Pediatric Nurse Practitioner
Program Description
The Pediatric Nurse Practitioner (PNP) Program is designed to prepare nurses who seek advanced knowledge and skill to practice as pediatric nurse practitioners in the delivery of primary health care to infants, children, and adolescents. The core curriculum provides students with an in-depth understanding of advanced nursing practice and enables them to apply this understanding to a variety of settings, such as community health centers, day care programs, chronic care facilities, outpatient facilities, private practice offices, schools, health departments, and homes. PNPs who are prepared at this master’s degree level exercise sophisticated clinical judgement based on advanced theoretical and scientific knowledge, serve as models in collaborative practice with other health care professionals, and lead in the advancement of contemporary professional nursing by contributing to practice, research, and theory building.
Graduates are eligible for certification as a Certified Pediatric Nurse Practitioner in New York State. Graduates are also eligible to take the certifying examination offered by NCBPNP/N and/or ANCC.
The Program Director for the Pediatric Nurse Practitioner specialty is Rita Marie John, DNP, CPNP.
Admission
Please contact the Office of Admissions for details regarding admission and financial aid packages. Faculty review applications on a rolling admission basis so that students may apply to begin this program in the summer or fall semester. Please note, applications for the Pediatric NP Program can only be submitted online.
Admission criteria include:
- Current New York State nursing license or eligibility
- Bachelor’s degree in nursing from an NLN or CCNE accredited program
- Satisfactory score on the Graduate Record Examination (GRE)
- An undergraduate course in statistics
- A physical assessment course
- Three references attesting to applicant’s academic ability and potential
- Personal goal statement that is congruent with program goals (two pages, double-spaced, 12 pt. font)
- Resume or Curriculum Vitae
*RN's with an associate degree and a non-nursing baccalaureate degree are required to complete 5 credits in community health in addition to the course requirement listed
Curriculum
| Core | Credits |
| Assessing Clinical Evidence | 4 |
| Health and Social Policy: Context for Practice and Research | 4 |
| Intensives | 2 |
| 10 | |
| Sciences | |
| Pediatric Pathophysiology | 3 |
| Advanced Physiology | 3 |
| Advanced Neonatal and Pediatric Pharmacology | 3 |
| Incorporating Genetics into Advanced Nursing Practice | 3 |
| 12 | |
| Specialty | |
| Physical and Psychological Assessment of the Child | 3 |
| Pediatric Primary Care I | 3 |
| Pediatric Primary Care–Clinical | 2 |
| Pediatric Primary Care–Seminar I | 1 |
| Pediatric Primary Care II | 2 |
| Pediatric Primary Care II –Clinical | 4 |
| Pediatric Primary Care–Seminar II | 1 |
| Pediatric Primary Care III Clinical - Fall | 3 |
| Pediatric Primary Care III | 2 |
| Pediatric Primary Care lll Clinical - Summer | 2 |
| Pediatric Primary Care–Seminar III | 1 |
| Pediatric Emergencies | 1 |
| 25 | |
| Total Credits | 47 |
School of Nursing
The School of Nursing has paved the way for professional nursing since 1892 and continues to lead the field as the foremost institution for advanced practice nursing.
The School of Nursing is a designated World Health Organization Collaborating Center for International Nursing Development in Advanced Practice. With urban clinical sites, expert faculty practitioners, cutting edge research, and the strength of the Columbia name and reputation, the School of Nursing produces graduates who possess the skills necessary to bring advanced practice nursing into the new millennium. As medical advances offer a cascade of new and useful therapies, the need for more health care providers will increase exponentially. Our country will face many health care challenges in the next 20 years, and nurse practitioners are essential to providing access to quality primary care.
Founded in 1892 as Presbyterian Hospital School of Nursing, the School became part of Columbia University in 1937 and began offering the baccalaureate degree. It is one of the oldest schools of nursing in the US. In 1956, it became the first nursing program in the country to award a master’s degree in a clinical nursing specialty. In 1999, the School granted its first doctoral degree. More than 9,000 nurses have graduated since the School opened.
The School shares the Columbia University Health Sciences Campus with the Mailman School of Public Health, the School of Dental and Oral Surgery, and the College of Physicians and Surgeons. Each of these schools adds to the richness and diversity of the educational experience of students and faculty.
School of Nursing faculty have substantial experience in curriculum, instructional design, and research. They maintain expertise in their areas of teaching responsibility through participation at local, regional, and national conferences, involvement in scholarly presentations and publications, and faculty practice.
Columbia University School of Nursing is distinguished by the clinical excellence of its programs and graduates. Columbia nurses are making crucial contributions and improving the health of individuals wherever they practice.
The above information is current as of 10/07 and is subject to change at any time.