Acute Care Nurse Practitioner Job Description

As health-care costs steadily climb and consumers learn the value of health promotion and illness prevention services, mid-level providers such as acute care nurse practitioners (ACNPs) have assumed key roles within hospitals, health systems and primary care practices. While the ACNP's advanced nursing practice is defined by state-specific regulations, most ACNPs can diagnose and treat complex illness in adults by conducting exams, ordering diagnostic tests, and prescribing medications and treatments.

Role

• The ACNP typically provides primary care to an identified group of acutely- or critically-ill young adult, middle-age, and/or geriatric adults. His care is similar to that of a physician, but he operates under a more limited scope of practice. The ACNP refers his patients to primary care physicians or specialists when they need more complex care.

Settings

• ACNPs practice in a variety of settings, including hospitals, internal medicine clinics and family practice offices. An ACNP may be employed by the organization she serves, such as an ACNP who provides primary care in an intensive care unit (ICU). Or she may be hired by a doctor and collaborate with him to care for adults in his office and then follow them if they're admitted to a hospital.

Specialties

• An ACNP may choose to provide general primary care to a specific group of adults, or he may select a specific specialty area of practice. For example, an ACNP may opt to develop specific expertise in organ transplant and work at a transplant center. Another ACNP may limit her practice to cardiac patients in the ICU.

Education

• An ACNP is an advanced practice nurse with a master's degree in nursing (MSN) from an accredited college or university. He has completed a course of study that includes theoretical content, as well as supervised clinical practice with a physician or another advanced practice nurse. Generally, a nurse earns a bachelor's degree in nursing (BSN) and works as an RN before applying to graduate school. However, there are accelerated MSN programs that allow him to obtain both degrees simultaneously.

Certification

• ACNPs are certified by the American Nurses Credentialing Center, based on a combination of experience and a passing score on a written exam. Once she is certified, the advanced practice nurse can use the credential ACNP-BC and is eligible to take the appropriate licensing exam through the board of nursing in her home state.

Salary

• According to Salary.com, the average salary for a nurse practitioner in the United States is $82,590 a year. This figure will vary significantly depending on the ACNP's role, employment setting, credentials and experience.