The Acute Care PNP Role

The Acute Care PNP role is designed to meet the specialized physiologic and psychological needs of children with complex acute and chronic health conditions. AC-PNPs respond to rapidly changing clinical conditions, including the recognition and management of emerging health crises, organ dysfunction and failure. In accordance with this practice focus, Acute Care CPNP® role activities encompass a wide range of NP practice strategies including contributions to the management of children's illness/health states, the client-nurses relationship, the teaching-coaching function, the professional role, managing and negotiating healthcare delivery systems, monitoring and ensuring the quality of health care practice, providing family-centered care, and demonstrating cultural competency. The short-term goal of care is stabilization of the child, minimizing complications, and providing physical and psychological care measures. The long-term goal of care is to restore maximal health potential through implementation of NP strategies to reduce health risks. The continuum of care spans the geographic settings of the home, emergency departments, hospitals, subspecialty clinics, and intensive care units.

Administration of the Acute Care PNP Exam began in February 2005.

• Pathways I and II link graduation from an Acute Care PNCB Recognized Graduate Program to certification as an Acute Care PNP. These two pathways have been reviewed by the Advanced Practice Advisory Panel of the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) and have been designated as having met the NCSBN's Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN) criteria for certification programs. Please see the update below on Pathway II.

Update Effective 1/13/10 - Pathway II CPNP Exam Eligibility:

The PNCB has established an eligibility pathway for primary care and acute care pediatric nurse practitioners who graduated more than 24 months ago from a PNCB recognized PNP Primary Care or Acute Care Program. A preliminary exam registration application is available online. At this time, the PNCB Board of Directors is reviewing the eligibility requirements for Pathway II candidates in order to align requirements to the new APRN Consensus Model. These new eligibility requirements will be published on 2/1/10 and will guide the determination of final candidate eligibility for the CPNP Primary Care and Acute Care National Qualifying Exams. To learn more about the new APRN Consensus Model, we encourage you to review the following article: Are You Ready for the Consensus Model? Implications of the Model Act on NP Practice by Barbara A. Boland, MSN, CRNP; June Treston, MSN, CRNP; Victoria A. Weill, MSN, CRNP; and Ann L. O'Sullivan, PhD, FAAN, CRNP. The American Journal for Nurse Practitioners. November-December 2009. Available soon at www.webNP.net. Please feel free to contact exam@pncb.org with any questions.

For more information, see the following links:

Acute Care Pediatric Nurse Practitioner National Exam Test Specifications (PDF).

Acute Care Nurse Practitioner Competencies (PDF) published by NONPF.

Questions Answered Regarding the Acute Care Exam

For questions about the DNP and certification, see the PNCB's statement on PNP Certification and the DNP and the NP Roundtable's DNP Education, Certification and Titling: A Unified Statement

Our Acute Care CPNP® Program meets the National Council of State Boards of Nursing's APRN criteria for certification programs. Click here to view this documentation.