ACNP Prerequisites?

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Just wonder what the prerequisites are for the different programs out there. I just spent a few hours at the Medical College of Georgia:

- Least 1 year ICU

- CCRN

- Epidemiology

- Biostatistics

Pretty good chunk of the core is on-line with class time.

Pharmacology taught by a pharmacist..

Staff have real world jobs also........

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The prerequisites at the University of Virginia are as follows:

* Unemcumbered RN license

* BSN from a regionally-accredited University

* BSN from a NLN or CCNE accredited program

* Statistics within the past 5 years

* ACLS

* At least 1 year of full-time RN experience to be a full-time student. (Part-time students do not need work experience).

We're currently ranked #6 in the country for med-surg nursing, and our ACNP pass rate is 99% over the 13 years we have offered the program. It is not an online program (didactic classes are Thurs or Friday). Some of our program content does not lend itself to online learning (suturing workshops, wound care, reading chest xrays and tests, gut sounds, etc). Since our passrate has been nearly perfect(and all grads get great jobs at trauma centers or Magnet hospitals), the faculty have not wanted to change the course delivery method.

There a number of strong programs out there. I recommend that prospective students look at the specialty (or subspecialty) that interests them -- and aim for a program that can prepare you to do that. I have students focusing on neurosurgery, burn/wound, cardiac post-op, ID, trauma (especially popular with our military nurses), renal, acute cardiology, SICU, etc.

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Specializes in Family Nurse Practitioner.
The prerequisites at the University of Virginia are as follows:

* Unemcumbered RN license

* BSN from a regionally-accredited University

* BSN from a NLN or CCNE accredited program

* Statistics within the past 5 years

* ACLS

* At least 1 year of full-time RN experience to be a full-time student. (Part-time students do not need work experience).

We're currently ranked #6 in the country for med-surg nursing, and our ACNP pass rate is 99% over the 13 years we have offered the program. It is not an online program (didactic classes are Thurs or Friday). Some of our program content does not lend itself to online learning (suturing workshops, wound care, reading chest xrays and tests, gut sounds, etc). Since our passrate has been nearly perfect(and all grads get great jobs at trauma centers or Magnet hospitals), the faculty have not wanted to change the course delivery method.

There a number of strong programs out there. I recommend that prospective students look at the specialty (or subspecialty) that interests them -- and aim for a program that can prepare you to do that. I have students focusing on neurosurgery, burn/wound, cardiac post-op, ID, trauma (especially popular with our military nurses), renal, acute cardiology, SICU, etc.

Thank you for your informative reply. I'm sure this is a really stupid question but it sounds like you do not need to have your MSN to become a Nurse Practitioner? I'm only working on my BSN now but would like to pursue a psychiatric nurse practitioner program as soon as I can.

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Jules:

Not a stupid question at all. The current requirements for all Advanced Practice certifications (Nurse Practitioner, Clinical Nurse Specialist, Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist, and Certified Nurse Midwife) is that you have completed a MSN (or Post-MSN) degree in a specific subject matter. So if you are seeking to be an Acute Care NP, you need to have have a MSN degree from a program that prepared ACNPs.

There is discussion that by 2015, Advanced Practice Nurse preparation will be at the doctoral level only. This is what the DNP degree will do. I encourage all who are thinking of NP, CNS, CNRA and CNM education today to consider pursuing a DNP in the next decade or so.

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I don't remember the exact numbers but there are couple hundred DNP programs with about three times as many seeking accreditation. I sure hope by 2015 there a a better consensus about educational, testing and practice standards than what we have now.

Until NPs can cross state lines and practice with the same ease as MDs we still have a problem...

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Specializes in ACNP-BC, Adult Critical Care, Cardiology.
Just wonder what the prerequisites are for the different programs out there. I just spent a few hours at the Medical College of Georgia:

- Least 1 year ICU

- CCRN

- Epidemiology

- Biostatistics

Pretty good chunk of the core is on-line with class time.

Pharmacology taught by a pharmacist..

Staff have real world jobs also........

My program at Wayne State U in Detroit evaluates each applicant's clinical experience prior to admission but does not specifically limit admission to ICU nurses alone. There are students who have ER and Med/Surg experience in the program. CCRN is not a requirement. A course on statistical methods is included in the curriculum and is not a prerequisite.

Additional requirements that apply to all students in MSN programs include:

  • BSN from CCNE or NLN accredited program
  • Michigan RN Licensure or eligibility for RN endorsement in the State of Michigan
  • Foreign-educated RN's are not required to have attended a CCNE or NLN accredited program but are required to pass the CGFNS Qualifying Exam.

Prior to starting ACNP clinical rotations, mandatory requirements include:

  • ACLS
  • Proof of NP student
  • Most hospital affiliations also require proof of vaccination or antibody titers for Hep C, Rubeola, Rubella, Chicken Pox, Mumps, and a TB test result.

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Specializes in CTICU.

I'm doing ACNP at Univ of Pittsburgh. Admission requirements:

- RN license

- BSN

- GPA >3.0

- GRE (if GPA

- ACLS (has to be completed by first clinical)

- previous statistics class

- LOR

- Personal statement

- Interview

- 2 years of clinical experience

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