Proposal For a Post Masters Certificate as a Neonatal Nurse Practitioner
Curriculum and Application Overview
Dr. Rosalie Mainous, Associate Dean for Graduate Programs and Research
I.
Educational Objectives and Rationale
1.1 Program Objectives:
a. To build on an existing knowledge base obtained in a prior Master of Science in Nursing
program.
b. To make Registered Nurses with a Master of Science in Nursing degree eligible for a
certification examination as a Neonatal Nurse Practitioner.
c. To provide essential course content as described by the National Organization of Nurse
Practitioner Faculties, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, the National
Association of Neonatal Nurses and the National Certification Corporation .
d. To prepare Neonatal Nurse Practitioners to practice in an acute care setting with low
and high risk infants from birth to the age of one using independent clinical judgment.
e. The rational for this program is two-fold. First, Kentucky regulatory guidelines dictate
that post-masters students training for clinical certification in a new specialty area must
obtain a program certificate recognized by the educational institution. Secondly, the
certifying bodies now require that simply obtaining coursework to meet the criteria is
insufficient, and instead students must obtain a Certificate from a recognized
Certificate Program to be eligible for the certification exam. A standard curriculum will
enhance student outcomes.
1.2 Internal/External Influences
a. Advanced Practice Nurses are critical in the new health care reform initiative and
providing specialty training in a post-masters certificate format is an expeditious
way to train nurses who already have a master of science in nursing degree but
wish to specialize further. This meets several of the universities goals within the
strategic plan.
b. Nurses who are currently pediatric nurse practitioners or those that have a
generic MSN degree are candidates for this certificate program. For every
graduate of an NNP program, there are 8 available jobs across the country.
c. Employment prospects for NNPs have risen dramatically in the last 12 years. In
that period of time the city of Louisville went from 3 NNPs, two of those prepared
at the MSN level, to now nearly 20 within Kentuckiana and more in Owensboro,
Henderson, and Lexington. Graduates of the MSN program that specialize as NNPs
have obtained jobs in North Carolina, Texas, Tennessee, Indiana and the
southwest.
d. There will not be an increased need for faculty as current faculty will teach
existing courses to both the MSN students as well as the post-masters certificate
students.
e. This certificate program will have no impact on any other program within the
university
f. This program is supported by the Department of Pediatrics with shared faculty
with the School of Nursing
g. This Certificate program is not proposed instead of a degree program, but in
addition to a MSN degree, to provide an added level of specialization.
II.
Program Description
2.1 Admission
a. Applicants must currently hold a Master of Science in Nursing degree and have 2
years experience with high risk infants, 1 of those years in a Level III NICU. They
must also have at least a 3.0 GPA from their Master’s program. They must be
cleared by a background check to enter the program and carry liability insurance.
Documentation of current immunization to the required immunizations for all
professional students that interact with patients must be presented.
b. Applicants must provide a transcript and complete an application to the SON and
the graduate school.
c. There may be some universities that grant a Master of Science degree (MS) instead
of a MSN and these students will be evaluated on a case by case basis.
d. Initial review of the admission documents occurs in the Office of Student Services.
Once the application is complete it is forwarded to the Graduate Academic Affairs
Committee for review. This committee makes a determination on admission and the
application then goes to the Associate Dean in charge of graduate programs for a
signature.
2.2 Curriculum
a,b c, d. The required curriculum can be found below. Total Credit hours=22
Prerequisites: NURS
NURS 611 Advanced
Pharmacology
NURS 630 Neonatal
Pathophysiology
SUMMER 1
FALL 1
SPRING 1
NURS 658 Neonatal
NURS 600 Genetics (2
NURS 637 Advanced
Pharmacology(1 credit) credits)
High Risk Clinical (5
NURS 633 Advanced
NURS 636 High Risk
credits)
Clinical Practice: NNP
Clinical(4 credits)
NURS 635 Advanced
1(3 credits)
NURS 634 Advanced
Clinical Practice: NNP III
NURS 629 Neonatal
Clinical Practice: NNP
(2 credits)
Assessment(3 credits)
II(2 credits)
e. The NNP track courses only run every other year to assure an adequate number of students in
each cohort. May 2010 a group of 5 NNP students (none post-masters) will be graduating. The
next time NURS 658, NURS 633, and NURS 629 will be offered will be SUMMER 2011.
f. This program is extremely unique and there are few like this in the country. This is the only
NNP program in the state of KY. There is one in Indiana, and 2 (one public and one private) in
Tennessee. Several states do not have a program.
g. Course descriptions attached.
2.3 Experiential Components
a. This program has a strong clinical component. Nursing is a practice discipline and
advanced practice nurses require at least 600 hours of clinical time to master the
skills necessary for advanced practice and to meet the criteria for certification and
licensure as a neonatal nurse practitioner.
b. The clinical experiences are in NURS 636—4 credit hours at a 5:1 ratio resulting in
300 clinical hours. NURS 637---5 credit hours at a 5:1 ratio resulting in 350 clinical
hours. About 17 hours of clinical also occurs in NURS 629.
c. The primary clinical sites for this program are the NICU at University Hospital, the
NICU at Kosair Children’s Hospital, and the Neonatal Follow Up Clinic run by the
Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine.
d. Students are each assigned to a single preceptor for a clinical day. Over the course
of a semester they will each have several preceptors. Preceptors include NNPs and
MDs. There are 3 faculty that share the responsibility of 5-6 students.
2.4 Accreditation/Certification
Criteria from the following organizations and agencies guide and direct the curricular
components: The American Association of Colleges of Nursing, The National Association of
Neonatal Nurses, the National Certification Corporation, the Commission on Collegiate
Nursing Education, the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties, and the
Kentucky State Statute on advanced practice nursing.
2.5 Evaluation
Evaluation is measured in 3 ways: program completion, the ability to pass the
certification exam, and ability to obtain a position in the field. To date, the NNP program
has a 100% pass rate on the certification exam and all gradates have found suitable
employment. Only 1 student has started the NNP MSN program or post-masters option and
not completed.
III.
ADMINISTRATION OF CERTIFICATE PROGRAMS
3.1 The Program
The office responsible for the administration of the program, record keeping, accountancy
and filing annual reports is the office of the Associate Dean for Graduate Programs and
Research within the School of Nursing. Currently we collaborate with the University of
Kentucky wherein they send students to the University of Louisville for the NNP core and
the UK students take all other course work in their home institution and receive a degree
from UK.
3.2 Reviews
All certificate programs will be reviewed in accordance with guidelines established by the
University Program Review Committee.
3.3 Programs Must be Approved by:
Programs should be submitted by the Unit Dean to the Provost. The Provost’s Office
coordinates the review process
IV.
RESOURCES
4.1 Resources Required
a. The facilities to be used for this certificate program will the SON classrooms, the
Learning Resource Center, the Graduate Assessment Laboratory, local hospitals, the
computer laboratory on the fourth floor of the K Building, the Kornhauser Library,
faculty offices, the Office of Student Services, and call rooms at University Hospital
and Kosair Children’s Hospital.
b. There are no additional resources required from the library for this Certificate
Program. This Certificate Program uses courses from the existing NNP program. The
libraries holdings are already sufficient in the area of neonatal nursing and the
library liaison, Michel Atlas, is very responsive to the SON’s needs.
c. No new faculty will be hired. The Associate Dean for Graduate Programs and
Research is a NNP and will direct the Certificate program (CV attached). In addition,
two faculty in the Department of Pediatrics, Mrs. Amy Watson-Reese and Mr. Fran
Morabito (CVS attached) are faculty of record for the NNP track courses. Ms.
Watson-Reese and Mr. Morabito are part-time for the SON. Dr. Mainous is full time.
4.2 Budget Request
There are no additional resources required.
4.3 Financial Aid
DOE approval is desired for the program.
V.
MAJOR REVISIONS OF CERTIFICATE PROGRAMS
5.1 Revisions
Revisions that will substantially alter the purpose of the program will be resubmitted as a
new proposal