Neonatal Nurse Practitioner
The Neonatal Nurse Practitioner (NNP) post-baccalaureate DNP (BSN to DNP) program of study consists of 77 credit hours. The plan of study is based on the Educational Standards: Curriculum Guidelines and Education Competencies for Neonatal Nurse Practitioner Programs (NANNP, 2023), the American Association of Colleges of Nursing Essentials (AACN, 2021) and the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties' Nurse Practitioner Role Core Competencies and Population-focused curriculum elements (NONPF, 2022) for the NNP.
This program prepares the student with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to engage in advanced nursing practice by providing holistic, family-centered care for preterm neonates, infants, and toddlers who may need intervention for preterm or complicated birth, medically unstable situations, episodic illness, primary preventative care, or chronic disease management from birth at any gestation to 2 years. Additionally, patients with special needs may be served by the NNP as consultant or provider; special needs may include but are not limited to a patient with severe developmental delay, transitioning from neonatal to pediatric care, or a child with a congenital, genetic, or other neonatal disorder. The NNP education is further distinguished from other population-focused NP concentrations by preparing learnings with a focus on embryology, transition to extrauterine life, and management of high-risk preterm and term infants; and ongoing secondary and tertiary prevention related to chronic disease that presents during the first two years of life, including palliative and end-of-life care for babies and their families.
Clinical settings include neonatal intensive care units, newborn nursery, delivery rooms, and community-based follow up clinics. The primary teaching-learning practices used in this program are seminars, case studies/discussions, skills lab, simulation and practicum experiences. Clinical learning experiences focus on the advanced assessment, diagnosis, and management of patients from birth at any gestation to 2 years. Practicum focuses on developing clinical competency in the role and scope of advanced nursing practice under the guidance of program faculty and direct supervision by approved preceptors.