Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Clinical Nurse Specialist (Post-Professional)

Return to: School of Nursing: Certificate Programs

This track prepares nurses for advanced practice in the care of young adults, adults, older adults and frail older adult patients across the continuum of illness to wellness.  The AGCNS is an advanced practice nurse fully prepared to manage the care of adult patients in a variety of clinical settings. UVA’s program emphasizes the advanced theoretical knowledge, practice and skills needed to manage adult gerontology patients through all phases of care from preventative to hospitalization and follow-up. AGCNS students also develop exceptional diagnostic and clinical decision-making skills, building expert knowledge and integrative evidence-based practice strategies, with the ability to transform systems to enhance and systematically monitor clinical outcomes in a collaborative interprofessional environment. The required 560 hours of clinical practicum exceeds the recommendation of the National Association of Clinical Nurse Specialists 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.

Required Courses

20 credits, 560 clinical hours

GNUR 6121 - Diagnostics and Therapeutics Seminar Credits: 3 to 4
GNUR 6310 - AG-AC Seminar I Credits: 4
GNUR 6315 - Adult Geriatric Acute Care Seminar II Credits: 3
GNUR 7311 - AG ACCNS Practicum I Credits: 5
GNUR 7313 - AG ACCNS Practicum II Credits: 5

Public Professional Licensure Disclosure

Federal regulations require the University of Virginia to disclose whether its licensure-related degree programs meet or do not meet U.S. jurisdictions’ (states and territories) educational requirements for licensure (34 CFR 668.43(a)(5)). Furthermore, per 34 CFR 668.14(b)(32), UVA must, prior to a student’s enrollment into a licensure-related program, ensure the student plans to pursue licensure and employment in a jurisdiction in which the program meets that jurisdiction’s academic requirements. Please refer to the UVA’s Professional Licensure Program Disclosure Tool to either a.) determine if a UVA program meets or does not meet the educational requirements specified by the associated licensing board in a specific jurisdiction, or b.) view the status of all programs in a specific jurisdiction. Instructions for searching the Index are available on the Index page.

Enrolled students who change their location to a different state or territory must notify UVA by contacting the University Registrar’s Office to update that information