Family Nurse Practitioner Program
The Family Nurse Practitioner program prepares registered nurses in advanced practice to care for individuals and their families. The focus is on health promotion, risk reduction and prevention. A systems approach is used to consider common recurring health problems across the life span. The clinical component provides interdisciplinary experiences to work with other health care providers in caring for individuals and their families. Graduates of this program are qualified to sit for the Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) certification examination offer-ed by the ANCC and the AANP.

Gerontological Nursing Program
The Graduate Gerontological Nursing program prepares graduates to be specialists in the multidimensional care of older adults. The curriculum focuses on the optimization of the aging person’s well-being, both physical and psychosocial. A holistic and multidisciplinary approach to care is stressed. Students gain experience in working as a member of interdisciplinary teams and work collaboratively with advanced practice nurses, physicians and other health professionals to provide high quality care for older adults and their families. Graduates are pre-pared to take the examination for certification as GNPs or GCNSs and to receive advanced practice status in Texas.

Neonatal Nursing Program
The Neonatal Nursing Program is designed to prepare nurses as Nurse Practitioners (NP) or Clinical Nurse Specialists (CNS) for advanced practice roles in the delivery of health care for high risk infants. Health promotion, disease management prevention and health restoration strategies for the high risk infant and their families are emphasized. The curriculum focuses on the development of complex assessment, technical and inter-personal skills. The knowledge required is based on principles of physiology, case management and advanced clinical decision-making. The goal is to function as part of a multidisciplinary team to develop a plan of care that incorporates health care maintenance, discharge and follow-up care for high risk infants. Graduates of this program are qualified to sit for the Neonatal Nurse Practitioner certification examination offered by the Neonatal Certification Corporation.

Nurse Anesthesia Program
The Nurse Anesthesia Program offers a course of study that leads to a Master of Science in Nursing degree. Clinical experience in anesthesia practice is provided on a rotating basis at various facilities and requires student travel for clinical experience. The program is fully accredited by the Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Education Programs, and graduates are qualified to take the Certification Examination for Nurse Anesthetists, which is administered by the Council on Certification of Nurse Anesthetists.

Nursing Leadership and Administration
in Health Systems
In response to the demand for advanced education in contemporary, evidence-based leadership strategies; this non-clinical degree program is designed to prepare leaders in nursing for both health care organizations and academic settings. This problem-based, highly interactive program blends real-time issues in nursing with research and knowledge drawn from successful businesses, the science of organizational development, innovations in quality improvement and the psychology of learning. Nurses discover their individual talents through self-assessment tools. Team based learning is emphasized through case studies, simulations and project work.

Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Program
The Pediatric Nurse Practitioner program includes an advanced practice core, a graduate core, a clinical focus and a clinical preceptorship. This program prepares advanced practice nurses to provide primary health care to children and young adults. All students take core courses covering theoretical foundations for nursing practice, health systems and models, advanced pathophysiology, advanced pharmacology, nursing research and advanced health assessment. Clinical courses emphasize the care of infants, children, adolescents, and their families. Graduates of this program are qualified to sit for the Pediatric Nurse Practitioner Certification examination through the Pediatric Nursing Certification Board (PNCB) or the ANCC.

Psychiatric/Mental Health Nursing Program
The Psychiatric/Mental Health Nursing Program is designed to increase the number of nurses prepared for advanced practice in primary, secondary and tertiary settings with patients who manifest psychiatric disorders and mental health problems. The program consists of a graduate core, an advanced practice core, a clinical focus and a role seminar/preceptorship for Nurse Practitioner, Clinical Nurse Specialist, Education or Administration. UT School of Nursing also offers an Addiction Focus as an expansion of the Psychiatric/Mental Health Nursing concentration. CNS graduates of this program are qualified to sit for the Clinical Specialist in Adult Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing and the Clinical Specialist in Child and Adolescent Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing examinations. NP graduates are eligible to sit for the Adult Psychiatric and Mental Health Nurse Practitioner and the Family Psychiatric and Mental Health Nurse Practitioner examination. All examinations are offered by the ANCC.

Women’s Health Care Program
The Women’s Health Care Graduate Concentration prepares graduates to be specialists in the multidimensional care of women with a primary care focus. Health promotion, health maintenance and health restoration are studied across the life-span with a holistic, developmental focus. Emphasis is placed on health care practices, teaching and health policy impact on women’s lives. Nurse practitioner students are qualified to apply for the designation of Advanced Practice status in the State of Texas and the Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nursing’s (AWHONN) National Certification Corporation’s (NCC) certification.

MSN-MPH – Master’s of Science in Nursing and Master’s of Science in Public Health
The UT School of Nursing and School of Public Health offer a dual degree program that allows students to earn both degrees while enrolled in both schools. The program prepares advanced practice nurses for leadership positions in population-focused care in a variety of settings, such as public and occupational health. School of Nursing coursework includes basic and clinical sciences in an advanced clinical nursing specialty of the student’s choice with a role focus as either an NP or a CNS. School of Public Health coursework includes the core areas of public health (epidemiology, biometry, environmental health, behavioral science and public health administration) plus an elective course in one of the school’s research and practice areas. These areas include, but are not limited to, Management, Policy Sciences and Community Practice, Occupational and Environmental Health and Health Promotion/Health Education. Many courses are offered that satisfy degree requirements in both schools. Students complete only one thesis for both degrees.

Oncology Nursing Program – Post Master’s
As a Post Master’s Specialty in Oncology and currently the only Oncology Nursing program in the state of Texas and the region, the program is designed to meet the needs of advanced practice nurses (CNS) as well as educators and administrators. It is designed to expand their expertise in the care for persons and families who have, or are at risk for, cancer. The dimensions of primary, secondary and tertiary prevention, as well as illness care, palliative care, rehabilitation, and survivorship are studied from a holistic perspective. Students gain experience in working as a member of an interdisciplinary team. Graduates of the Post Master’s Certificate (CNS) program are qualified to sit for the Oncology Nursing Certification Corporation (ONCC) Advanced Oncology Certified Clinical Nurse Specialist (AOCNS) exam.

PhD Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing Program

The Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing Program is designed to prepare researchers and faculty scholars who will develop, test and implement innovations in health care delivery and will be prepared to teach the next generation of nurses in research and clinical nursing. Doctoral graduates of the program have various career options, including faculty positions in schools or colleges of nursing and directors and investigators in nursing-related research programs.

The design of the PhD curriculum is based on the mission and philosophy of the UT School of Nursing. As an element of maintaining a culture of excellence, the UT Health Science Center developed a Statement on Scholarship, emphasizing the four areas specified by Boyer (1990), namely, discovery (research), application (practice), integration (interdisciplinary endeavors and synthesis of knowledge within and among disciplines), and teaching.

The PhD curriculum is organized around this multidimensional framework and focuses on three levels of prevention, i.e., primary, secondary, and tertiary. This dimension of the frame-work is consistent with the philosophy of the School of Nursing which states that nursing is committed to health promotion, prevention and early detection of disease, restoration of well-ness, continuing care for persons with chronic illnesses, and rehabilitation services. The research focus of the program is health care interventions and outcomes.

The faculty believes that the nursing profession must direct renewed attention to practice in order to provide cost-effective, quality care in a rapidly changing health care environment. At UT, this renewed attention has led to the development of a doctoral program focused on expanding the knowledge base
of nursing.

All programs are accredited by the appropriate agencies. The University of Texas School of Nursing at Houston is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE). The Baccalaureate Program is approved by the Board of Nursing for the State of Texas. The Nurse Anesthesia Program is accredited by the Council on Accreditation of Nurse Anesthesia Educational Programs. The Doctoral Program is approved by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS).