ACNP Intensivist Training: Developing Interprofessional Curriculum

The role of ACNP was formalized in 1995 with the scope of practice for the ACNP written broadly to include the management of not only critically ill patients, but also acutely and chronically ill patients. In order to manage critically ill patients as well as acutely and chronically ill patients, ACNP programs must present both didactic content as well as clinical experiences that address the unique patient care management issues of all three subpopulations. While this prepares ACNP’s for a wide variety of career paths, both in the hospital setting as well as the out-patient setting, it does not address the in-depth needs of the complex, critically ill patient.  One solution to providing appropriate care to critically ill patients is the development of specialty ACNPs educated and trained as intensivists to become part of the multidisciplinary team managing these patients. 

The focus of the ACNP Intensivist program is to expand the current ACNP program to incorporate a specialization in tertiary level intensive care practice.  Unique to this program is the utilization of an inter-professional education approach combining the clinical expertise of the Division of Critical Care Anesthesia at the University School of Medicine with the clinical expertise of the ACNP faculty within the School of Nursing to provide advanced critical care didactic, advanced ICU clinical rotations, and advanced critical care simulations utilizing a state of the art simulations laboratory.  In recognizing this need the School of Nursing now offers an Intensivist NP specialty within its ACNP Program to provide NPs for practice in tertiary care centers.   The purpose of this presentation is to discuss the curriculum associated with the development of an ACNP Intensivist program.