DNP: Pediatric Primary Care Nurse Practitioner
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Considering a DNP at UMSON? We're waiving the application fee for Fall 2025 applicants across all DNP specialties. Email admissions.nursing@umaryland.edu to request your exclusive fee waiver code today!
Apply NowRanked Among the Best
Congratulations to our 2024 Pediatric Primary Care Nurse Practitioner graduates, who earned an 83% pass rate on the Pediatric Nursing Certification Board exam.
Watch the video above to learn about Kim Blay, DNP '19, a graduate of the program who works as a neonatal advanced practitioner who supports the Child Life Program at Greater Baltimore Medical Center.
Primary care Pediatric Nurse Practitioners possess in-depth knowledge and experience in pediatric primary health care, including well child care and prevention/management of common pediatric acute illnesses and chronic conditions. They support the optimal health of children within the context of their family, community, and environmental settings, meeting the populations’ specialized physiologic and psychological needs.
Pediatric Nurse Practitioners care for children from birth to age 21, diagnosing illnesses, conducting exams, and prescribing medications. Many work alongside pediatricians, but some run their own private practices.
What you’ll learn:
Through a hybrid approach to learning that emphasizes in-person clinical experiences, this specialty will prepare you to provide advanced nursing care to children.
You’ll concentrate on:
- applying advanced critical-thinking and diagnostic reasoning skills to identify, evaluate, manage, assess, and adapt interventions, including:
- planning and coordinating therapeutic interventions to restore or maintain health
- implementing pharmacologic interventions and referrals to specialty providers
- coordinating care and collaborating with interprofessional teams
- analyzing health policy and its effects on the advanced practice registered nurse (APRN), the interdisciplinary team, the health care system, and care delivery models
- using technology and quality improvement methods to enhance quality and safety and monitor health outcomes
- demonstrating leadership skills and an understanding of the APRN role and its influence within professional organizations and accrediting and regulatory bodies at local and national levels.
Why choose this program?
- Taking some of your classes online helps you balance work, home, and school, regardless of location.
- You can complete the program in the timeframe that works with your schedule, with three-, four-, and five-year options.
- You’ll be placed in an individual practicum that’s the best fit for you, due to our strong relationships with clinical partners, including top-ranking childrens’ hospitals in Maryland; Washington, D.C.; Pennsylvania; and Delaware. We tailor the clinical experiences for each student.
- PNP and Neonatal Nurse Practitioner specialty students take several clinical courses together, so you’ll benefit from the expertise of faculty and students in and out of your specialty.
- Our faculty have extensive pediatric nursing experience as well as experience as pediatric primary care, acute care, and dual-certified PNPs.
- You’ll work with state-of-the-art neonatal and pediatric high-fidelity simulation models, using real-life scenarios to learn collaborative management approaches and gain procedural expertise.
- When you graduate, you'll be prepared to take the Pediatric Nursing Certification Board Certified Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Primary Care Exam.
This program is offered as a great mix of face-to-face, supportive instruction and online classes, all with faculty who are experts in their areas of specialty.
Credits Required: no more than 80, depending on prior education
Practicum Hours Required: 855 hours in direct patient care settings and 225 hours in other required practicum coursework
The University of Maryland School of Nursing offers Acute Care and Primary Care Pediatric Nurse Practitioner DNP specialties.
Competency-Based Education
This program’s curriculum is aligned with the American Association of Colleges of Nursing’s The Essentials: Core Competencies for Professional Nursing Education, which focus on competency-based education (CBE). CBE is a student-centered approach that is built on the science of how we learn and provides multiple opportunities for you to demonstrate and use what you are learning as you learn it.
Program Snapshot
Length
As little as 3 years
Format
Blended (face-to-face and online)
Tuition and Fees View overview
In State Tuition: $873.00/credit
Out of State Tuition: $1,549.00/credit
Out of State Tuition: $1,549.00/credit
Accreditation Read Details
Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education
Choose one of four paths to your DNP.
Our Doctor of Nurse Practice program has an option that fits your goals and experience, whether you 1) have your BSN, 2) have your master's in nursing or a related field, 3) are already a nurse practitioner, 4) are looking to change your specialty. Focus your energy and resources on only those courses that you need to achieve your goals. Learn more about our DNP pathways.
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