Acute Care Nurse Practitioner
As of Spring 2011 and forward, this major is no longer accepting new applicants.
The role of the Acute Care Nurse Practitioner (ACNP) is to provide advanced nursing
care across the continuum of health care services to meet the specialized physiologic
and psychological needs of patients with complex acute, critical, and chronic health
conditions. This care is continuous and comprehensive. The population in acute care
practice includes acutely and critically ill patients experiencing episodic illness,
exacerbation of chronic illness, or terminal illness. The ACNP practices in any
setting in which patient care requirements include complex monitoring and therapies,
high-intensity nursing intervention, or continuous nursing vigilance with the range
of high-acuity care. While most ACNP's practice in acute care and hospital based
settings including sub-acute care, emergency care, and intensive care settings,
the continuum of acute care services spans the geographic settings of home, ambulatory
care, urgent care, and rehabilitative care.
In addition to managing patient care, the ACNP utilizes invasive interventions and
procedures to promote physiologic stability. ACNPs perform a wide variety of skills
and procedures, and the skill set of an ACNP is often dependent on the specific
patient population and specialty-based area of practice.
Restorative care is the focus of the ACNP, and short-term goals include patient
stabilization, minimization of complications, and promotion of physical and psychological
well-being. The long-term goal is to restore maximal health potential while evaluating
risk factors in achieving this outcome.
Above courses +12 semester hours required courses for a total of 50 semester
hours. In the post-MSN option, each applicant is evaluated individually
Graduates are eligible for national certification and recognition by the Board of Nurse Examiners for the State of Texas as an Advanced Practice Nurse.