New Certificate Program Will Help Meet Growing Demand for Certified Pediatric Acute Care Nurse Practitioners

The University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing is thrilled to offer a new post-graduate certificate program that will help meet the growing need for certified pediatric acute care nurse practitioners in the country.

In March, the Pennsylvania State Board of Nursing approved the school’s Pediatric Acute Care Nurse Practitioner Post-Graduate Certificate. This approval will make it the first certificate program of its kind in western Pennsylvania. Currently, the only Pediatric Acute Care Nurse Practitioner Certificate programs in Pennsylvania are at two universities in the Philadelphia area.

“Pitt Nursing is very excited about the opportunity to increase the nurse practitioner work force in acute pediatric care and looks forward to enrolling the first cohort this fall (2022),” said Jaqueline Dunbar-Jacob, PhD, RN, FAAN, Dean and Distinguished Service Professor of Nursing.

Currently, there are more than 3,000 certified pediatric acute care nurse practitioners working in the United States, but the demand for qualified applicants far exceeds the current supply. The new certificate program at Pitt Nursing will help meet this need with graduates who are prepared to take the national certification exam, and able to provide quality health care to acutely, critically, and chronically ill children and their families.

Pitt Nursing’s certificate can be completed in two terms full time and can be pursued parttime. The program in onsite and includes a minimum of 500 clinical hours needed for certification. The certificate will prepare nurse practitioners who have already earned their degrees and certifications in other specialties to sit for certification as a Certified Pediatric Nurse Practitioner-Acute Care and to work in a general or specialty pediatric acute care nurse practitioner role, including in a pediatric emergency room.