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

  1. Educational Objectives and Rationale

1.1Program Objectives:

  1. To build on an existing knowledge base obtained in a prior Master of Science in Nursing program.
  2. To make Registered Nurses with a Master of Science in Nursing degree eligible for a certification examination as a Neonatal Nurse Practitioner.
  3. To provide essential course content as described by the National Organizationof Nurse Practitioner Faculties, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, the National Association of Neonatal Nurses and the National Certification Corporation .
  4. To prepare Neonatal Nurse Practitioners to practice inan acute care setting with low and high risk infants from birth to the age of one using independent clinical judgment.
  5. 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.

1.2Internal/External Influences

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. This certificate program will have no impact on any other program within the university
  6. This program is supported by the Department of Pediatrics with shared faculty with the School of Nursing
  7. 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.
  1. Program Description
  2. Admission
  1. 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.
  2. Applicants must provide a transcript and complete an application to the SON and the graduate school.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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
NURS 658 Neonatal Pharmacology(1 credit)
NURS 633 Advanced Clinical Practice: NNP 1(3 credits)
NURS 629 Neonatal Assessment(3 credits) / FALL 1
NURS 600 Genetics (2 credits)
NURS 636 High Risk Clinical(4 credits)
NURS 634 Advanced Clinical Practice: NNP II(2 credits) / SPRING1
NURS 637 Advanced High Risk Clinical (5 credits)
NURS 635 Advanced Clinical Practice: NNP III (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.

2.3ExperientialComponents

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.

2.4Accreditation/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.

2.5Evaluation

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.

  1. ADMINISTRATION OF CERTIFICATE PROGRAMS
  2. 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.

3.2Reviews

All certificate programs will be reviewed in accordance with guidelines established by the University Program Review Committee.

3.3Programs Must be Approved by:

Programs should be submitted by the Unit Dean to the Provost. The Provost’s Office coordinates the review process

  1. RESOURCES
  2. Resources Required
  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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. Budget Request

There are no additional resources required.

4.3Financial Aid

DOE approval is desired for the program.

  1. MAJOR REVISIONS OF CERTIFICATE PROGRAMS
  2. Revisions

Revisions that will substantially alter the purpose of the program will be resubmitted as a new proposal