Pediatric Nurse Practitioner - Acute Care
Preparing students to provide care as advance practice nurses to acutely ill pediatric populations across a multitude of inpatient and outpatient settings.
- In-person class about 1x/month, with the balance of learning completed online
- Full- and part-time programs available
- Clinical and faculty affiliations at UVA Health, including its top-ranked UVA Children's Hospital
- 750 clinical practicum hours, and guidance in finding clinical placements with qualified preceptors
- Graduates are eligible for the PNP-AC certification exam administered by PNCB
- Guaranteed admission for UVA School of Nursing alumni
- Application deadline: January 5
PNP-ACs—on the cutting edge of advanced practice—provide care to the most vulnerable pediatric populations across many inpatient and outpatient settings. UVA's PNP-AC track is offered to baccalaureate-educated nurses enrolled in the BSN to DNP pathway or students who seek a post-professional certificate program.
The PNP-Acute Care role is distinct from the PNP-Primary Care role in a number of ways, the most important of which has to do with patient acuity and setting. PNP-ACs most typically care for pediatric patients with critical and complex, often life-limiting illnesses, most often in the hospital as in-patients.
UVA School of Nursing provides exceptional, affordable education in accordance with AACN, NONPF, and PNCB standards in the preparation of pediatric nurses as leaders, scholars, and expert licensed independent practitioners in the care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults with acute, complex, critical, and chronic illness. BSN to DNP students who choose the PNP-AC as their specialty focus are prepared for the PNP-AC certification exam administered by the PNCB.
Students who attend UVA are mentored by faculty members who are experts in their field as educators, clinicians, researchers. Their experiences are additionally enriched by access to other disciplines across the University, including religion, ethics, contemplative sciences, mindfulness, and medicine. All graduate nursing students are required to have a laptop.
Though it depends on the degree with which students enter the program (whether it's a BSN or MSN), DNP students who choose the Pediatric - Acute Care (PNP-AC) concentration typically complete core classes, specialty courses, electives, and 14 credits (750 hours) of direct care practicum. View complete plans of study on our School of Nursing community website.
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Students who enroll in the BSN to DNP program and select a PNP-AC specialty focus complete 750 clinical hours over the three years of their DNP program enrollment. Clinical placement sites are established with collaboration between the student and faculty and are assigned based upon optimal learning experiences, students' requests, and availability and are generally conducted within Virginia. Clinical/practice activities may be conducted outside Virginia if the University is authorized to place students in that state and pending faculty approval.
The clinical sites for PNP-AC students offer them a variety of specialty experiences within six children's hospitals across Virginia and Washington, D.C. Students earn clinical hours with qualified, highly-experienced mentor nurse preceptors at sites including:
- Bon Secours St. Mary's Hospital Pediatric ICU, Richmond, VA
- Capitol Pediatrics Primary Care, Midlothian, VA
- Children's Hospital of King's Daughters, Norfolk, VA
- Children's Hospital of Richmond at VCU (pediatric ICU, pediatric ED, pediatric hematology-oncology, pediatric surgery, pediatric urology, pediatric bone marrow transplant)
- Children's National Hospital, Washington, D.C.
- Inova Children's Hospital, Fairfax, VA
- KidMed Urgent Care (multiple locations)
- The Pediatric Center of Richmond
- UVA Health Child and Family Psychiatry
- UVA Health Child Development & Rehabilitation
- UVA Children's Hospital (including pediatric hematology-oncology, pediatric surgery, pediatric neurosurgery, developmental pediatrics, pediatric neurology, pediatric epilepsy, pediatric endocrinology, pediatric cardiovascular surgery, pediatric infectious diseases service)
- UVA Health Student Health and Wellness Center
- UVA Health Teen and Young Adult Health Center
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