Program Overview

Program Overview

The Pediatric Nurse Practitioner—Acute Care (PNP-AC) specialty prepares advanced practice registered nurses who provide child-focused, family-centered, culturally respectful care to meet the specialized needs of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults with complex acute, critical, and chronic illness.

Program Description

PNP-AC graduates work across a variety of settings, including but not limited to hospitals, intensive care units, specialty clinics, emergency departments, and home health to care for pediatric patients that may have physiological instability, medical fragility, life-threatening illness or injury, and/or technological dependency. PNP-ACs collaborate within interprofessional teams to stabilize patients, effectively prevent and manage complications, facilitate the restoration of optimal health, and deliver comprehensive palliative and end-of-life care.

Program Objectives

The UCSF PNP-AC specialty program prepares graduates for entry-level PNP-AC practice to provide evidence-based care across the spectrum of pediatric illness and acuity settings from outpatient to inpatient services. Emphasis in the PNP-AC specialty is on competency-based learning and accountability for independent and collaborative decision-making rooted in strong clinical judgment skills, high-quality care, and evidence-based practice.

Program Goals

The UCSF PNP-AC specialty develops advanced practice registered nurses to deliver care that is diverse, inclusive, and equitable, with the goals of reducing health disparities and improving health care access during pediatric illness and injury.

Certifications and Licenses

Upon completion of this academic program, graduates are eligible for:

• California Board of Registered Nursing, Nurse Practitioner certificate
• California Board of Registered Nursing, Nurse Practitioner Furnishing certificate
• National DEA license
• Graduates of the PNP-AC specialty are eligible to take the Certified Pediatric Nurse Practitioner – Acute Care (CPNP-AC) national certification examination offered by the Pediatric Nursing Certification Board (PNCB).

Curriculum

For individuals applying for admission, the sample curriculum for the BSN Entry to DNP — Advanced Nursing Focus pathway can be viewed on the Curriculum webpage.

Practice Experience Requirement

Applicants to the UCSF PNP-AC specialty are required to have a minimum of two years of clinical practice in an acute pediatric setting or the equivalent prior to beginning clinical rotations during their UCSF program.

Faculty

• Brittany Christiansen, PhD, DNP, CPNP-PC/AC, associate professor - Specialty Coordinator
• Vanessa Kalis, DNP, CPNP-AC, ACNP-BC, professor
• Chelsea Noone, PhD, RN, CCNS, assistant professor
• Sandra L. Staveski, PhD, RN, CPNP-AC, associate professor

Program Outcomes

Graduates of the UCSF PNP-AC specialty are leaders in pediatric health care in the Bay Area and beyond. The PNP-AC specialty is the only one of its kind in a public university in California.