Neonatal Nurse Practitioner MSN to DNP Concentration

Return to: School of Nursing

The Neonatal Nurse Practitioner (NNP) is prepared to manage the health care of high-risk infants within families and children up to 2 years of age. This expanded clinician role is performed in collaboration with neonatologists and other pediatric clinicians. Graduates assume leadership roles in a variety of clinical settings including intensive care nurseries of various levels, newborn nurseries, and high-risk follow-up clinics. Course work and clinical experiences focus on the care and management of critically ill and convalescent premature and full-term infants. Graduates select and perform diagnostic and therapeutic invasive procedures on newborns in the intensive care setting and are prepared to participate in quality improvement projects.

The NNP area of concentration offers post-master’s to DNP preparation to those applicants who already are master’s prepared nationally certified NNPs. Students may study full time or part time. The MSN to DNP curriculum is offered onsite on the main campus in Pittsburgh or online. The online option is only available to applicants with a master’s degree in same focus. Selected core courses may be transmitted to eligible students who live a distance from campus. A sample program plan for full-time study is provided below.