Post-Master's Nurse Practitioner Programs

University of Massachusetts Boston

• University of Massachusetts Boston is a public university that offers two fully accredited post-master's certificate programs for registered nurses (R.N.'s) who have their master's degrees. One option is a one-semester, 12-credit course that prepares students who want to take the national certification exam to be adult, gerontology or family nurse practitioners. The other option is a two-semester, 21-credit class that includes 12 credits of classroom course work and 560 hours of clinical practice in adult/gerontology or family practice. The coursework in each program varies depending on the student's Master of Science in Nursing (M.S.N.) specialty.

  University of Massachusetts Boston
  100 Morrissey Blvd.
  Boston, MA 02125-3393
  617-287-5000
  ccde.umb.edu

Johns Hopkins University

• Johns Hopkins University is a private research university affiliated with the Johns Hopkins Hospital and Health System. Located in Baltimore, JHU offers a fully accredited post-graduate certificate program in several nurse practitioner specialties. According to U.S. News & World Report magazine's 2007 college rankings, JHU was the fourth-best graduate nursing school in the United States. The post-master's certificate programs at JHU qualify graduates to take national certification exams as acute critical care, pediatric, adult or family primary-care nurse practitioners. The classes an individual student takes will depend on his or her M.S.N. specialty. The program is one year of part-time study and includes extensive coursework and experience in primary care and acute/critical care.

  Johns Hopkins University
  525 N. Wolfe St.
  Baltimore, MD 21205
  410-955-7548
  son.jhmi.edu

University of California, Los Angeles

• The University of California, Los Angeles, is a public university ranked as the 12th-best graduate nursing school in the United States by U.S. News & World Report magazine's 2007 college rankings. UCLA offers a fully accredited post-master's certificate program for acute care, family, gerontological, oncologic and pediatric nurse practitioners. The school designed its program to prepare M.S.N. graduates for advanced-practice health-care management and national certification exam to become licensed. The classes in this program vary depending on the speciality you chose in the MSN program. Regardless of the specialty, this is a six semester program that will take about two years to complete.

  University of California Los Angeles
  405 Hilgard Ave.
  Los Angeles, CA 90095
  310-206-0222
  ucla.edu