Post Master's Program

Post master’s options equip master’s-prepared nurses with additional knowledge and skills in a defined specialty area. Students who complete these tracks are eligible to apply for national certification examinations. The following specialty tracks are offered: Post Master’s Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner, Post Master’s Primary Care Nurse Practitioner, Post Master’s Acute Care Nurse Practitioner, Post Master’s Geriatric Nurse Practitioner, and Post Master’s Wound, Ostomy, and Continence Nursing, and Post-Masters Leadership in Community/Public Health or Health Systems Management.

Admission

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Applicants must:

The School utilizes a rolling admissions process. The completed application and the $40 application fee must be received by April 1 for summer and fall admission or November 15 for spring admission. Applications received after the deadlines will be considered if space is available. All correspondence concerning admission should be addressed to the Assistant Dean for Graduate Student Services, Office of Admissions and Student Services, School of Nursing, P.O. Box 800782, Charlottesville, VA 22908-0784.

Academic Regulations

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Program Course Work The ratio of clinical hours to credits is 4:1. Courses are taught only if there is a sufficient number of students registering for them. Semester schedules published by the Office of the University Registrar must be consulted for courses to be offered during a given semester.

Grades The standing of a post-graduate student in each course is indicated by one of the following symbols: A+ (exceptionally distinguished), A (very distinguished), A- (distinguished), B+ (very good), B (satisfactory), B- (acceptable), and C (unsatisfactory). A letter grade of C is considered unsatisfactory and unacceptable for completion of the program.

Incomplete Grades A grade of incomplete is a non-grade designation given for a course. Incompletes in graduate nursing courses must be removed by the end of the following semester of enrollment or within one calendar year, whichever comes first. Graduate students with two or more outstanding incomplete designations (in the same semester or cumulatively) may not enroll in courses in subsequent terms. An incomplete designation which is not removed by the above deadline or prior to graduation is converted to a F.

Post Master’s Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Track

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The Post Master’s Psychiatric-Mental Health Nursing Program offers two tracks for students who wish to complete the requirements for PMHNP certification. One track is for those who already possess a MSN degree with a focus in psychiatric-mental health nursing; the other track is for students with a MSN in another clinical area.

Master’s prepared nurses in Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing desiring Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner preparation complete the following courses: (17 credits, 120 clinical hours)

Master’s prepared nurses with a specialty in another clinical area complete the following courses: (33 credits, 500 clinical hours)

Post Master’s Primary Care Nurse Practitioner Track

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The Post Master’s Primary Care Nurse Practitioner Program is designed to provide the master’s-prepared nurse with the necessary skills and knowledge to assume the role of a primary health care provider in various clinical facilities. These skills include psychosocial and physical assessment; identification, screening and triage of acute minor illness; nursing and medical management of commonly encountered acute, minor, and chronic illnesses in collaboration and consultation with a physician; knowledge of community needs and resources available for health promotion; health teaching, guidance, and counseling of clients and their families about illness and its prevention; and health promotion, maintenance, and management.

Other areas explored in this program include the changing health care delivery system; the expanded role of the nurse; and nursing issues, particularly as they relate to nurse practitioner practice, reimbursement, and prescriptive authority. Offerings include family or pediatric nurse practitioner tracks.

An essential part of the nurse practitioner program is the 672-hour clinical preceptorship. This preceptorship is concurrent with the nurse practitioner seminar courses and is arranged at a clinical site that reflects the focus of the Primary Care Nurse Practitioner Program. Due to the program’s focus on rural, underserved populations, at least one of the preceptorships takes place outside of Albemarle County.

The practitioner program is approved by the Joint Committee of the Boards of Nursing and Medicine in Virginia. Students who complete the program are eligible to apply for practitioner certification by this joint committee and are also eligible to sit for national certification examinations.

Nurse Practitioner Program Completion Requirements The student must satisfactorily complete the specific nurse practitioner program and the clinical preceptorship, and have a minimum grade average of B. Students who complete the nurse practitioner program are eligible for national certification exams.

Required Courses - (31 Credits, 672 Clinical Hours)

Post Master’s Geriatric Nurse Practitioner Track Online

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The post-master’s geriatric nurse practitioner program is offered online and is designed to provide the master’s prepared nurse with the necessary skills and knowledge to assume the role of gerontological nurse practitioner upon completion of the program. Students are expected to have previously completed graduate level courses in pathophysicology, health assessment, and pharmacology. The program consists of three seminar courses that are offered completely online and two preceptorship courses that permit students to meet the clinical component of the program within their home communities. The patient population includes young-old, old, frail, and old-old adults.

Skills include identification, screening and triage of acute episodic illnesses; nursing and medical management of commonly encountered acute and chronic illnesses in collaboration and consultation with an interdisciplinary team; development of a knowledge base of community needs and resources available for health promotion; health teaching, guidance, and counseling of geriatric clients and their families about illness and its prevention; and health promotion, maintenance, and management. Clinical experiences will be focused on private practice, ambulatory clinics, long-term care facilities, and the patient’s home.

Students will refine their advanced practice skills and knowledge as they relate to the health care delivery system. Advanced practice issues such as reimbursement, prescriptive authority, and development/refinement of health care policies integral to the geriatric patient population will be explored.

Required courses - (18 credits 504 Clinical Hours)

Post Master’s Acute Care Nurse Practitioner (ACNP) Track

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This program reflects recent developments in the field of health care delivery, creating the need for a new role within advanced practice nursing. The ACNP has a scope of practice beyond that of other acute care positions. ACNPs deliver continuous and comprehensive care within a collaborative model involving patients, families, significant others, nurses, physicians, and other health care providers. The purpose of the ACNP is to provide advanced practice care that meets patient needs across the full continuum of acute, critical, and chronic care services. The short term goal for the ACNP is restorative care, stabilization of the patient, minimizing complications, providing physical and psychological care measures for managing chronic conditions, and assurance of a peaceful death.

Students who complete the program are eligible to take the ANCC examination for Acute Care Nurse Practitioner certification.

Required courses - 29 credits

Post Master’s Wound, Ostomy & Continence Nursing (WOCN) Track

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Wound, Ostomy & Continence nursing incorporates principles and practices that promote, maintain and restore health for persons with wounds, ostomies and continence problems throughout their lives. WOC nurses specialize in the care of individuals with disorders of the gastrointestinal track, genitourinary and integumentary systems. The post-masters WOC program includes two didactic classes and one practicum. The program meets all requirements by the WOCN specialty organization and thus allows graduates to sit for the certification exam.

Post Master’s Community/Public Health Nursing and Health Systems Management Track Online

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This post-master’s track is designed for Master’s prepared nurses who wish to gain the skills and knowledge necessary to assume roles in community and public health. The track’s emphasis is on developing knowledge and expertise through assessing the health status and health delivery systems of communities and designing nursing interventions to better manage care in complex community settings. Courses provide graduate-level skills necessary for leadership roles in community settings, including public health departments, schools and occupational settings, home health agencies, and community-oriented clinics. This post MSN track also provides global care management strategies. Upon track completion, students are qualified to sit for the American Nursing Credentialing Center (AANC) certification examination for Clinical Specialist in Community Health Nursing.

Acceptance into the post-master’s Community Public Health Leadership track requires a Master’s degree in Nursing, including a masters level course in epidemiology. Students who have not had a course in epidemiology may take GNUR 585 as part of the post-master’s program. Five additional courses are required for the post-MSN certificate.

Required Courses (16 credits, 504 clinical hours)

*Epidemiology can be transferred into the program

For students who have completed the combined CPHL/NP Master’s track, one post-master’s course is required for sufficient clinical hours to be eligible for the ANCC certification exam for Community Health Nursing.

Post Master’s Health Systems Management Track

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This post-master’s track is designed for master’s prepared nurses wanting the skills and knowledge necessary to assume leadership roles in health systems management. This track provides content fundamental to management, emphasizing development of competencies needed to analyze managerial problems and providing resourceful managerial solutions. Students are given special opportunities to acquire the management knowledge and skill necessary to perform effectively at the business and clinical interface of health care delivery organizations. Students who complete this post-master’s track are prepared to work within a dynamic health care delivery system and to assume leadership positions in a variety of health care settings, including public and private sector hospitals, ambulatory care facilitates and long-term care faculties.

Acceptance into the HSM track requires a Master’s degree in Nursing. Five courses are required for the post-master’s HSM certificate.

Required Courses (15 credits)

The requirement for completion of Administrative Practicum I and II may be waived if documentation is provided that the individual has held a health care management position for two years within the last five years. The application for waiver must be made at time of admission to the certification program.