Creighton University

Acute Care Pediatric Nurse Practitioners are advanced practice nurses who provide expert clinical care to infants, children, and adolescents who have serious acute and chronic health care needs, and to their families.  The goal of this program is to prepare advanced practice nurses who will promote the health and development of children and adolescents as individuals and as population groups encountering changing healthcare systems. Graduates of this program are prepared to provide expert clinical care to meet the specialized physiological and psychological needs of children and adolescents with complex acute, critical, and chronic health conditions and/or urgent, emergent, and life-threatening conditions. The curriculum combines both broad foundational knowledge essential for the care of children as a vulnerable population, as well as specialty knowledge in pediatrics. Attention is given to health promotion, prevention of disease and disability, disease process, treatment, clinical management, and family-centered care provided in a variety of acute and critical care settings including hospitals, intensive care units, emergency departments, and clinics.

Graduates are eligible for state licensure as a nurse practitioner, and the program has been approved by the Pediatric Nursing Certification Board to allow graduates to sit for the PNCB national certification exam as an Acute Care Pediatric Nurse Practitioner.

MSN program- Students are required to complete 675 hours of directly supervised clinical practice which includes a 300 hour residency. The 49 hour masters program can be completed in five semesters of full-time study or may be pursued part-time. 

Pediatric Acute Care Nurse Practitioner Program of Study

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis. As soon as an application is complete, it will be forwarded on to members of the Graduate Admissions and Progressions Committee and will be reviewed at the next scheduled committee meeting.  An admission decision will be made and applicants will be notified promptly.

Applicants must have a Bachelor of  Science degree with a major in nursing (or Master's degree if post-Masters) from a program accredited by the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission (NLNAC) or Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) and should have a GPA of 3.0 or higher.