Empower Patients—and Yourself—with a Nurse Practitioner Degree
Help educate patients and families about self-care while expanding access to primary health services: become a nurse practitioner. As a certified nurse practitioner, you’ll gain the ability to assess and diagnose patients, provide treat acute and chronic illnesses, treatments, and prescribe medications with a collaborative agreement.
Gwynedd Mercy University’s Master of Science in Nursing – Nurse Practitioner (MSN-NP) degree program teaches you the advanced clinical skills you need to make a career in primary care your reality.
Exceptional Job Opportunities for NPs: The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics currently rates nurse practitioners as the #1 fastest growing occupation in the country with an expected job growth rate of 46% through 2031, nearly 10x the national average.
See Program Details
Program Details
The curriculum for the NP degree includes 600-720 hours of precepted clinical and role specialty practice, with clinical sites available across GMercyU’s network of health care affiliates. After graduation, you should be prepared to pass the American Nurses Credentialing Center Adult-Gerontology Nurse Practitioner Primary Care, or the Family Nurse practitioner exam. Primary Care Pediatric Nurse Practitioner students will be prepared to pass the Pediatric National Certification Board examination. GMercyU's nurse practitioner programs offer the hands-on experience needed to ensure you are ready to succeed outside of the classroom. It's why we're considered one of the most successful nurse practitioner programs in PA.
The MSN-NP also provides the academic foundation you need to pursue a doctoral degree in nursing, such as our Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program.
If you already hold a Master of Science in Nursing, you can prepare to become an NP with our Post-Graduate Advanced Practice Nurse (APRN) Certificate.
Earning your MSN-NP opens up a new range of nursing career opportunities. Depending upon the regulations in your state, you may have some of these roles and responsibilities:
- Provide primary care services in private practice
- Work alongside a supervising physician in primary care
- Serve patients in primary care, urgent care or long term care setting
- Provide health education as part of community health and wellness programs
Potential Nurse Practitioner Job Titles and Median Salaries
| Career Opportunities | Median Salary |
| Family Nurse Practitioner | $89,897i |
| Primary Care Pediatric Nurse Practitioner | $86,512ii |
| Adult Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner | $86,866iii |
Nurse Practitioner programs prepare you for the responsibilities of primary care. Over the course of the program, you’ll expand your clinical knowledge and clinical practice skills, engage in professional research and writing and explore contemporary issues in policy and society that impact health care. You’ll emerge from this master's degree program as a nurse equipped to be the health practitioner and advocate your patients need. After obtaining a master's degree as a nurse practitioner, you will be qualified to fulfill multiple career options in various fields.
As a GMercyU Master of Science in Nursing graduate, you will be able to:
- Collaborate with colleagues and consumers to provide and improve advanced nursing care
- Demonstrate expertise as an advanced practice nurse through the diagnosis and treatment of acute and chronic health problems
- Demonstrate professionalism as a nurse practitioner grounded in the Mercy tradition
- Demonstrate social responsibility for individuals, families, and communities within the context of a multicultural society
- Utilize knowledge to provide holistic care in a defined area of advanced practice nursing or nursing education in accordance with standards of practice and codes of ethics
- Strategize to improve health for all by influencing policy
- Synthesize knowledge from nursing and related disciplines as a foundation for evidence-based practice as a nurse practitioner
- Assume a leadership role in interpreting and promoting advanced nursing to members of the profession, to other disciplines, and to consumers
- Contribute to advanced nursing knowledge through scientific inquiry
A Leading Regional Nursing School for Over 60 Years
For more than two generations, Gwynedd Mercy University’s Frances M. Maguire School of Nursing and Health Professions has led the region in health practitioner education. We've earned our reputation as one of the best nurse practitioner schools in the area thanks to our small classes and rigorous curriculum that produce confident and capable nursing professionals. The nursing faculty members we select bring clinical expertise, academic rigor, and a passion for the nursing profession to the classroom. As one of the top nurse practitioner programs in PA, GMercyU offers students hands-on experience and theoretical learning that will aid them in the field.
The community of nursing experts, scholars, and regional health care leaders we have developed — not to mention our thousands of nursing alumni — is an invaluable resource for your professional development and personal enrichment. Here, the GMercyU community offers you the opportunity to get your degree from a renowned nurse practitioner program.
The MSN-NP is a two-year advanced practice nursing program or three-year part-time.
Course Requirements
| NUR 500 | Advanced Pharmacology for Advanced Nursing Roles |
| NUR 510 | Advanced Pathophysiology for Advanced Nursing Roles |
| NUR 530 | Theoretical Foundations for Advanced Nursing Roles |
| NUR 535 | Leadership & Health Policy |
| NUR 570 | Advanced Assessment & Lab for Advanced Nursing Roles |
| NUR 610 | Nursing Research Methodology & EBP |
Adult-Gerontology Specialization Courses
| NUR 572 | Role Transition I |
| NUR 573 | Role Transition II |
| NUR 630 | Primary Care I - Introduction |
| NUR 633 | Primary Care - Adolescent |
| NUR 634 | Primary Care – Young Adult |
| NUR 635 | Primary Care – Middle Adult |
| NUR 636 | Primary Care – Older Adult |
| NUR 637 | Primary Care – Women’s Health & Pregnancy |
| NUR 638 | Primary Care -Practicum |
Pediatric Specialization Courses
| NUR 572 | Role Transition I |
| NUR 573 | Role Transition II |
| NUR 630 | Primary Care I – Introduction |
| NUR 631 | Primary Care – Newborn |
| NUR 632 | Primary Care – Young Child |
| NUR 633 | Primary Care - Adolescent |
| NUR 634 | Primary Care – Young Adult |
| NUR 637 | Primary Care – Women’s Health & Pregnancy |
| NUR 638 | Primary Care -Practicum |
Family Nurse Specialization Courses
| NUR 572 | Role Transition I |
| NUR 573 | Role Transition II |
| NUR 630 | Primary Care I – Introduction |
| NUR 631 | Primary Care II – Newborn (0-5) |
| NUR 632 | Primary Care III – Young Child (6-11) |
| NUR 633 | Primary Care IV – Adolescent (12-18) |
| NUR 634 | Primary Care V – Young Adult (18-29) |
| NUR 635 | Primary Care VI – Middle Adult (30-55) |
| NUR 636 | Primary Care VII – Older Adult (56+) |
| NUR 637 | Primary Care VIII – Women’s Health & Pregnancy |
| NUR 638 | Primary Care Practicum |
To review nurse practitioner programs course descriptions, please refer to the graduate catalog.
Accreditation
The Master of Science in Nursing program at Gwynedd Mercy University is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (http://ww.ccneaccreditation.org).
