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Adult Acute Care Nurse Practitioner
Frequently Asked
Questions
Q.How long is the acute care nurse practitioner
program?
A.Five semesters, beginning with the fall
semester and continuing through May of the second year.
Q. How many clinical hours are required for
this track?
A. 630 hours.
Q.Can I do clinical in my home community?
A. Occasionally the clinical resources
are too limited, however, and students may need to travel to the UMC
campus.
Q.Who can I do clinical with?
A. Students have clinical experiences with
both physicians in various specialty areas and nurse practitionerss certified
in the student's specialty area or related areas. Selection of clinical
practice sites is a mutually negotiated process between the student and
faculty, based on the student's background, the student's competencies
and available resources.
Q. When do clinical courses and clinical practice
start?
A. They begin in the second semester in
the spring of the year.
Q. How much clinical is there in each clinical
course?
A. There are 90 hours in the first spring
semester, 90 hours in the summer semester, 225 hours in the second fall
semester and 225 hours in the second spring semester.
Q. Is part time study available?
A. Yes.
Q. Can I work and go to school?
A. Most students work part-time while in
school, but full-time work, especially in the second year, is rarely
possible. Most students who work full-time go to school part-time and
extend this over a three-year time period.
Q. Is there anything specific I can do to better prepare myself
for the acute care nurse practitioner curriculum?
A. Read. Reading about the development
of the acute care nurse practitioner role and how this role fits into
the current health care delivery system will be invaluable.
Q. Will this program prepare me to work as a nurse practitioner
in the Emergency Department?
A. This program is an adult acute care
nurse practitioner program and does not provide the pediatric background
necessary to work in an Emergency Department in the state of Mississippi.
Q. Is there a difference in a critical care nurse practitioner
and an acute care nurse practitioner?
A. The ANCC offers the same examination
for both acute care and critical care. Although the practice settings
are quite different, the didatic curriculum for both specialties are
extremely similar. As of this date, there is no separate critical care
examination.
Q. What are the clinical settings for practicum experience?
A.The clinical settings range from outpatient
clinics to intensive care units. The clinical experiences are set up
to provide a range of hands-on opportunities. The first practicum is
generally in a clinic type setting. As the semesters progress, the patient
acuity increases. The final clinical experience is designed to be in
a type of setting similar to that in which the student hopes to practice.
Q. In what setting do most acute care nurse practitioners work?
A. Acute care nurse practitioners tend
to work mostly in specialty practice areas including intensive care units
such as a cardiothoracic ICU, neurology ICU and surgical or medical ICU;
specialty clinics such as interventional cardiology, diabetes and orthopaedics;
and specialized hospital departments such as radiology, medical flight
program and employee health.
Q. What is the typical role description for the acute care nurse
practitioner?
A. Most acute care nurse practitioners
perform a combination of direct patient care, research, teaching and
quality improvement. The direct patient care aspect often includes conducting
histories and physical exams, planning patient care, ordering and interpreting
laboratory and radiologic studies, managing medications and nutrition.
Depending on the practice setting, some degree of performing specialty
procedures may also be included, such as invasive line insertion, wound
debridement and suturing.
Please call 1-866-842-7575 or email nsrecruiter@son.umsmed.edu if you have addtional questions.
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