MEETING THE NEED: UIndy’s New Acute Care Nurse Practitioner Program
care, especially in rural and underserved areas, nurse practitioners are poised to take on critical leadership roles in primary and specialty care delivery,” said Dr. Wendy Stoelting-Gettelfinger, clinical program director and associate professor at UIndy. “Through rigorous academics, hands-on clinical training, and strong community partnerships, UIndy is preparing nurse practitioners who are ready not just to meet today’s demands, but to lead tomorrow’s healthcare innovations.” Accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education, UIndy’s program expands access for nursing students across Indiana to pursue this high-demand specialty track—nearly doubling the number of available spaces within the state. Designed with flexibility in mind, the hybrid format of the program accommodates working nurses to offer advanced opportunities for those already in the field. With an emphasis on hands-on learning, students develop their clinical decision-making and technical skills through competency-based activities in UIndy’s state-of-the- art Simulation Lab, a controlled environment that mirrors real-world scenarios. Students practice clinical skills such
The United States is facing a shortage of physicians—as many as 86,000 in the next decade, according to the American Association of Medical Colleges. One solution to help meet this growing demand for specialized care is to increase the number of trained specialists in acute care. That’s why the University of Indianapolis School of Nursing established its new graduate-level adult gerontology acute care nurse practitioner (AGACNP) program. The AGACNP program prepares graduate nursing students to provide life-saving treatment to patients aged 13 years and older in any acute care setting, such as hospitals, emergency rooms, and intensive care units (ICUs). Acute care nurse practitioners work in collaboration with physicians for chart review but independently diagnose patients, develop treatment plans, and prescribe medications per the terms of their collaborative agreements and governing state law. Unlike traditional primary care nurse practitioners, who typically work in outpatient or primary care settings, acute care nurse practitioners are trained specifically to respond to urgent and rapidly changing conditions seen in hospitals. “With an increasing need for accessible high-quality
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UNIVERSITY OF INDIANAPOLIS
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