Nurse Practitioner Advancement Certificate

Gannon Tagher, Ed.D, RN, APRN, Interim Department Chair

Teresa Huber, DNP, MSN, BSN, RN, Graduate Program Director

Nurse practitioner advancement options are offered to provide opportunities for nurse practitioners to gain an additional specialty focus such as Adult to Family Nurse Practitioner or Women’s Health to Adult Gero Nurse Practitioner.

NP Advancement Admission Requirements

In order to be considered for admission to the NP Advancement Program the university requires all applicants to fulfill the following requirements:

1. Submit a complete application for graduate admission; deadlines for admission can be found at http://www.nku.edu/admissions/graduate/admission-process/deadlines.html.  
2. Submit official transcripts from all colleges/universities attended.  Please note that the transcripts sent should reflect the conferral for BSN, MSN, previous NP, and any additional courses that you plan to transfer.
3. Master of Science in Nursing degree from an ACEN or CCNE accredited school of nursing.
4. Preferred applicants should have a Master of Science in Nursing program GPA of at least a 3.0.
5. A copy of your unencumbered nursing license and National NP certification.  Proof of licensure should include expiration date. 
6. Proof of 2000 hours clinical experience over the previous year and satisfactory performance evaluations.  Download the Employment Verification from on the Office of Graduate Education website, http://inside.nku.edu/graduate/admission-process.html. 
7. An updated resume.
8. A letter of purpose. This is a 1-2 page statement of how you intend to use the program, how it will apply to your career aspirations, and what specific skills you hope to gain in this program.

Admission requirements effective Spring 2018

1. Submit a complete application for graduate admission.
2. Submit official transcripts from all colleges/universities attended.  Please note that the transcripts sent should reflect the all previous conferred degrees (BSN, MSN, previous NP) and any additional courses that you plan to transfer.
3. Master of Science in Nursing degree from an ACEN, CCNE or CNEA accredited program of nursing.
4. Preferred applicants should have a Master of Science in Nursing program GPA of at least a 3.0.
5. A copy of your unencumbered nursing license and National NP certification.  Proof of licensure should include expiration date. 
6. Proof of 1000 hours clinical experience over the previous year and satisfactory performance evaluations.  Download the Employment Verification from on the Office of Graduate Education website, https://inside.nku.edu/graduate/admission-process/additional-forms.html.  

All NP students, regardless of advanced status, are required to participate in NRP 690 , a 1 credit hour On-Campus Clinical Residency. This is an intensive 1-2 day event that will occur on the Northern Kentucky University campus in Highland Heights, KY.  This is your opportunity to meet your clinical faculty and demonstrate your preparedness to begin the clinical courses.  The On-Campus Residency occurs during the summer prior to beginning clinical work.  This course is taken after meeting the pre-requisite(s) as listed in each track. This is MANDATORY and only offered once a year.  There are no make-up sessions or excuses.  Missing this residency will delay the start of clinical work by one year.