Pediatric Nurse Practitioner - Acute Care (PNP-AC)

The Master of Science in Nursing with a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner – Acute Care (PNP-AC) clinical specialty prepares advanced practice nurses who will promote the health and development of children and adolescents as individuals and as population groups encountering changing health care systems within urban and global environments. MSN graduates with a PNP-AC clinical specialty are prepared to provide expert clinical care to meet the specialized physiological and psychological needs of children and adolescents with complex acute, critical and chronic health conditions and/or urgent, emergent and life-threatening conditions.

The curriculum combines both broad foundational knowledge essential for the care of children as a vulnerable population as well as specialty knowledge in pediatrics. Attention is given to health promotion, prevention of disease and disability, disease process, treatment, clinical management, and family-centered care provided in a variety of acute and critical care settings including hospitals, intensive care units, emergency departments and clinics. Upon completion, students are eligible to take a certification examination through the Pediatric Nursing Certification Board (PNCB).

Learn more about this career path in an episode of our Nightintales podcast

Curriculum

Course requirements: 47 credits
Master's core courses: 12 credits

Course Title Credits
NUR 6510 Health Economics, Policy and Professional Issues for APNs 3
NUR 7000 Statistics in Nursing 3
NUR 7105  Theoretical Foundations for Nursing 3
NUR 8625 Evidence-Based Nursing Practice: Theoretical & Methodological Issues 3
Cognates: 7 credits
NUR 7444 Advanced Physiology and Pathophysiology across Lifespan 4
NUR 7207 Advanced Pediatric Pharmacology 3
Clinical course sequence: 28 credits
NUR 7030 Advanced Nursing Assessment 4
*NUR 7920 Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Acute Care Didactic: Pathophysiology, Clinical Care and Management I 4
NUR 7925 Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Acute Care Clinical: Pathophysiology, Clinical Care and Management I 4
NUR 7930 Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Acute Care Didactic: Pathophysiology, Clinical Care and Management II 3
NUR 7935 Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Acute Care Clinical: Pathophysiology, Clinical Care and Management II 5
NUR 7940 Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Acute Care Didactic: Pathophysiology, Clinical Care and Management III 2
NUR 7945 Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Acute Care Clinical: Pathophysiology, Clinical Care and Management III 6

*The equivalent of one full time year of RN pediatric in-hospital experience is required prior to the start of the clinical course sequence

Plans of work

Full-time PNP-AC

  Fall Winter Spring/Summer
Year 1 7000 (3) 7105 (3) 8625 (3)
  7444 (4) 7207 (3) 7030 (4)
Year 2 7920 (4) 7930 (3) 7940 (2)
  7925 (4) 7935 (5) 7945 (6)
    6510 (3)  

Part-time PNP-AC

  Fall Winter Spring/Summer
Year 1 7000 (3) 7105 (3) 8625 (3)
Year 2 7444 (4) 7207 (3) 7030 (4)
    6510 (3)  
Year 3 7920 (4) 7930 (3) 7940 (2)
  7925 (4) 7935 (5) 7945 (6)

Graduate Specialty Coordinator

Stacey M. Sears, DNP, RN, CPNP - AC
241 Cohn
313-577-4124
staceysears@wayne.edu