Adult-Gerontology Nurse Practitioner
Quick Facts
Degree
Master of science in nursing
Delivery Mode
Blended, some campus visits required
Standard credit hours
46
Standard estimated cost
$40,509.90
Typical Course Load
1-3 classes per semester
Typical Program Length
2-3 years
*This cost is for illustrative purposes only. Your hours and costs will differ, depending on your transfer hours, your course choices and your academic progress. See more about tuition and financial aid.
Request Information
Overview
The United States’ aging population is projected to surge over the next few decades. In response to this swell, demand for health care professionals well-versed in age-related changes, conditions and lifestyle factors has grown. To step up to the challenge, advance your nursing career with a master of science in nursing (MSN) with an adult-gerontology primary care nurse practitioner (AGNP) option.
The University of Missouri-Kansas City’s rigorous yet flexible program builds upon your clinical background and experience to broaden your skill set, prepare you to competently and sensitively serve adolescent through geriatric patients and transform you into a leader. A blend of online courses, periodic on-campus sessions and in-person clinical assignments sets you on the path toward certification and state licensure.
Get ready to meet growing demand
UMKC’s adult-gerontology primary care nurse practitioner program strives to achieve three clear goals. We aim to prepare you for advanced practice nursing in a primary care context, including providing high-quality care related to chronic illnesses, wellness, health promotion, population health and disease education. We further factor in our rapidly changing society and older adults’ specific health needs. In turn, we emphasize the importance of research, theories and evidence-based practice for diagnosing and treating patients and promoting wellness.
Thirdly, to graduate driven individuals ready to improve patient care and encourage change from within, the MSN program helps you fulfill requirements to sit for the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) and the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) exams the first step toward seeking certification. Passing either exam allows you to become a nurse practitioner equipped to work with older patients in primary, acute, specialty and geriatric care settings.
Once enrolling in this program, you’ll start with a standard MSN core emphasizing the importance of research, cultural sensitivity, health care policy and advocacy before you switch to the adult-gerontology nurse practitioner (AGNP) track. Through this combination, you will:
- Gain essential skills for advancing professional nursing and health across multiple populations and settings
- Understand how to improve evidence-based care through research and advanced nursing theory
- Discover your leadership style to take charge in unit and organizational contexts
- Strive to improve individual through group care via assessments, planning and implementation
- Learn to deliver culturally sensitive care to diverse populations
- Advance your nursing skills, including conducting physical exams, diagnosing and treating common illnesses, administering treatments and addressing chronic health problems, with a focus on adult and geriatric patients
- Start to view health at the family level, from maintaining wellness through the generations to preventing disease
Top-ranked programs
UMKC's online master's in nursing programs ranked among the nation's finest in U.S. News & World Report 2024.
Career Prospects
As the population ages, the Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts 45% more positions for nurse practitioners, nurse anesthetists and nurse midwives between 2020 and 2030.
Upon completing your degree, you’ll sit through the ANCC or AANP exam to obtain your certification and then apply for state licensure.
As the next stage of your nursing career, UMKC’s MSN AGNP program helps you commit to providing compassionate, knowledgeable care to older adults.
Employment growth
Median salary
Program Structure
UMKC’s adult-gerontology primary care nurse practitioner program uses a blended structure. Courses are primarily online, combining synchronous and asynchronous learning. During the program’s duration, you’ll come to campus for select sessions. Clinical requirements, during which you’ll put your skills into practice, are completed on site in a health care facility.
You’re advised to plan ahead for all on-campus visits. The adult-gerontology primary care nurse practitioner program requires MSN students to attend one on-campus residency per semester, scheduled during their clinical sequence. Your advisor will provide these dates ahead of time. As well, once admitted, you’re expected to participate in two on-campus clinical institutes.
Students may enroll in the MSN program with an adult-gerontology nurse practitioner option on a part- or full-time basis. Full-time students start during the summer session, taking three courses per semester to finish the program in two years. Part-time candidates take one to two courses per semester to finish in three years.
During the course of the MSN AGNP program, general and more specialized course work instructs you in conducting advanced physical and health assessments and expands what you know about pharmacology, pathophysiology, health promotion, disease prevention, differential diagnosis and disease management for adult and geriatric patients.
All students start with 15 credit hours of required MSN courses before proceeding onto a 31 credit–hour adult-gerontology nurse practitioner sequence. Helping you grow your knowledge of the nursing profession and unlock your leadership potential, the required MSN courses explore health promotion and health protection across the lifespan, cultural competency and an ethical mindset, the relationship between health care policy and advocacy, putting advanced nursing theory into practice and elevating patient care through research.
Course work includes:
For the adult-gerontology nurse practitioner sequence, you’ll learn about:
- Pharmacotherapeutics across the lifespan, with emphasis on primary care
- Diagnosing and preventing common adult health concerns
- Managing chronic health problems in various health care settings
- Collecting and documenting information for advanced health and physical assessments
- Advanced pathophysiology and abnormal physiological functioning along the lifespan
- Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics
- Advanced ethics and research in nursing
Accreditation
The University of Missouri-Kansas City is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, one of six regional institutional accreditors in the United States.
The MS at the School of Nursing and Health Studies is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education.