The adult-gerontology nurse practitioner program focuses on advanced practice nursing with an emphasis on evidenced-based practice for enhancing development of interventions that impact health outcomes and complex healthcare systems. This academic program will provide nurses with the opportunity to develop the knowledge, experience, and skills necessary to be licensed and certified as advanced practice nurses who can address the pressing issues and challenges in today’s complex health care arena by directing the care needs of populations in either acute care or primary care settings. Students will choose either an acute or primary care program focus option.
The MN program has been designed as a 5-6 credit per semester on-line program consisting of 50 credits in 9 semesters (3 years, including summers) with 700 total clinical hours of which 576 hours will be in clinical settings providing supervised direct patient care. Students are required to attend three on-campus intensive summer course sessions to ensure acquisition of skills for option specific procedures and to complete simulated learning experiences.
The graduate certificate program focuses on advanced practice nursing with an emphasis on evidenced-based practice enhancing development of interventions that impact health outcomes and complex healthcare systems. The certificate program will provide nurses who are already certified nurse practitioners the opportunity to develop education, experience, and skills necessary to be certified and licensed as advanced practice nurses with a specialty in adult-gerontology to address the pressing issues and challenges in today’s complex health care arena by directing the care needs of populations in either primary care or acute care settings. Students will choose either an acute or primary care program option. As an example, Family Nurse Practitioners who wish to specialize in adult-gerontology acute care practice could complete the acute care certificate program to become eligible for certification, licensure, privileging and credentialing to allow them to practice with adult and geriatric patient populations in acute care medical centers.
The Graduate Certificate program has been designed as a 2-6 credit per semester online program consisting of a minimum of 19 credits in 4 semesters with a total of 512 clinical hours of which 448 hours will be in clinical settings providing supervised direct patient care. Students are required to attend two on-campus intensive summer course sessions to ensure acquisition of skills for option specific procedures, and to complete simulated learning experiences and Objectively Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCE).
American Association of Colleges of Nursing. (2011). The essentials of master’s education for advanced practice nursing. Washington, DC: American Association of Colleges of Nursing.
The purpose of the Master of Nursing Adult-Gerontology Nurse Practitioner program is to prepare nurses for advanced practice nursing with an emphasis on evidenced-based practice enhancing development of interventions that impact health outcomes and complex healthcare systems. This curricular track will provide nurses the opportunity to develop skills necessary to be advanced practice nurses who can address the pressing issues and challenges in today’s complex health care arena by directing the care needs of populations in acute care and primary care settings.
Conceptual Interface with School’s Guiding Documents: The graduate program is synchronous with the School of Nursing’s mission in a variety of ways.
First, the School’s philosophy is addressed. For the person/client concept of the nursing paradigm, the curriculum provides multiple opportunities for the graduate student to practice with, or on behalf of, a specified population, apply theoretical perspectives concerning diversity and partner with others. All facets of the nursing concept of the paradigm are carried out through partnership and service for a specified population, thus, resulting in program outcomes for clinical reasoning and critical inquiry, communication, experiential learning, global worldview and professionalism and leadership. These outcomes are deemed essential for professional nursing practice at the graduate level. For the environment and health concepts of the paradigm, the curriculum focus is on multi-dimensional theoretical knowledge applicable to population nursing, which includes assessment, planning, intervention and evaluation and where the external environment is conceptualized as crossing geographical and practice boundaries.
Second, the School’s belief statements interface with the design of the graduate program. For example, core courses in nursing and related theories; research and scholarly inquiry; and, advanced nursing leadership are foundational to specialty practice at the master’s level. Curriculum for specialized population nursing practice includes role development, concepts, and theoretical components of the nursing process applicable at the individual, group, and population level of advanced practice nursing. Integrated content includes health care policy, ethics, human diversity, social issues, and health promotion and disease prevention. At the graduate level, faculty function as facilitators of learning that is more student-directed than at the undergraduate level. Theoretical concepts are integrated with practice in ways intended to be practical and useful by adult learners in advanced nursing roles.
Clinical reasoning and critical inquiry are integral to the curriculum with the former focusing on applying theoretical knowledge, evidence and skills at the individual, group, and population level. Critical inquiry is the mainstay of graduate education. At the graduate level, skilled communication is used in such ways as discussion in on-line classes, in developing and maintaining partnerships, negotiating, marketing, advocacy roles, and in utilizing a variety of technological modes.
The integrated components of engagement and experiential education are particularly strong. Students and faculty are actively engaged with community partners in order to promote the health of individuals, groups, and populations and identify healthcare and health promotion needs. In order to obtain successful outcomes, partnerships are inherent in advanced practice nursing. This graduate program was designed to have experiential education through multiple courses and course assignments that are evidence-based and have practical applications.
The global worldview is addressed through assignments, discussion and literature that lead the graduate student to a broadened view of issues, needs, and concerns. Related content includes cultural competency and economic and financial perspectives. An increasing array of international agreements will provide elective, and potentially, program of study opportunities in selected global environments.
Professionalism and leadership embody core beliefs essential for advanced nursing roles. Simply stated, the graduate master’s level nurse uses the attributes of self in conjunction with the nursing profession’s values, tenets, standards, guidelines and codes to make a difference at the health policy level with and for others.
Listed here are expectations for faculty, students, and on-line teaching and learning.
Masters students should have strong motivation to advance within the health care field. Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal, are essential for professional success. Masters students are expected to have a sound sense of responsibility for their own learning, continued scholarly activity and willingness to take initiative in achievement of learning goals. Over the course of the program, the master’s student will develop the ability to demonstrate leadership and collaboration skills in working with colleagues, groups and in community partnerships.
The curriculum is offered on-line. Clinical course content is delivered on-line with community partner, faculty, and student designing the clinical experiences to facilitate the achievement of learning outcomes. One of the assumptions of on-line learning is the student actively engages and participates in the learning process. In many graduate courses, faculty serve as facilitators to student learning. Therefore, the students take on the responsibility of self-directed learning.
Functional Abilities All students must meet the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) functional abilities essential for nursing practice (Yocum, C. J. [1996]. Validation Study: Functional Abilities Essential for Nursing Practice). The NCSBN has identified the functional capacities necessary for the professional practice of nursing, derived from an extensive study of practicing nurses.
These functional capacities include:
Reasonable Accommodation for Disabilities Upon admission, an applicant who discloses a disability and requests accommodation may be asked to provide documentation of his or her disability and to collaborate with the Educational Access Center. The School is not required to make modifications that would substantially alter the nature or requirements of the Program or provide accommodations that present an undue burden to the School.
Students with disabilities needing accommodations to fully participate in classes should contact the Educational Access Center (EAC). All accommodations must be approved through the EAC prior to being implemented. To learn more about the accommodation process visit the EAC’s website. To matriculate or continue in the curriculum, the candidate must be able to perform all the essential functions either with or without accommodation.
The mechanism of delivery for the Boise State University Adult-Gerontology Nurse Practitioner Nursing Graduate Program will be as an asynchronous on-line/distance education program with mandatory on campus sessions each summer. Didactic courses could have synchronous delivery material. Advanced notice will be given so that students can plan how they will participate.
Participating in an on-line course requires you to have access to a computer and being able to send and receive e-mail. Boise State University provides an email account for every student. Your instructor must be able to correspond with you through e-mail and may require you to communicate with your classmates through e-mail. Course faculty and clinical preceptors will use your Boise State University student email account for all email communication unless otherwise specified.
By enrolling in an on-line course, you are granting the instructor permission to post your name and e-mail address on the course website or otherwise distribute that information to other students in the class.