Pediatric Nurse Practitioner

1. Current, unencumbered license as a registered nurse (RN) with 1 year of current experience in the role.
2. Must have completed an undergraduate physical/health assessment course and an undergraduate statistics course as confirmed by an official college transcript. Applicants who have not completed these pre- requisites prior to the application deadline will not be reviewed for admission.
3. Baccalaureate degree in nursing or related science field from a regionally accredited college or university with a minimum of a 3.0 grade point average;
4. Three letters of recommendation, with at least one from a former faculty member and at least one from a former employer while in the RN role.
5. A written statement that addresses the applicant's career goals and reasons for seeking certification as a pediatric nurse practitioner;

The Pediatric Nurse Practitioner concentration is offered primarily online, as a distance learning program. Courses are offered in various formats including in person classroom and practice experiences, online presentations and televised or video streamed sessions. Students may access course presentations and information via the Canvas platform, the University course management system. Designated courses or class sessions may be offered live via WebEx format. A class schedule will be available before the semester begins, and an orientation at the beginning of each semester will indicate required times for live, synchronous participation in course activities.

For PNP program curriculum information including an outline of courses by semester and course description, please visit the following link: Graduate Catalog.

The Pediatric Nurse Practitioner concentration requires clinical experiences with faculty approved preceptors in a variety of settings to include primary care and specialty practice. Old Dominion University School of Nursing has a Student Clinical Services Coordinator who assists the Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Program Director and the student to locate appropriate clinical sites, and ensures that the appropriate agreements are in place. Pediatric Nurse Practitioner students are strongly encouraged to identify potential clinical sites for these experiences prior to the beginning of the program.

For each credit hour of course work, it is recommended that you study 3-6 hours per week. The amount of time devoted to online activities such as chats, discussions, conferencing, library literature searches, etc. depends on the structure of the individual course. Some courses have weekly requirements while some courses have activities scheduled at intervals.

We do not require the GRE or MAT if your undergraduate GPA is 3.5 or above. For applicants who do need to take a graduate admissions test, we urge advance study and preparation for the exam, as well as scheduling for testing well in advance of the admission application deadline.

The PNP curriculum is a hybrid program which includes online learning and face to face experiences. Didactic courses are offered using the Canvas course management system. Faculty use a variety of teaching technologies to facilitate synchronous and asynchronous course delivery. We do require occasional visits to the ODU campus for standardized patient and simulation experiences, usually once per semester.

Students will be required to complete a minimum of 560 clinical practicum hours. The program director will work with each student to identify clinical practice sites, preferably in the student's home community, assuming that there is a provider available and willing to serve as the student's clinical preceptor. Applicants who want to complete practicum hours at a particular facility are advised to check with the clinical site to determine their capability of supporting your practicum experience when the time comes.