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Acute/Tertiary Care

Fax Number: 412-383-7227

The Department of Acute/Tertiary Care is comprised of faculty whose expertise focuses on care delivered in acute and critical care settings. This department provides courses in medical-surgical nursing taught in the undergraduate nursing program and four Master's level programs. These include the Acute Care Nurse Practitioner (ACNP) Program, the Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) Program, the Nurse Anesthesia Program (NAP), and the Nursing Administration Program (Nursing Leadership) (CNL).

  • Department Chair:
    Leslie A. Hoffman, RN, PhD, FAAN
  • Administrator:
    Elizabeth McNally
  • Secretary II
    Carol Kieda

Emphasis in the Doctoral Program in the Department of Acute/Tertiary care is on critical care. Department faculty are engaged in active programs of research in the several areas indicated below:

The Acute Care Nurse Practitioner (ACNP) Program prepares graduates to provide direct continuous and comprehensive advanced nursing care across the continuum of acute care services using a collaborative mode. Since it's beginning in 1993, the ACNP Program has become a nationally recognized leader in ACNP education.
Please visit the ACNP website for more information.

  • Program Director: Kathy S. Magdic, RN, ACNP, FCC
  • Administrative Secretary: Peggy McNeil

The Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) Program prepares graduates to function as expert providers of nursing care, developers and managers of population-based programs of care, change agents in advancing nursing practice, clinical outcomes managers who produce quality, cost-effective outcomes, and developers of research utilization projects to test innovative practices.

  • Program Directors: Patricia Tuite, RN, MSN
  • Administrative Secretary: Peggy McNeil

The Nurse Anesthesia Program (NAP) prepares entry-level practitioners in the exciting field of anesthesia. Through an integrated program of classroom instruction and clinical practice, students have the opportunity to apply nursing and anesthesia theory to the administration of state-of-the art anesthesia techniques. Currently, the NAP is ranked second nationally among all nurse anesthesia programs by US News and Word Report - March, 1998, 1999, & 2000.

  • Program Director: John O' Donnell, RN, MSN, CRNA
  • Administrative Secretary: Cindy McClellan

The Nursing Administration Program (Nursing Leadership) (CNL) prepares nurses to function in managerial positions in a variety of health care settings. The program has been designed for those nurses who wish to make a positive contribution to patient outcomes and service delivery in ways other than through direct patient care. The program also stresses the development of leadership in nursing and in healthcare administration.