care nurse practitioners addresses the completion and interpretation of a head-to-toe assessment in addition to focused assessments for chief complaints that include physical, psychosocial, spiritual, risk and functional assessments in acute and chronically ill adults and seniors.
Course List
Program Core Courses
Course Description
This course examines nursing theory and the role of ethics for advanced registered nurses within the Christian worldview and through a leadership perspective focused on improving health care outcomes. Students explore the moral/ethical responsibilities and legal and regulatory obligations of advanced registered nurses in health promotion and disease prevention. Students also review evidence-based practice (EBP) literature and the research process with application to their program of study and learn to navigate scholarly EBP literature, resources, and guidelines.
Course Description
This course examines the role of leadership, organizational science, policy, and informatics in supporting safe, high quality, cost-effective patient care within interprofessional, dynamic health care environments. Students explore various organizational relationships within health care systems and prepare to participate in the design of cost-effective, innovative models of care delivery and practice change proposals. Professional leadership theories and how they shape the nurse leader in such things as collaboration, conflict resolution, decision making, and negotiation are introduced. Students discuss change management theories and evaluate the ethical, social, legal, economic, and political implications of practice change and health care informatics along with strategies for managing human, fiscal, and health care resources in a variety of organizational systems. Students also examine the uses of patient care, information system, and communication technologies and discuss the design, implementation, and evaluation of electronic health record systems and clinical decision support systems.
Course Description
In this course, students examine the process of scientific inquiry, knowledge generation, utilization, and dissemination of evidence into advanced nursing practice in order to propose quality improvement initiatives that advance the delivery of safe, high-quality care for patient populations. Students critically evaluate evidence, including scientific findings from the biopsychosocial fields, epidemiology, biostatistics, genetics, and genomics, and apply levels of evidence and theoretical frameworks to design culturally appropriate clinical prevention interventions and population-based care that reduce risks, prevent disease, and promote health and well-being. Students also consider strategies to evaluate health policy and advocacy issues, the state of health care delivery, patient-centered care, and ethical principles related to health beliefs, health promotion, and risk reduction for diverse populations. Students apply these strategies to work towards recognizing gaps in nursing and health care knowledge, identifying potential solutions or innovations for those gaps, planning and implementing practice changes, and evaluating the outcomes in order to improve practice. Prerequisite: NUR-513.
Course Description
This course provides an opportunity for students to complete their evidence-based practice (EBP) project proposal addressing a problem, issue, or concern in their specialty area of professional practice. Students previously identified a problem amenable to a research-based intervention and searched the literature. In this course, students propose a solution, explore implementation considerations and various evaluation methodologies, complete the project proposal by developing a plan to implement the solution into the intended practice area, and design an evaluation plan that assesses the EBP project proposal’s intended outcome(s). Prerequisite: NUR-550.
Course Description
This course focuses on advanced physiology and pathophysiology principles. This course is used to guide the advanced nursing practice student in understanding normal function and interpreting changes in normal function that result in symptoms and diagnostic markers indicative of illness. Emphasis is placed on the following systems: cellular environment and inflammatory changes; fluids, electrolytes and acid-base balance; genetics, genetic diseases, and the role of the environment; stress, disease, and the development of neoplasms; hematology and alterations in immunity. In addition, the physiology and pathophysiology of the endocrine, pulmonary, renal, digestive and integumentary, cardiovascular and lymphatic, musculoskeletal, reproductive, and neurological systems, including mood disorders, are addressed. Prerequisite: Admission to the graduate nursing program or college approval. NUR-502, NUR-504, NUR-508.
Course Description
This course focuses on the basic concepts and principles of pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics and their practical implication in clinical practice. This course also places an emphasis on the strong influence of physiological variables (age, ethnicity, or pregnancy) and pathological conditions (hepatic or renal insufficiency, cardiac dysfunction) on drugs’ pharmacological response. An in-depth understanding of the relationship between patient’s physiological/pathological variables and pharmacodynamics/pharmacokinetics can provide additional insight for practitioners in predicting potential drug interactions, and thus will provide additional guidance in prescribing strategies. This course also includes clinical pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics; clinical toxicology; and pathology and pharmacotherapy of cardiovascular, psychiatric, endocrine, respiratory, gastrointestinal, bone and joint, infectious, reproductive, and dermatological disorders. Prerequisite: NUR-631.
Course Description
This course builds upon the student's undergraduate and clinical assessment skills, offering advanced health assessment content to provide the foundation for the advanced practice nursing role. This course addresses the completion and interpretation of a head-to-toe assessment in addition to focused assessments for chief complaints that include physical, psychosocial, spiritual, risk, and functional assessments in diverse populations and across age groups. Students learn a systematic method of diagnostic reasoning and clinical decision making to establish differential diagnoses. Prerequisites: NUR-631, and either NUR-632 or NUR-633.
Course Description
This course covers preventive health care practices and integrates cultural and spiritual considerations, environmental factors, genetic influences, and national public health objectives. Emphasis is placed on development of the advanced practice registered nurse-patient relationship to enhance the effectiveness of patient education, counseling, and promotion of healthy lifestyle changes. Students explore concepts relevant to acute care, including integration of the family and patient support systems into care. Specific emphasis is placed on clinical diagnostic reasoning and interpretation and the development of differential diagnoses based on clinical practice guidelines. Students examine professional and patient community resources and evaluate the use of integrative healing strategies in assisting patients to achieve health goals using evidence-based research. This course includes a required 3-day, on-campus experience. Prerequisite: NUR-634.
Course Description
This course covers preventive health care practices and integrates cultural and spiritual considerations, environmental factors, genetic influences, and national public health objectives. Emphasis is placed on development of the advanced practice registered nurse-patient relationship to enhance the effectiveness of patient education, counseling, and promotion of healthy lifestyle changes. Students explore concepts relevant to acute care, including integration of the family and patient support systems into care. Specific emphasis is placed on clinical diagnostic reasoning and interpretation and the development of differential diagnoses based on clinical practice guidelines. Students examine professional and patient community resources and evaluate the use of integrative healing strategies in assisting patients to achieve health goals using evidence-based research. This course includes a required 3-day, on-campus experience. Prerequisite: NUR-634.
Course Description
This course focuses on evidence-based theory and research related to adult-gerontological patients experiencing acute illnesses with comorbidities. Students synthesize data from a variety of health resources related to the care of the adult-gerontological patient. Students analyze common problems seen in the acute care setting to develop prioritized differential diagnoses, make clinical judgments, and recommend appropriate treatments for acute alterations in health with particular emphasis on restorative care. Clinical practice affords students the opportunity to refine their clinical decision-making skills in advanced health assessment, clinical diagnosis, procedural skill acquisition, and care management of acute and chronically ill adult-gerontological patients. Practicum experiences emphasize the physiological and psychosocial impact of acute and critical illness on patients, family, and community. Practicum/field experience hours: 225. Prerequisite: ANP-635.
Course Description
This course continues to focus on evidenced-based theory and research related to acute illnesses in the adult-gerontological population in the acute care setting. Students build on prior knowledge and synthesize data from a variety of health resources related to the care of the acutely ill patient. Utilizing a systems framework, students further develop clinical judgment and decision-making skills in order to recommend treatments for alterations in different systems as they develop an evidence-based plan of care. Clinical practice affords students the opportunity to refine their clinical decision-making skills in advanced health assessment, clinical diagnosis, procedural skill acquisition, and care management of acute and chronically ill adult-gerontological patients. Practicum experiences emphasize the physiological and psychosocial impact of acute and critical illness on patients, family, and community. Practicum/field experience hours: 225. Prerequisite: ANP-650.
Course Description
This course serves as the final synthesis of evidenced-based theory and research related to care of complex, acute, and critically ill adult-gerontological and frail elderly patients with comorbidities. Students continue to build on prior knowledge and synthesize data from a variety of health resources related to the care of the acutely ill patient. Utilizing a systems framework, students further develop appropriate clinical judgment and decision-making skills regarding appropriate recommendations and treatments related to alterations in different systems as they develop an evidence-based plan of care for adult-gerontological patients. Practicum experiences emphasize the physiological and psychosocial impact of acute and critical illness on patients, family, and community, and prepare the Adult Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner in the diagnosis and management of chronic, exacerbated, acute, and life-threatening health problems. This course includes a required 1-day, on-campus experience. Practicum/field experience hours: 225. Prerequisite: ANP-652.
Course Description
This course serves as the final synthesis of evidenced-based theory and research related to care of complex, acute, and critically ill adult-gerontological and frail elderly patients with comorbidities. Students continue to build on prior knowledge and synthesize data from a variety of health resources related to the care of the acutely ill patient. Utilizing a systems framework, students further develop appropriate clinical judgment and decision-making skills regarding appropriate recommendations and treatments related to alterations in different systems as they develop an evidence-based plan of care for adult-gerontological patients. Practicum experiences emphasize the physiological and psychosocial impact of acute and critical illness on patients, family, and community, and prepare the Adult Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner in the diagnosis and management of chronic, exacerbated, acute, and life-threatening health problems. This course includes a required 1-day, on-campus experience. Practicum/field experience hours: 225. Prerequisite: ANP-652.
Program Locations
Online
Evening
* The Department of Education defines how an institution must calculate a program's On-Time Completion rate for federal disclosure purposes. The On-Time Completion rate is based on a program’s published required number of months to complete all degree requirements as provided in the institution’s catalog. Completion statistics are updated every January and are based on the cohort of students who graduated between 7/1 – 6/30 of the preceding year. The On-Time Completion rate is determined by the number of students in the cohort who completed the program within the published program length divided by the number of students in the cohort who graduated.
Online and Evening program disclosures (34 month program) Additional Disclosures* Please refer to the Academic Catalog for more information. Program subject to change.