Emergency Nurse Practitioner

As an Emergency Nurse Practitioner, you will treat emergency room patients across the lifespan with urgent primary care needs, acute and critical illnesses or those with accidental injuries or trauma.

Dual Family Nurse Practitioner/Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner Program with an Emergency Care Focus

Are you an experienced nurse who would thrive in a fast-paced clinical setting where you treat varying levels of acuity? Consider becoming an Emergency Nurse Practitioner.

 

What Will You Do as an Emergency Nurse Practitioner?

Some estimates suggest that the number of emergency room visits have increased more than 20 percent in the last decade. Many are non-emergent or primary care in nature, resulting in scope of practice complexities in emergency care. To meet this demand, emergency departments are requiring skilled providers who can treat both pediatric and adult populations with varied levels of acuity. As an Emergency Nurse Practitioner, you will meet that need – treating emergency room patients across the lifespan with urgent primary care needs, acute and critical illnesses or those with accidental injuries or trauma.

 

Where Will You Practice? (clinical sites)

Upon certification, you will find a variety of clinical opportunities in settings that include:

 

  • Fast-track Emergency Departments
  • Main Emergency Departments
  • Urgent Care Clinics

How will Vanderbilt Prepare You?

The Emergency Nurse Practitioner program prepares you for dual certification as a Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) and Acute Care Nurse Practitioner (AG-ACNP) with a focus in emergency care. Applicants are required to have at least two years of current RN Experience, one full year of which must be as an RN in the Emergency Department. Questions regarding experience required should be directed to the program coordinator, Professor Jennifer Wilbeck at Jennifer.wilbeck@vanderbilt.edu.

 

This innovative program, one of the first in the country, offers a unique curriculum to prepare nurses at the advanced practice level to provide emergency care across the lifespan for all acuities. The entire program is available in a modified (block) learning format, which combines modified course delivery methods and weekday on-campus experiences. When possible, clinical preceptorship will be arranged in your hometown.  Due to certain restrictions, VUSN is not able to accommodate clinical placements in all locations.Your fifth semeste practicumwill be an immersion in emergency care.

 

The Emergency Nurse Practitioner program is built upon Vanderbilt School of Nursing’s successful, highly respected FNP and AG-ACNP programs. Visit these sites for program information, to meet the program directors and to learn more:

 

  • Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) – provides comprehensive primary health care services to individuals from infancy through adulthood. Preventive health services, patient education, disease management, illness prevention and other kinds of care are provided within the context of family and community.

  • Acute Care Nurse Practitioner (AG-ACNP) – provides advanced nursing care to adults with acute, critical and chronic conditions, practicing in settings where patients require specialized care such as complex and continuous monitoring, intricate or invasive therapies or interpretation of diagnostic testing.

Credentials and Certification

Graduation from the Vanderbilt MSN program prepares you to sit for examination for both the FNP and AG-ACNP certification exams, and eligible for prescriptive authority consistent with state law. Visit Credentialing and Certification for specific information.

 

Jennifer WilbeckEmergency Nurse Practitioner – Program Coordinator

Jennifer Wilbeck, DNP, APRN-BC, CEN

Dr.  Jennifer Wilbeck is dually certified as an Acute Care Nurse Practitioner (ACNP) and Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) and has led the Emergency Nurse Practitioner (ENP) Program at Vanderbilt since its inception in 2006.  In addition to her leadership within the ENP program, Dr. Wilbeck  remains actively involved in coordinating courses in the ACNP Program and is a frequent guest lecturer in the pre-specialty nursing courses as well.  Her scholarly interests include the role of simulations in education of advanced practice nurses, assessment and documentation of ongoing procedural competence of the ACNP and case-based learning. Clinically, she has over thirteen years experience as an NP in both rural and urban Emergency Department settings.  Her current practice as an ENP provides the clinical backdrop for ongoing clinical publications and presentations.