Sinclair School of Nursing

Pediatric Nurse Practitioner

As of February 1, 2011, the MU Sinclair School of Nursing no longer accepts applications for the master's Pediatric Nurse Practitioner area of study. After this date, students should apply to the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program.

Our PNP area of study is a cooperative effort with the three University of Missouri campuses-Columbia, Kansas City and St. Louis. This cooperation allows for the delivery of pediatric nurse practitioner education using the expertise from each campus. 

Who should apply?

Individuals with a baccalaureate degree in nursing who want to:

• Provide comprehensive healthcare from birth through young adulthood by assessment, diagnosis, management, and evaluation of care.
• Provide a wide range of pediatric healthcare services in a variety of primary and specialty healthcare settings.

• Develop the knowledge, skills, and expertise to emphasize health promotion, injury and disease prevention, and management in coping with chronic illness.

Career opportunities

• Primary care provider in a pediatric, family practice, school health, public health, or teen clinic
• Care coordinator of healthcare services in pediatric rehabilitation centers, long-term care facilities, residential care facilities, outpatient clinics, and home health agencies
• Consultant for hospitals, rehabilitation centers, long-term care facilities, home health agencies, schools, or day care centers
• Research nurse in a variety of health care settings
• Clinical instructor in a School of Nursing

The curricula

The MS and DNP curricula include theoretical courses and clinical practica to provide the necessary knowledge and skills to function in the advanced practice nursing role of pediatric nurse practitioner. The MS curriculum is based on recommendations by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing in The Essentials of Master's Education for Advanced Practice Nursing (1996) while the DNP curriculum is based on recommendations by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing in The Essentials of Doctoral Education for Advanced Nursing Practice (2006). PNP specialty focused content is based upon specific recommendations developed by the National Task Force on Quality Nurse Practitioner Education in Criteria for Evaluation of Nurse Practitioner Programs (2008) as well as recommendations by the American Nurses Association Pediatric Scope and Standards of Practice (2008). Specifically, the curricula provide not only core knowledge in theory, research, evidence-based practice, health care policy, financing, ethics and sociocultural issues, but also advanced practice knowledge in pediatric physiology/pathophysiology, physical assessment and diagnostic reasoning, pharmacology, population health, and role development. PNP specialty courses focus on family dynamics; comprehensive healthcare from birth through young adulthood, neurodevelopmental assessment and care coordination for children and adolescents with special care needs and/or chronic illness; clinical management of sexual and reproductive health needs of children and adolescents; and pediatric mental health assessment and management.

A sample program of study can be found for the PNP area in the green box labeled "MS Plans of Study" on the upper right hand side of this webpage. Likewise, sample DNP Programs of Study for PNP students can be found on the right hand side of this webpage in the tan box labeled "DNP Plans of Study." Classroom and clinical experiences are designed to meet the PNP Core Competencies as identified by NONPF (2006). Clinical practica settings, which are student-selected, include primary care clinics, specialty clinics, rehabilitation centers, long-term care facilities, school clinics, teen centers, and public health agencies. Students also may have clinical experiences with urban or rural, underserved populations.

All courses are offered in a distance mediated format. An on campus visit is required for three days during the summer before coursework begins for orientation to the master's program. Additional campus visits will be required for clinical courses.

Frequently asked questions

For what certification would I be eligible?

Graduates of the MS, Post-MS, or DNP programs in the Pediatric Nurse Practitioner area of study will be eligible for advanced practice nurse certification as a PNP from the Pediatric Nursing Certification Board (PNCB) [program ID number 880]  or American Nurses Credentialing Center (AACN) certification as a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner.

Who is eligible to be my preceptor?

Preceptors must be approved by the course faculty. Students may not begin clinical hours until the preceptor's credentials have been verified. See information on the Sinclair School of Nursing Preceptor Policy.

What type of clinical sites do I need?

Clinical sites are approved by the course faculty and may be at a location near your home. Students may not begin clinical hours until the Clinical Agency Agreement is in place. See information on the Sinclair School of Nursing Clinical Practica web page regarding Clinical Agency Agreements.

Students are advised to inquire about any additional drug testing, mandatory training, immunizations or compliance paperwork that may be required by a potential clinical agency before the student pursues an agreement or begins clinical hours.

Specific clinical site requirements needed to meet the objectives for each course are described below.

All PNP Students (MS, Post-MS, & DNP Programs):

N7310 Advanced Health Assessment for Pediatric Nursing Practice -This course involves 90 hours of clinical which can be divided into 60 hours in a pediatric primary care setting and 30 hours in a pediatric specialty care setting. Since this course has a lifespan focus for the 60 hours of pediatric primary care, you need to be able to assess children that are healthy and those with a variety of illnesses ranging from newborn through adolescents. A primary care pediatric clinic setting would be ideal. For the remaining 30 hours, students can be in a pediatric specialty clinic or acute care setting in which one body system is the focus (e.g. allergy, cardiology, developmental, neurology, pulmonary, orthopedics, etc.).

N8210 Special Healthcare Needs of Children in the School Setting - This course involves 90 hours of clinical. Eighty (80) hours of the clinical is to be spent in a pediatric specialty clinic setting (e.g. asthma, diabetes, gastrointestinal, neurological, cardiac, etc.). The remaining clinical time will be spent working with a child and their family who have special healthcare needs.

N8420 Newborn through Adolescence Primary Care - Ninety (90) hours will be spent in clinical with a pediatric health care provider where advanced assessment and diagnostic skills are applied to evaluate and manage the family and child for well, acute minor illness or stable chronic illness visits. Pediatric private practices, teen clinics, school health or pediatric urgent care settings would be ideal.

N8430 Reproductive and Sexual Health Primary Care - This course involves 90 hours of clinical practica which is divided between two settings. Forty-five (45) hours are spent in a setting where advanced assessment and diagnostic skills are applied to evaluate the reproductive and sexual health needs of men and women. The remaining 45 hours are spent in an obstetrical (OB) setting where the student can assess and manage pregnant women.  Women's health, men's health, teen clinics, planned parenthood and OB settings would be ideal.

N8680 Pediatric Mental Health Assessment - This course involves 90 hours of clinical. To meet the clinical objectives, you will be expected to conduct mental health assessments with individual pediatric clients and their families. Client diagnoses may vary greatly; however, the focus must be on childhood and adolescent mental health problems. Clinical sites may include pediatric mental health practice, primary care that focuses on mental health problems, pediatric neurology or behavioral-developmental specialty practice.

PNP Students in MS & Post-MS Programs:

N8980 Advanced Clinical Nursing Practicum: PNP Section- Involves 360 hours of clinical practica.  The focus of this course for the final culminating clinical experience is for the NP student to fully immerse into the advanced practice role of the NP assessing, applying diagnostic reasoning and managing individuals birth to 21 years of age. Majority of the clinical practice should be in a Pediatric practice site.  However individual student needs may be accommodated for in a variety of other clinical sites such as: specialty practice, teen clinic, or urgent care settings.

PNP Students in DNP Program:

N8540 Advanced Diagnostics & Reasoning: This course involves 90 clinical hours and is designed to allow the student to expand upon knowledge of advanced assessment, diagnostics, and procedural skills as well as gain increasing specialty-specific knowledge. Clinical settings that permit the student to refine interpretation of advanced assessment and diagnostic skills and perform advanced clinical procedures would be ideal. Depending upon the student's personal career goals, the clinical can occur in an acute, primary care or in an outpatient specialty clinic in the population (pediatric) of their choice. A setting in which the student only does patient education, staff development, or performance improvement projects would not be appropriate.

N8920 Quality, Safety, & Performance Outcomes- This course involves 60 hours of clinical which can occur in a variety of healthcare settings (e.g. inpatient, outpatient, rehabilitation, etc.) with the population (pediatric) of their choice depending upon the student's personal career goals. Since the focus of the course is improving patient outcomes, the clinical setting needs to allow the student to actively participate in and be a part of a clinically relevant quality, safety, or performance improvement project. A setting in which the student only does direct patient care or staff development would not be appropriate.

N9070 DNP Clinical Residency: The number of clinical hours for this course varies (240-330 clinical hours) depending upon the student's number of prior faculty supervised advanced practice clinical hours. The clinical hours can occur in a variety of healthcare settings (e.g. emergency department, inpatient, outpatient, rehabilitation, etc.) working with their population of interest (pediatric). The DNP Clinical Residency is designed to be intricately related to the DNP Residency Project, and, as such, the vast majority of the clinical hours for this course need to be in the same clinical site where the project will occur. Settings for the DNP Clinical residency need to provide the student with the opportunity to refine clinical knowledge and leadership skills necessary to evaluate practice problems, monitor outcomes, and implement innovative models of care in preparation for and as part of the DNP Residency Project.

N9080 DNP Residency Project: This course involves 180 clinical hours which can occur in a variety of healthcare settings (e.g. emergency department, inpatient, outpatient, rehabilitation, etc.) working on an in-depth practice-change project that will impact their population of interest (pediatric). A student must do all 180 hours at one clinical site. Clinical settings for the residency project need to provide the student with the opportunity to impact a rural or underserved population or critical healthcare system need.

For general questions about the MS in nursing program, see the MS Program FAQs.

For other general questions about the DNP in nursing program, see the FAQs for DNP Students.

Who can I contact if I have specific questions about the MS or DNP programs or the application process?

Specific questions about the MS and/or DNP programs or about applying to the MS and/or DNP programs can be answered by the staff in the Office of Student Affairs in the Sinclair School of Nursing. You may contact the Office of Student Affairs via telephone at 573-882-0277 or 800-437-4339.

Who can I contact if I have specific questions about the PNP Area of Study?

Specific questions about the PNP area of study can be answered by contacting Debra Gayer RN, PhD, CPNP-PC, the Coordinator of the PNP area of study. You may contact Dr. Gayer via email at gayerd@missouri.edu.