Are you a registered nurse looking to specialize in advanced practice and provide critical care to adult and geriatric patients? The Acute Care Nurse Practitioner Master Of Sciences Graduate Program is designed to equip you with the expertise and skills necessary to excel in this demanding and rewarding field. This comprehensive program prepares graduates to deliver advanced nursing care to adult-gerontology patients, including young adults, older adults, and the frail elderly, who are facing complex acute and chronic health challenges.
This rigorous curriculum is meticulously crafted to foster your ability to develop and implement effective, patient-centered solutions across diverse healthcare settings. You will gain in-depth knowledge, refine critical skills, and cultivate the essential attitudes to confidently manage patient care across the entire spectrum of acuity.
Program Outcomes: Shaping Future Nurse Practitioner Leaders
Upon graduation from the acute care nurse practitioner master of sciences graduate program, you will be able to:
- Integrate Advanced Nursing Knowledge: Apply discipline-specific perspectives, nursing theory, and research-based evidence to make informed clinical judgments, forming the bedrock of your advanced practice.
- Synthesize Complex Health Determinants: Combine advanced scientific knowledge with collaborative expertise, acknowledging the interconnectedness of social determinants of health. This will enable you to design and deliver holistic, respectful, just, and evidence-based person-centered care.
- Lead in Population Health Improvement: Collaborate effectively with diverse partners to identify population health priorities. You will assess healthcare system capabilities and take a leadership role in shaping health policies and practices to promote equitable health outcomes for all populations.
- Advance Nursing Scholarship: Contribute to the evolution of nursing knowledge by applying unique nursing perspectives to translate research into practical applications. Your leadership will be crucial in addressing health disparities, systemic racism, and healthcare system inequities.
- Enhance Care Quality and Safety: Utilize principles of improvement science to critically evaluate the quality and safety of care delivery. You will be empowered to design system-level improvements and health policies that minimize risks for both patients and healthcare providers, ensuring system effectiveness.
- Optimize Inter-professional Collaboration: Lead effective communication and collaboration among inter-professional teams. You will facilitate the integration of evidence-based strategies to refine healthcare processes and optimize outcomes for diverse patient populations within healthcare systems.
- Drive System Effectiveness with Technology: Leverage care coordination, informatics, and advanced technologies to deliver safe, high-quality, equitable, and efficient healthcare services. Your practice will be grounded in best practices and adherence to professional and regulatory standards.
- Embody Professional Resilience and Ethics: Model a strong professional identity characterized by accountability, ethical conduct, and a collaborative approach. You will embody nursing’s core mission towards individuals, society, and the nursing profession itself.
- Promote Lifelong Learning and Growth: Demonstrate self-reflection and cognitive flexibility to cultivate environments that encourage continuous learning, professional advancement, self-care, overall well-being, and resilience. You will champion the ongoing acquisition of nursing expertise and assert strong leadership within the field.
Admission Requirements: Your Path to Advanced Practice Nursing
To be considered for admission to the acute care nurse practitioner master of sciences graduate program, applicants must meet the following criteria:
- Completed Application: Submit a fully completed application for graduate admission.
- Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN): Hold a Bachelor of Science degree with a major in nursing from an accredited nursing program. (RN applicants with a bachelor’s degree in a non-nursing field, please refer to the Clinical Practice Portfolio requirement detailed below).
- Minimum GPA: Maintain a minimum cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.0.
- Transcripts: Provide unofficial transcripts from all colleges and universities attended. For international transcripts, a course-by-course evaluation from a NACES accredited service like World Education Services (WES) is required. Official transcripts will be necessary upon admission.
- Registered Nurse (RN) License: Possess a current, unencumbered Registered Nurse license in the state where you will undertake your clinical practice.
- Curriculum Vitae/Resume: Submit a current Curriculum Vitae or Resume outlining your professional experience.
- Relevant Experience: A minimum of one year of recent relevant experience is preferred.
- Letters of Recommendation: Provide three online letters of recommendation from professional references.
- Prerequisite Coursework: Completion of a three-credit undergraduate course in Health Assessment and a three-credit undergraduate course in Statistics is mandatory.
- Technical Standards: Meet the Technical Standards for Admission and Retention as set by the program.
Clinical Practice Portfolio (For RNs with Non-Nursing Bachelor’s Degrees): Registered Nurse applicants holding a bachelor’s degree outside of nursing must submit a clinical practice portfolio. This portfolio will be evaluated to ascertain baccalaureate-level nursing competencies following conditional admission. Successful portfolio completion is required for full program admission and progression. Failure to meet portfolio standards will prevent further program advancement. This requirement applies only to conditionally accepted RN applicants with non-nursing bachelor’s degrees.
Additional Requirements Upon Admission
Upon acceptance into the acute care nurse practitioner master of sciences graduate program, the following must be fulfilled:
- Official Transcripts: Submission of official transcripts from all attended institutions. For international transcripts, include an official transfer equivalency credit evaluation from a NACES accredited service such as WES.
- CastleBranch Documentation: All newly admitted students will receive detailed instructions via email from the School of Nursing regarding the CastleBranch web-based system. This system requires a one-time fee for managing and uploading mandatory health and professional documents.
- New York State RN License: Maintain a current, unencumbered Registered Nurse license from New York State.
- Certifications: Provide certification in Basic Life Support (BLS) for Health Care Providers with AED and Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support (ACLS).
- Technology Requirements: Meet the specified Technology Requirements for the program.
Graduates of this acute care nurse practitioner master of sciences graduate program will be eligible for certification and registration as a Nurse Practitioner by the New York State Education Department. They will also be eligible to pursue National Certification as an Adult/Gerontology-Acute Care Nurse Practitioner.
Clinical Experiences: Real-World Application of Expertise
The program emphasizes practical, hands-on clinical experience. The Office of Clinical Placements actively facilitates the placement process and manages clinical affiliation agreements for students across various nursing programs. Working closely with faculty, this office identifies and secures suitable clinical sites. Students then submit placement requests for processing. The program ensures clinical placements adhere to Stony Brook Medicine policy, which prohibits paid clinical placements for students. This ensures ethical and high-quality learning environments.
| Graduation Requirements | Credits |
|---|---|
| Core | |
| HNH 503 Organizational Leadership and Role Transformation | 3 |
| HNH 504 Quality Improvement, Safety, and Health Care Technologies | 3 |
| HNH 505 Health Care Policy and Advocacy | 2 |
| Research | |
| HNG 541 Nursing Research & Evidence-Based Practice I | 3 |
| HNG 543 Nursing Research & Evidence-Based Practice II | 3 |
| Pharmacology | |
| HNG 540 Clinical Pharmacology | 3 |
| Health Assessment | |
| HNG 515 Advanced Health Assessment | 3 |
| Pathophysiology | |
| HNG 588 Clinical Pathophysiology Across the Lifespan | 3 |
| Clinical Courses | |
| HNG 519 Advanced Theory and Clinical Practice in Adult-Gerontology Nursing Across the Continuum I | 4 |
| HNG 529 Advanced Theory and Clinical Practice in Adult-Gerontology Nursing Across the Continuum II | 5 |
| HNG 509 Advanced Theory and Clinical Practice in Acute Care Adult/Gerontology Nursing I | 5 |
| HNG 559 Advanced Theory and Clinical Practice in Acute Care Adult/Gerontology Nursing II | 5 |
| HNG 580 Advanced Skills, Technologies & Clinical Decision-Making in Acute Care | 3 |
| Total Credits | 45 |
The Baccalaureate degree program in nursing, Master’s degree program in Nursing, Doctor of Nursing Practice program, and advanced certificate program at Stony Brook School of Nursing are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE).
Graduates are well-prepared to sit for national certification exams, including the Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner certification offered by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC).
For further details about the acute care nurse practitioner master of sciences graduate program, please contact Dr. Dolores Bilges at [email protected].
