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Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner Recorded Virtual Open House

Program

The Drexel Online Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner (AG-ACNP) program is designed to prepare practitioners for professional practice in the management of medical, surgical, and critical-care adult patient populations who are acutely ill or injured.

Please note: Applicants must have a BSN degree to apply.

Upon completing the program, graduates pursue practice roles across the continuum of acute care services ranging from high-acuity hospital based emergency or intensive care settings to specialty-based practices. Graduates are eligible to sit for the ANCC’s Adult Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner Certification Examination (ACNP-BC) and/or AACN’s Acute Care Nurse Practitioner-Adult Gerontology (ACNPC-AG) examination.

Upon completion of the certification exam, we ask that graduates of our Nurse Practitioner programs complete the below survey link to inform the department of their certification exam results: Nurse Practitioner Licensure Submission

Because students are being educated to diagnose and treat patients, this master's program was designed to combine the convenience of online learning with the necessary rigor to become a competent and confident advanced practice nurse upon graduation.

The majority of the track is online.

What you'll learn

The AG-ACNP program provides the knowledge and skills needed to provide healthcare services to meet the specialized needs of adult and geriatric patients with acute medical or surgical issues, including the critically ill or injured.

This is a 57-credit graduate track with an 800 clinical hour requirement. Clinical practicum courses consist of two parts; didactic lectures and clinical practicum rotations that run concurrently. The didactic lectures are held once a week online for three hours of synchronized mandatory online lectures. Each clinical practicum course has a required 160 total clinical hours. Students typically complete two eight hour clinical days each week.

In tandem with the curriculum, clinical practicum rotations allow students to put the principles they have learned into practice. While on campus, students participate in simulated clinical learning experiences conducted in our new state of the art multidisciplinary patient simulation lab. In addition, students undergo standardized patient experiences, problem based learning, and hands on experience with technical skills.

The nurse practitioner faculty is committed to quality and excellence in the nurse practitioner (NP) programs. During your time in the program, you will participate in a mandatory on-campus and/or virtual intensive. The required intensive/s will be held during clinical courses. Exact dates and times will be confirmed with students prior to the term.

What makes the AG-ACNP program unique?

• Synchronous online lectures are offered in a highly interactive, e-learning method that challenges and engages students.
• Clinically active faculty with national board certification.
• You are part of the Drexel College of Nursing and Health Professions with access to clinical practice environments and inter-professional simulated health care scenarios.

Types of Jobs and Job Settings for Program Graduates

Care for acutely ill or injured patients, and those suffering an exacerbation of chronic illnesses in inpatient practices such as intensivist (critical care), hospitalist, and specialty practices that do not treat children. Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioners are generally not found in emergency rooms and on trauma services without additional board certification in caring for acutely ill or injured children.

*The nurse practitioner programs in the Division of Graduate Nursing at Drexel University provide students the flexibility of finding and coordinating their own clinical site and preceptor. The Division of Graduate Nursing offers students resources to assist in this process. Accessibility to clinical sites and preceptors varies from state to state. Students may be required to travel to access clinical sites/preceptors and achieve the necessary clinical hours.

COMPLIANCE

The College of Nursing and Health Professions has a compliance process that may be required for every student. Some of these steps may take significant time to complete. Please plan accordingly.

Visit the Compliance pages for more information.

Application Deadline

August 1, 2025

Admission Requirements

Technical Standards - Nursing 

Degree:
BSN degrees must be from an institution accredited by CCNE (Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education), ACEN (Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing) or NLN CNEA (NLN Commission for Nursing Education Accreditation) with a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or above.

Standardized Tests:
N/A

Transcripts:

• Official transcripts must be sent directly to Drexel from all the colleges/universities that you have attended. Transcripts must be submitted in a sealed envelope with the college/university seal over the flap. Please note that transcripts are required regardless of number of credits taken or if the credits were transferred to another school. An admission decision may be delayed if you do not send transcripts from all colleges/universities attended.
• Transcripts must show course-by-course grades and degree conferrals. If your school does not notate degree conferrals on the official transcripts, you must provide copies of any graduate or degree certificates.
• If your school issues only one transcript for life, you are required to have a course-by-course evaluation completed by an approved transcript evaluation agency
• Use our Transcript Lookup Tool to assist you in contacting your previous institutions

Prerequisites:
Two years of current bedside acute care nursing experience is required.  Critical care experience is preferred.  Examples of the recommended nursing experience include, but are not limited to: ICU, CCU, ER, trauma and high acuity step down units.

References:
Two professional references required from previous or current supervisors, managers, nursing faculty members or program directors who can attest to applicant's clinical knowledge, skill, and potential aptitude for graduate study. References will not be accepted from colleagues or family members.

• You may use our electronic letter of recommendation service 
• If a recommender prefers to submit an original, hard copy letter, please remind them that it must include an ink signature and be submitted in a sealed envelope.

• Why you are choosing this particular program of study
• Your plans upon completion of the graduate degree
• How your current work experience will meet the criteria of 2 years of recent critical care experience.

Interview/Portfolio:
Admissions interview may be required

CV/Resume:
Required. Note: Resume should be detailed regarding work experience including specific job experiences/responsibilities/departments

Licenses:
A copy of your current, unrestricted United States RN license or eligibility for licensure as a registered nurse. License verification from your nursing license registry website are acceptable.

Clinical/Work/Volunteer Experience:
Two years of current critical care experience within the last five years is required.

International Students:
Requirements can be found here

Tuition and Fee Rates:
Please visit the Drexel Online MSN in Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner tuition page.

Application Link (if outside organization):
N/A

This program is organized into four 10-week quarters per year (as opposed to the traditional two-semester system) which means you can take more courses in a shorter time period. One semester credit is equivalent to 1.5 quarter credits.

Graduate students who utilize student loans (FAFSA) must maintain a minimum enrollment of 4.5 credits per term.

For Full List of courses, please visit Drexel Online.

Accreditation

The baccalaureate degree program in nursing, master's degree program in nursing, Doctor of Nursing Practice program and post-graduate APRN certificate program at Drexel University are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education, 655 K Street, NW, Suite 750, Washington DC 20001, 202.887-6791.

These programs and the Post Graduate APRN certificates are also approved by the Pennsylvania State Board of Nursing.

Program Outcomes

• Practices within a legal and ethical framework of health care delivery.
• Advances the role of advanced nursing practice in the health care system through scholarship, clinical experience and political involvement.
• Demonstrates critical thinking and diagnostic reasoning skills in clinical decision-making.
• Integrates multiple technologies and relevant theories into the organization and synthesis of health data required to develop plans of care for patients, families and communities.
• Integrates culturally sensitive health promotion activities that contribute to the health and wellness of the community into clinical practice.
• Demonstrates leadership in nursing and health care through involvement in the development of outcome-based standards of care and practice-based health policy issues.
• Evaluates and modify the quality and effectiveness of clinical practice based on current research findings, standards of care and patient outcomes.
• Contributes to the advancement of nursing, health care and humanity through communication, collaboration and education.

Nursing Program Mission and Values

The Nursing program faculty and staff are committed to educating nurses to embrace both the art and science of nursing, to integrate caring into practice, to think critically and practice competently, compassionately and safely in complex rapidly changing practice environments. The Nursing program supports administrators, faculty, staff and students in developing holistic evidence-based programs, which create healing and caring environments at all levels that reflect innovative education, interdisciplinary practice and research.

The highest goals of the program include demonstrating efficacy, quality and cost-effectiveness of evidence-based nursing interventions in promoting health, preventing disease, preserving human dignity, reducing health disparities and caring for the sick and injured.

All efforts in the Nursing program are designed to build nursing knowledge, enhance nursing practice, foster professional integrity, promote innovation, engage in interdisciplinary collaboration and ultimately improve the health outcomes of patients and families from diverse communities across the continuum of care.

The Nursing program is committed to excellence in nursing education through educational programs that are:

• Authentic: We value a deep connection to others, appreciation of diverse opinions and respect for the other’s frame of reference. We value going beyond objective assessment to understand the context of the other, creative use of self and engagement in the artistry of the caring-healing process—the essence of Nursing.
• Complex: We value complexity science by recognizing that our Nursing program is a complex, dynamic, unpredictable, emerging, self-organizing and adaptive system that cannot be reduced to the sum of its members. As such, we seek that administrators, faculty, staff and students develop skills to improvise, build on the innovations of others, develop positive interpersonal interactions, appreciate the reciprocity that our actions have on the larger system and ourselves and embrace surprise as an opportunity to learn, make sense of our dynamic reality and make a positive impact on the health of our clients.
• Rigorous: We continuously review and redesign programs, courses, technology-infused learning systems and educational products for depth and quality with the learner's experience and background in mind.
• Relevant: We continuously examine changing market forces, the progression of nursing knowledge and the best practices in health care and education to redesign educational programs. There is a strong commitment to population-focused care practice in diverse communities; therefore, we strive to ensure clinically relevant education and simulation experiences. Our faculty serves as excellent role models for developing clinicians.
• State of the Art: We value the use of technological innovation and patient simulation scenarios which foster advanced and evidence-based interdisciplinary communication and teamwork, multiple patient management and crisis resource management skills, provision of culturally relevant care, decreased prevalence of errors and adverse events and a higher intellectual standard in both undergraduate and graduate nursing education.
• Learner-Friendly: In consideration of the demanding, fast-paced lives of our students and nurse consumers, we offer high-quality educational programs in convenient and contemporary formats, including access to academic online courses with attention to user-friendly interfaces as well as resources to enhance academic success. In addition, the College of Nursing and Health Professions is committed to being a challenging and rewarding work environment for faculty, staff and administrators. Information and data on all aspects of the college’s operations are widely shared with faculty, staff and students and all are encouraged to participate in its decisions and activities.