Adult Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner MSN (2024)

Program Overview

The Adult Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner (AGACNP) program is designed to prepare Advanced Practice Registered Nurses to provide a broad scope of knowledge and skills to address the healthcare needs of chronically, acutely or critically ill young adult to geriatric populations. Emphasis is on health restoration, management of complex, acute and chronic illnesses, and complex health management of late adolescents, adults, and older adults. The scope of practice of the AG ACNP includes managing the needs of individuals who may be physiologically unstable, technologically dependent, and/or vulnerable for the development of complications. The AG ACNP provides leadership and promotes using research findings to maximize the health care delivery services for late adolescents, adults, elders, and their families as a member of an interprofessional team. Graduates are prepared to be recognized as advanced practice nurses by the Texas Board of Nursing and to take the National Certification Exam as an Adult Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner through the American Nurses Credentialing Center or the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses.

This program provides a background to:

• Assume responsibility as an Adult Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner to provide health care to late adolescents, adults, older adults, and their families in secondary and tertiary settings.
• Demonstrate clinical expertise in providing care to acutely ill patients, including diagnostic reasoning, complex monitoring, and therapies.
• Use research and theoretical principles in implementing therapies that restore health, minimize complications, and manage risk factors.
• Integrate the patient’s care across the continuum of acute care services in collaboration with other health care professionals, families, and patients.

Courses

See course list here.

Admission Requirements

Basic admission requirements must be met before a student can be accepted.Prospective students must apply to the university through theOffice of Admissions,pay the application fee, and submit official transcriptsto theUT Arlington’s Graduate Admission’s Office.The Graduate Admission’s Office is also responsible for calculating the admission GPA. All steps necessary to complete an application (i.e. submitting transcripts, paying fees) must be completed prior to progressing in the application process.

Prospective students should review of the College of Nursing and Health Innovation (CONHI) graduate program specific requirements. A CONHI Graduate Academic Advisor will review the application file for nursing specific requirements. Specific program requirements can be found in theUniversity Catalog - Nursing, Graduate Programs.

If accepted,applicantswill receive an acceptance form that must be signed and returned. If an applicant is denied, the option to appeal the decision is available.

Once the acceptance form has been completed and returned, an official email notification will be sent from the University to the student’s personal email. Accepted students with transfer credit should submit the transfer request form to the CONHI Academic Advisor during this time.

Clinical Requirements

Theclinical requirementsincluded in theMSN Nursing EducationandMSN and Certification Nurse Practitionerprograms at UTA are intended to provide students with experiential learning opportunities to enable them to transition successfully into the role of the nurse educator or nurse practitioner. An essential part of each clinical experience is active, hands-on practice, guided by a licensed preceptor with expertise in their advanced nursing practice specialty.

Clinical placement at The University of Texas at Arlington in the Department of Graduate Nursing is a collaborative process with each student.Students are asked to locate a preceptor which is aligned with their program requirements; however, the Department of Graduate Nursing willprovide assistancewith clinical placement when a student is experiencing difficulty. Clinical placement policies are available in the Graduate Nursing clinical management system,InPlace,and are available to all students upon admission.

Applicants should beaware of expectations concerningGraduate Nursing Clinical Clearance Requirements.

Note: Some graduate programs have required courses and events scheduled on Saturdays. Please consult with the director of the program you are interested in, before applying for admission.

Nursing License Verification

Students are required to provide verification of an unencumbered license for acceptance into the Nursing program. The College of Nursing and Health Innovation uses NURSYS, a national database, to verify student license credentials. The NURSYS licensure and disciplinary database is the repository of the data provided directly from the Nursing Commission to the National Council of State Boards of Nursing’s (NCSBN) and is primary source equivalent. To learn more about NURSYS, pleaseclick or tap here.

To assist in expeditiously verifying your credentials, please ensure your information is available in this database.

We also encourage you to sign up forNURSYS e-notify.As a nurse you will enjoy receiving license expiration reminders, status updates to your license, and tracking your nurse license verifications for endorsem*nt. Visit the link above to learn more about the benefits of e-notify.

Resources

Policies

Study Time Recommendations

In general, for every-one graduate nursing semester credit hour of enrollment a student should allocate 5 hours of study time outside of class. For example, a 3 semester credit hours course, may reasonably require 15 hours of work, outside of class, plus anytime needed to complete clinicals.

Employment Recommendations

It is recommended that a student’s employment not exceed 16-20 hours per week in either regular or summer semesters. Students are encouraged to evaluate their energy level, familial and personal obligations, and school commitments before starting their degree program.

Tuition

Academic Calendar

Students should review theacademic calendarprior to enrollingandprepare accordingly.

Students Success

MSNStudent Successresources are availabletoall studentsachieving academic success at UTArlington.Our dedicatedfacultymake every effort to assist students in meeting their academic goals across a wide variety of subject areas.

UTA CONHI is unique among many comparable universities for the remarkable amount of resources dedicated tostudent success. Learn more about our offerings on help with coursesandwriting/speaking.

Academic Advising

Students in the MSN program are welcome to meetwith an advisor. Once admitted to UT Arlington, students may enroll in their coursework using the degree plan provided by the academic advisor and proceed to registration. Students are encouraged to contact their advisor with any questions.Learn more about Graduate Nursing Advising.

UTA's Department of Graduate Nursing is unique among many comparable universities for the remarkable amount of resources dedicated to student success.Learn more about our offerings on help with courses and writing/speaking.