In 2014, the University of Colorado College of Nursing will offer two new post-master’s certificates designed specifically to meet a growing need for acute care expertise in area hospitals. The impetus behind the certificate programs, adult-gerontology acute care nurse practitioner and pediatric acute care nurse practitioner, came from nurse leaders at Children’s Hospital Colorado and the University of Colorado Hospital.

“The [campus] hospitals came to us with a need to hire individuals who are well educated in acute care. They can’t provide this level of education and needed an educational partner to resolve the problem,” says Vicki Erickson, PhD, PNP-BC, FAANP, director of the doctor of nursing practice and master’s programs. “We were honored to be approached and were thankful to have the faculty resources to offer these programs. There are very few like it in the West.”

Geared toward nurse practitioners currently working with high acuity patients, the certificate programs in acute care can be completed in one year. The first cohort of adult-gerontology acute care NP students will begin the program in January; the pediatric acute care NP students will begin in the fall.