Return to: School of Nursing: Programs/Courses
This track prepares nurses for advanced practice in the care of young adults, adults, elderly and frail elderly patients over a continuum of wellness, acute illness and chronic illness. The AGCNS track allows students to determine the focus of their specialization (i.e., cardiology, wound/ostomy/continence, neurology or neurosurgery, general surgery, ER/trauma, pulmonary, transplant, diabetes, geriatrics, etc.) and the areas of practice in which they would like to focus their clinical experiences (critical care, acute care, or chronic care). Emphasis is placed on providing students with the advanced theoretical knowledge and practice skills needed to care for practice in wide variety of medical and surgical critical care, acute care and specialty clinics. The roles of clinician, educator and researcher, as well as clinical consultant and leader are key aspects of this specialty. Evidence-based practice, outcomes management, clinical research, and advanced clinical decision-making are emphasized. The required 560 hours of preceptorship exceeds the recommendation of the National Association of CNS’s for 500 hours. At the completion of this track, students are qualified to sit for the American Nursing Credentialing Center (ANCC) or American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) certification examination for the Adult-Gerontology Acute Care CNS certification.
