Why Earn Two NP Certifications? Inside Madonna's Dual-Track Options

LIVONIA, MICH. – At Madonna University, our dual nurse practitioner tracks let you prepare for national certification in two NP specialties within one degree program. Training in two specialties gives you a broader clinical background and more career options, so you’re ready to care for a wider range of patients.

Why two certifications?

Patients’ needs often cross specialties, from primary to acute care, or from physical to mental health. Each NP specialty focuses on a different group of patients, so a second certification prepares you to care for more of them. It also means you aren’t limited to one type of job, and you can move between settings over the course of your career. If you’re not sure where you want to end up, a dual track keeps more doors open.

Your dual-track options

Madonna lets you combine NP specialties, so you can build your clinical skills in more than one area. Two pairings are available now:

• Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) and Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner (AGACNP): care for patients of all ages in clinics and outpatient settings, and for adults who are acutely or critically ill in the hospital.
• Adult-Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner (AGPCNP) and Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner (AGACNP): care for adults and older adults in both primary and acute care, so you can support patients as they move between the clinic and the hospital.

Coming soon: psychiatric-mental health pairings

Madonna is planning new dual tracks that pair Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) preparation with primary or acute care, so you can address both physical and mental health needs. Proposed options include:

• FNP and PMHNP: primary care and mental health care for patients of all ages.
• AGPCNP and PMHNP: primary care for adults and older adults, plus mental health care for patients of all ages.
• AGACNP and PMHNP: acute and critical care for adults and older adults, plus mental health care for patients of all ages.
• AGPCNP, AGACNP and PMHNP: a triple concentration covering adult primary care, adult acute care, and mental health care.

What to expect

Both current dual tracks are part of Madonna’s MSN program and include supervised clinical hours in inpatient and outpatient settings. Across Madonna’s NP programs, faculty help you find clinical placements, and no student starts clinicals without a preceptor in place. Before clinicals, you’ll build hands-on skills in simulation.

Certification

When you graduate, you’ll be ready to sit for the national certification exam in each of your specialties. Near the end of the program, you’ll take an NP Immersion course that reinforces your clinical knowledge, sharpens your clinical reasoning, and prepares you for those exams, so you can start your career as an NP with confidence.

Learn more

Read more about Madonna’s nurse practitioner programs, or contact Graduate Admissions at 734-432-5339 or gradadmissions@madonna.edu.