Women's Health Nurse Practitioner
Announcement:
APPLICATIONS ARE BEING ACCEPTED FOR FULL TIME STUDY ONLY FOR FALL 2013. DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS IS MAY 1, 2013
Chair: Dr. Karen Karlowicz
WHNP Graduate Program Director : Dr Kathleen Putnam, kputnam@odu.edu
The Women's Health Nurse Practitioner tract in the graduate nursing program at Old Dominion University is designed to provide students with the education and experience to become primary care providers in women's health. Graduates are prepared to sit for the Women's Health Nurse Practitioner certification exam, which is administered by the National Certification Corporation.
Student clinical placements are available at a variety of settings including private OB-GYN office practices, health departments, and specialty women's clinics. Students are also required to complete a rotation in adult primary care. Participation in professional organizations such as Association of Women's Health, Obstetrics, and Neonatal Nursing and National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Women's Health are strongly encouraged.
To obtain information about the program please contact Dr. Kathleen Putnam, WHNP Graduate Program Director at 757-683-5256 or Sue Parker, Coordinator of Graduate Student Services 757-683-4298 or 1-800-572-2762 (sparker@odu.edu).
Women's Health Nurse Practitioner
Curriculum & Clinical Information
Curriculum
The Curriculum requires the completion of approximately 45 credit hours. Additionally, a written comprehensive test must be successfully taken in the last semester of the program. Once these requirements have been met, a student is eligible to take the National Certification Corporation certification exam, which is the organization that certifies Women’s Healthcare Nurse Practitioners.
Clinical
Clinical experience begins in the spring semester. Prior to taking clinical, a student must successfully complete Nursing 610, 670, 671, 672, 661 and 714 in addition to submitting required documents for RN license, CPR card, and physical examination.Each student is required to complete 616 hours of clinical. The hours of clinical are as follows:
Primary Care 112 hours
Women’s Health 504 hours (recommend a mix of OB and GYN 50/50%)
Each student is strongly encouraged to locate their own site for clinical. If the student is unable to make these arrangements, WHNP faculty and our Clinical Coordinator are available for assistance.
Nursing 658 (A total of 112 clinical hours)
Timeframe: Spring Semester from January to late April
Settings: Primary Care sites such as Family Practice, Internal Medicine, or Women’s Health
Hours/Week: 8 hours per week for 14 weeks
Nursing 659 (A total of 168 hours)
Timeframe: Summer Semester from early May to Mid August
Settings: Primary Care, or Women’s Health
Hours/Week: 12 hours per week for 14 weeks
Nursing 660 (A total of 336 clinical hours)
Timeframe: Fall Semester from late August to early December
Settings: Primary Care or Women’s Health.
Hours/Week: 24 hours per week for 14 weeks
Use of Standardized Patients in the ODU Nurse Practitioner Programs
Since 2001, the ODU Nurse Practitioner Programs have incorporated the use of Standardized Patient Scenarios into each semester of the curriculum. Students have found that working with standardized patients has been challenging and beneficial to their education. The ODU NP programs are the only programs in Virginia to incorporate this opportunity throughout the curriculum.
NP students work with SPs from The Theresa A. Davis Professional Skills Teaching and Assessment Center located at Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, Va.. The center's mission is to teach and assess clinical competencies in medical interviewing, clinical reasoning, ethical dilemmas, communication skills, physical examination, and the application of clinical knowledge. Although the center is located in Norfolk, SPs and staff travel to various sites in Virginia to offer standardized scenarios to NPs throughout the state.