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College of Nursing: Doctor of Nursing Practice Program
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  8. Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner

Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner

The Adult-Gerontology-Acute Care Nurse Practitioner (AG-ACNP) practice focuses on adults across the life span including the emancipated minor. The AG-ACNP provides care to patients that are characterized as physiologically unstable, technologically dependent, and/or highly vulnerable to complications. These adults may be encountered across clinical settings and require ongoing monitoring and intervention.

AG-ACNP Role

The role of the AG-ACNP encompasses care ranging from disease prevention to acute and critical care management to stabilize the patient’s condition, prevent complications, restore maximum health, and/or provide palliative care.  The AG-ACNP must be able to synthesize theoretical, scientific, and contemporary clinical knowledge, to accurately assess diagnosis, treat and manage health care problems, and/or when appropriate referrals to other health care providers. The role of the AG-ACNP is to provide continuous and comprehensive advanced nursing care to acutely ill adult-gerontology patients (young adults, older adults, and frail elderly) experiencing episodic illness, exacerbation of chronic illness, or terminal illness (AACN, 2023).

AG-ACNP Competencies

  1. Health Promotion, Health Protection, Disease Prevention, and Treatment in acute, complex, critical, and chronic conditions.
  2. Nurse Practitioner-Patient Collaborative approach.
  3. Teaching-Coaching to impart knowledge, and coping skills to individuals and families.
  4. Professional Role in advancing the profession and enhancing direct care/management.
  5. Managing and Negotiating Healthcare Delivery Systems to improve healthcare outcomes.
  6. Monitoring one’s own practice and Ensuring the Quality of Health Care Practice through consultation, collaboration, continuing education, certification, and evaluation.

What you Learn

Skills acquired by graduation include but are not limited to the following:

  1. Develop advanced clinical reasoning and assessment skills, including comprehensive and focused history and physical examinations. 
  2. Diagnose and implement plans of care for complex acute, critical, and chronic illnesses using current clinical guidelines. 
  3. Evaluate the effectiveness of interventions and adapt to rapidly changing clinical situations as necessary. 
  4. Perform skills such as laboratory, EKG, X-ray/other diagnostics interpretation, hemodynamic monitoring, central venous and arterial line placement, suturing, incision and drainage, lumbar puncture, paracentesis, and ventilator management.
  5. Gain skills to be a healthcare leader and transform healthcare. Using a systems-based approach to identify gaps in practice, employ evidence-based interventions to implement a quality improvement project as a DNP-prepared APRN.   

More Information

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Contact

Maeghan E. Arnold, DNP, APRN, AGACN​P-BC, ACHPN  

Clinical Assistant Professor, UAMS College of Nursing

Specialty Coordinator for Adult/Gerontology Acute Care NP Track

Phone: (501) 686-6516  |  Fax: (501) 686-8695  |  mearnold@uams.edu 

Subpages

  • Adult-Gerontology Acute Care FAQ’s
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Mailing Address: 4301 West Markham Street, Little Rock, AR 72205
Phone: (501) 686-7000
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