Adult Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner

The adult gerontology primary care nurse practitioner acquires a broad base of knowledge and experience to provide direct healthcare services to those age 13 through the oldest old. The degree focuses on health promotion, health protection, disease prevention, and management of common acute and chronic illnesses for these age groups. To meet the needs of an aging population, the adult gerontology primary care nurse practitioner functions primarily in ambulatory care, including clinics, veteran services, home care and other primary care settings. There are a total of 78 credit hours with 1000 clinical hours. Following program completion, graduates will be eligible to sit for national certification.

The adult gerontology primary care nurse practitioner graduate is prepared to:

• synthesize knowledge from nursing theories, humanities, and evidence-based scientific clinical guidelines to guide assessment of health status for patients of all ages;
• demonstrate advanced practice clinical decision making, integrating critical thinking, to interpret patient and diagnostic test data and formulate differential diagnoses and a plan of care for patients from age 13 through oldest-old;
• design and implement a mutually agreed upon management plan and therapeutic interventions with patients and families;
• evaluate and revise the documented management plans;
• apply assessment methodologies and research findings to improve and evaluate the care of older adolescents and adult patients throughout their lifespans;
• advocate for patients and families to provide cost-effective, culturally competent, ethical, quality care in and across healthcare settings; and
• model responsibility for continued professional development, integrity, accountability, competence, and credentialing as an adult-gerontology primary care nurse practitioner.