Become an Acute Care Nurse Practitioner

An acute care nurse practitioner (ACNP) provides advanced nursing care to patients suffering brief but severe illnesses, typically in an emergency department, ambulatory care clinic or other short term stay facility. ACNPs diagnose and treat acute medical conditions, working in collaboration with the physician and other members of the health care team.

The ACNP profession is one of the more fast-paced nursing career choices, and it is loaded with responsibility and variety. This also makes it one of the most challenging and rewarding nursing careers you can choose. In the thriving field of nursing, especially with the increased pressure in emergency rooms and other acute health care settings, the need for ACNPs is enormous.

Acute Care Nurse Practitioner Career Overview

An acute care nurse practitioner may work in an emergency room, operating room, walk-in clinic, doctors' office, critical care unit or community-based environment. ACNPs care for patients suffering from acute conditions such as heart attacks, respiratory distress syndrome or shock. They also care for pre- and post-operative patients, and may perform advanced, invasive diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. Acute care nurse practitioners may serve as case managers and team leaders.

Acute Care Nurse Practitioner Education

ACNPs are nurse practitioners (NPs) with a specialty in acute care nursing.

Acute care nurse practitioners must first complete a 2- or 4-year degree in nursing and be licensed as registered nurses (RNs). Most gain experience as acute care RNs before returning to school to earn an advanced degree and become Advanced Practice Nurses (APNs). APNs are specialized nurses with masters or doctorate level training that prepares them to deliver services commonly delivered by physicians.

To become an acute care nurse practitioner, you will also need to meet these requirements:

• You will need to get a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) degree that includes specialized ACNP coursework. Nursing schools usually offer this degree as a 2-year program with about 40 credit hours of coursework, plus hundreds of clinical study hours.
• If you already have a master's degree in nursing, you may be able to prepare for ACNP certification with a 1-year post-master's program.
• Once you have completed your nursing school training, you must become certified by your State Board of Nursing or receive a national certification from an agency such as the American Nurses Credentialing Center or the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners.

Acute Care Nurse Practitioner Salary

According to Salary.com, the median salary for a nurse practitioner in the United States is $80,414. The middle 50 percent earned between $73,840 and $87,008. Nurse practitioners working in emergency room settings—likely to be ACNPs—earned even more, with median expected salaries of $86,802. Nurse practitioners typically make about $20,000 more per year in base salary than RNs.

Acute Care Nurse Practitioner Career Outlook

In response to the current nursing shortage, the demand for acute care nurse practitioners is expected to increase significantly over the next 10 years, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

In general, the more training, certifications and experience a nurse has, the more demand there will be for his or her skill set. The current health care crisis in the US has resulted in a particular need for acute care specialists, in spite of a decrease in the number of facilities providing such care. That's because more patients are uninsured or underinsured. Unable to pay for preventative or ongoing medical care, these patients are more likely to turn to emergency rooms and other acute care settings. ACNPs are therefore in tremendous demand in these settings, particularly because they can provide lower-cost primary care than physicians.

Job demand positively affects salaries, schedules, job openings and the availability of training institutions and government grants for education. These reasons, coupled with the fact that nursing is a rewarding profession, make becoming an acute care nurse practitioner an appealing career choice.

Sources:
American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, 2008.
Wikipedia, 2008.