The University Of Texas At Austin: What Starts Here Changes The World
The School of Nursing
 
 

Graduate Program Descriptions

Holistic Adult Health Clinical Nurse Specialist

The Holistic Adult Health CNS concentration includes perspectives of both health-restoration and health-promotion, while developing skills in case management. This concentration area focuses on physiological and psychosocial theories, concepts, and research underlying self-care and growth needs of individuals. Other commonly emphasized themes include: holism of clients, family relationships, environmental influences, conceptual thinking, and independent nursing actions.

Faculty assist students in individualizing their education by facilitating work in hospital or non-hospital clinical areas in the specialization courses. Practicum experiences provide opportunities for testing new approaches and developing advanced skills.

Graduates are eligible to take the national certification examination offered by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) for recognition as a Clinical Nurse Specialist. The curriculum also includes coursework required by the Texas Board of Nurse Examiners (BNE) to be qualified as an Advanced Practice Nurse (APN). Additional requirements and experience for APN status are available from the BNE.

back to top

Holistic Adult Health Master’s (MSN) in Nursing with Role Specialty

The Adult Health MSN track in the Holistic Adult Health concentration includes perspectives of both health-restoration and health promotion. The program stresses the nursing, physiological, and psychosocial theories, concepts, and research underlying the self-care and growth needs of individuals. Other emphases include: holism of clients, family relationships, environmental influences, and conceptual thinking.

Students in the MSN track will choose a role concentration (9 hours) in one of the following areas: 1) teaching, or 2) administration. Students who complete the Adult Health MSN track are NOT eligible for advanced practice certification.

The Adult Health MSN track is a 39-hour program that can be completed in fulltime attendance for three long semesters*.

Graduates of the Adult Health MSN program with a role concentration in teaching will be prepared to teach clinical aspects of adult health nursing in a school of nursing or in a clinic/hospital based unit.

Graduates of the Adult Health MSN program with a role concentration in administration will be prepared to assume mid-level management positions within an adult health setting.

*Alternate entry students will also complete 38 hours of foundational courses prior to beginning either the CNS or Adult Health MSN track.

back to top

Nursing Systems

The Nursing Systems Masters concentration prepares graduates to assume a variety of leadership positions within healthcare. Through learning accomplished in the core courses and electives, students can advance to assume positions such as:

  • Nursing management within patient care services of acute care and long-term care organizations
  • Nursing management within State, Federal, or Private healthcare agencies
  • Nursing leadership/management within corporations
  • Performance Improvement/Quality Improvement
  • Risk Management
  • Patient Safety
  • Utilization Management
  • Case Management
  • Outcomes Management
  • Nursing Informatics
  • Health Policy
  • Entrepreneurial endeavors

The courses in this concentration focus on leadership and management of complex social and operational systems for health care delivery. Students are required to complete a practicum experience with a preceptor in their area of interest. The Nursing Systems Masters also includes an Internship semester that requires a project demonstrating a synthesis and culmination of the student’s learning. A rich variety of resources for preceptors and experiences exist within the Austin and South-central Texas region. PhD students desiring to undergo dissertation work examining aspects of Nursing/Healthcare Systems have the opportunity to work with Systems faculty and Nursing/Healthcare leaders throughout Texas and within national and international arenas.

back to top

Parent-Child Nurse Clinician

The Parent-Child Nurse Clinician concentration produces licensed registered nurses who have graduate preparation in nursing science centering on holistic health promotion in childbearing and childrearing families. Clinicians are clinical experts in parent-child nursing theory and evidence-based nursing practice. The clinician is able to integrate knowledge and nursing skills to promote health and prevent illness. The clinician's primary focus may be patient care, nursing practice, and/or the health care organization; or any combination thereof with the ultimate goal of improving the quality of care provided to childbearing and childrearing families. The Parent-Child Nurse Clinician is able to practice within a dynamic health care environment to serve as a leader/consultant/mentor/change agent to enhance quality and decrease cost, while improving parent/child outcomes within the family context. The Nurse Clinician is prepared for practice roles such as clinical educator, case manager, outcomes manager, research nurse, and care coordinator.

The Texas Board of Nurse Examiners is in the process of changing criteria for graduate nurses to be recognized as advanced practice nurses, and these changes will eliminate the option for graduates of the PCN program to seek APN-recognition. In response to these proposed changes the faculty revised the curriculum so that graduate students can individualize their program of study to prepare them for the nurse clinician role that they will eventually seek. The PCN program does not specifically prepare graduate students for APN-recognition – although students can still choose electives that would meet APN-requirements of other states.

back to top

Public Health Nursing

The primary emphasis of the Public Health concentration is health promotion and illness prevention in high-risk populations at the local, state, and national levels. Core concepts include community health assessment, epidemiology, health promotion models and strategies, program planning and evaluation, community health administration and research, and advanced role functions. This track includes advanced clinical practice in community settings, designed to help the student achieve her/his professional goals and the program objectives. The Public Health curriculum, however, does not meet the requirements for advanced practice standing in Texas.

back to top

Family Nurse Practitioner

The Family Nurse Practitioner concentration combines skills in primary care with community assessment, intervention, and management skills of community health nursing. It emphasizes health promotion, disease prevention, and the management of common acute and chronic illness across the life span. Extensive supervised clinical practice with nurse practitioners and primary care physicians is tailored to the individual student's goals and program objectives.

Graduates are eligible to take the American Nurses Association (ANA) and American Academy for Nurse Practitioner (AANP) certification examinations for the family nurse practitioner. The program meets the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculty's curriculum guidelines. The curriculum also includes coursework required by the Texas Board of Nurse Examiners (BNE) to be qualified as an Advanced Practice Nurse (APN). Additional requirements and experiences for APN status are available from the BNE.

back to top

Pediatric Nurse Practitioner

The Pediatric Nurse Practitioner concentration focuses on the delivery of primary care to children from newborns to 21 years of age in a variety of settings. Emphases include child development, parenting, health promotion, disease prevention, and the management of common illnesses in children. Nurse practitioner skills are combined with community assessment, intervention, and management skills to broaden the scope of the clinical practice experiences. The graduate is prepared to assume leadership positions in pediatric-based health care agencies.

The Pediatric Nurse Practitioner concentration at The University of Texas at Austin is the only nursing program in the country to offer Touchpoints training. Touchpoints is an interdisciplinary, relational, and developmental model of providing health care. Anticipatory guidance is tailored to the child's temperament and developmental level and a supportive relationship is nurtured between the practitioner and the parent.

Graduates are eligible to take the National Certification Board of Nurse Practitioners and Nurses examination and/or the American Nurses Credentialing Center exam for Pediatric Nurse Practitioners. The curriculum also includes coursework required by the Texas Board of Nurse Examiners (BNE) to be qualified as an Advanced Practice Nurse (APN). Additional requirements and experiences for APN status are available from the BNE.

back to top