Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner (AGACNP)

The Adult Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner (AGACNP) is educated to provide comprehensive, holistic care for patients with episodic, critical, and complex illness or injury, as well as chronic disease exacerbations. The AGACNP stabilizes patient conditions, prevents complications, restores and maintains maximum health, and provides palliative and end-of-life care.

This program offers both MSN and DNP degree options as well as a post-master’s certificate, allowing students to pursue their preferred level of advanced practice education. Through specialized coursework and intensive clinical practice, students develop expertise in managing complex health conditions across diverse care settings, including hospitals, intensive care units, specialized clinics, telehealth, and community settings. As part of the program, students complete 780 clinical hours (500-780 clinical hours for post-master’s) in supervised settings, fully coordinated by OSN, allowing them to focus entirely on skill development without the added burden of securing placements independently. DNP students complete additional residency hours for a total of 1000 hours.

The AGACNP education includes preparation for delivering care to patients who may be characterized as physiologically unstable, experiencing life-threatening illness or injury, high severity, or highly vulnerable to complications within a continuum of care ranging from disease prevention to critical care.

Scope of practice and career opportunities

Graduates of the AGACNP program are prepared to diagnose, manage, and treat episodic, critical, and complex illness or injury, as well as chronic disease exacerbations, providing comprehensive care. The program empowers graduates to pursue careers in high-intensity environments such as hospitals, critical care units, specialty clinics, and telehealth where they play a crucial role in patient recovery and healthcare quality improvement.

The AG-ACNP curriculum prepares graduates to provide care for individuals beginning at middle adolescence through the adult lifespan.

Upon completion of the AGANCP track, the graduate is able to:

• Synthesize theoretical, scientific and contemporary clinical knowledge for the assessment and management of both health and illness states.
• Implement clinical reasoning and builds collaborative intra- and inter-professional relationships to provide optimal care to patients.
• Provide patient-centered, quality care to the adult and older adult population within the acute and critical care settings through incorporation of health promotion, health protection, disease prevention and treatment.
• Impart knowledge and individualize therapies through the activities of advocacy, modeling and teaching.
• Apply evidence-based practice designed to improve quality of care and health outcomes, by overseeing and directing the delivery of clinical services within an integrated system of health care.

Curriculum and clinical experience

The AGACNP curriculum combines rigorous theoretical learning with 780 clinical hours in OSN-secured placements, ensuring students gain robust, hands-on experience in real-world care settings. Sample courses:

• Advanced Health Assessment and Diagnostics
• Pathophysiology
• Advanced Prescribing Pharmacology for the Acutely Ill Patient
• Diagnosis, Symptom, and Illness Management
• Advanced Practice Introduction to Critical Care
• Clinical experiences include hospitalist, emergency department, critical care units, specialty areas such as cardiology, surgery, nephrology, infectious disease, gastroenterology

Certification and accreditation

Graduates of the AGACNP program are eligible to sit for the Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner certification exam (American Association of Critical Care Nurses and American Nurses Credentialing Center). Orvis graduates regularly exceed the national first-attempt pass rate, with most cohorts achieving a 100% pass rate. The program is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE), reflecting OSN’s commitment to maintaining the highest standards in nursing education.