Adult Gerontology Acute Care Clinical Nurse Specialist
Preparing DNP students to be Clinical Nurse Specialists who provide care to acute and chronically ill adults and guide their units and peers
- Mix of synchronous learning intensives in person with asynchronous learning time on your own schedule
- Full- and part-time options available
- 750 clinical practicum hours, and guidance in finding placements with qualified advanced practice preceptors (Clinical placement requires travel to a specific site to acquire knowledge, experience, and
practice with a Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) Preceptor) - Experience in the School's INASCL-endorsed clinical simulation learning center is required
- Graduates eligible for the adult-gerontology acute care CNS certification exam administered by AACN or ANCC
- Application deadline: January 5
The Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Clinical Nurse Specialist (AGCNS) is an advanced practice nurse prepared to manage adult patients in acute, critical and specialty care units. The AGCNS specialty, available to nursing students as a specialty focus who enroll in the BSN to DNP program, emphasizes the advanced theoretical knowledge, practice, and skills needed to manage adult gerontology patients through all phases of their hospitalization and follow-up.
Since its emergence in the 1950s, the Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) role has been defined by expert advanced clinical practice and systems leadership, positioning CNSs to improve outcomes for complex patients, strengthen nursing practice, and lead change across increasingly complex healthcare systems. CNSs, often called the "nurse's nurse," are on-demand specialists who offer clinicians and patients on the unit, in the clinic, and at the hospital evidence-based guidance and mentoring along with top-notch advanced practice clinical care. CNSs are essential to improving the work environment, advancing evidence-based nursing practice, reducing turnover, and stabilizing the bottom line. Not only do CNSs help achieve optimal patient and quality outcomes, they play a critical role in systems level safe patient care delivery. supporting, mentoring, and retaining their fellow nurses. CNSs hold a unique advanced practice nursing role where they provide population specialty level expertise in implementation science and direct provider level care with full prescriptive authority in most U.S. states.
AGCNS students also develop exceptional diagnostic and clinical decision-making to communicate skills, strategies and collaborate with clinicians and healthcare team members, and the ability to manage and monitor clinical outcomes. A keen focus on evidenced-based practice, quality improvement through system-based leadership, management of population health outcomes, teaching and clinical research are also hallmarks of the AGCNS program.
Learn more about the CNS role by speaking with the specialty track lead or researching the role through the National Association of Clinical Nurse Specialist (NACNS).
The AGACNS is offered as a post-professional certificate or as a specialty track for students enrolled in the BSN to DNP pathway program.
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Students in UVA School of Nursing’s advanced practice programs, including DNP program specialties, MSN program specialties, and post-professional certificates, complete clinical hours under the guidance of qualified, experienced clinical preceptors. Past clinical placements have included sites throughout the Charlottesville-Albemarle area, Central Virginia, the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the Mid-Atlantic region.
Clinical placement is a collaborative process that considers program requirements, available clinical opportunities, and students’ professional connections. Students are encouraged to leverage their professional networks to help identify potential clinical sites or preceptors. The program works with each student to evaluate and finalize placements, ensuring that all program requirements are met.
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