The Post-Master’s Certificate Program offers accelerated plans of study to become an outstanding and compassionate nurse practitioner (NP) for nurses who already hold a master’s degree in nursing. Many students in the certificate program are already licensed nurse practitioners who are seeking certification in a second specialty (e.g., a pediatric NP who wants to certify as a family NP or a family NP who wants to add certification as a psychiatric-mental health NP). It may be possible to complete certificate requirements in as little as 2 semesters. Individualized plans of study are developed based upon a gap analysis in which certificate requirements are compared to already completed coursework. Programs are designed to strengthen and broaden the clinical abilities of masters-prepared nurses in specific advanced practice nursing roles. A certificate program may be combined with the Post-M.S. to Doctor of Nursing Practice degree program. Post-master’s certificates are available in the following specialties:
- Adult Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner
- Family Nurse Practitioner
- Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner
Applications for post-master’s certificates must be submitted through the URI Graduate School.
Adult Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner
The adult-gerontology primary care nurse practitioner post-master’s certificate prepares nurses, who already hold a master’s degree in nursing, to provide outstanding and compassionate primary health care to individuals, families, communities and populations, including adolescents, adults and older adults. (NUR 561, 562, 563, 564 and 590) and supervised clinical hours are required to complete the certificate and qualify to take the ANCC or AANP Adult-Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner (AGPCNP) certification examination.
Adult-Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner Certificate Requirements (18-19 credits)
Pre-Requisites: Advanced pathophysiology, physical assessment and pharmacology
- NUR 561 – Adult-Gero Primary Care NP I (3 crs)
- NUR 562 – Adult-Gero Primary Care NP Practicum I (3-4 crs)
- NUR 563 – Adult-Gero Primary Care NP II (3 crs)
- NUR 564 – Adult-Gero Primary Care NP Practicum II (6 crs)
- NUR 590 – Directed Advanced Study & Practice (3 crs)
For more information about the AGPCNP post-master’s certificate, please contact Dr. Becky Carley at carley@uri.edu.
Family Nurse Practitioner Post-Master’s Certificate
The family nurse practitioner post-master’s certificate prepares nurses, who already hold a master’s degree in nursing, to provide outstanding and compassionate primary health care to individuals, families, communities and populations across the lifespan. A minimum of 18-19 credits (NUR 531, 532, 533, 534 and 590) and supervised clinical hours are required to complete the certificate and qualify to take the ANCC or AANP Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) certification examination.
Family Nurse Practitioner Certificate Requirements (18-19 credits)
Pre-Requisites: Advanced pathophysiology, physical assessment and pharmacology
- NUR 531 – Family NP Primary Care I (3 crs)
- NUR 532 – Family NP Practicum I (3-4 crs)
- NUR 533 – Family NP Primary Care II (3 crs)
- NUR 534 – Family NP Practicum II (6 crs)
- NUR 590 – Directed Advanced Study & Practice (3 crs)
For more information, please contact Dr. Denise Coppa at dcoppa@uri.edu.
Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Post-Master’s Certificate
The psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner post-master’s certificate prepares nurses, who already hold a master’s degree in nursing, to provide outstanding and compassionate psychiatric and mental health care to individuals, families, communities and populations across the lifespan. A minimum of 19-20 credits (NUR 502, 513, 514, 518, 545, and 546) and supervised clinical hours are required to complete the certificate and qualify to take the ANCC Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) certification examination.
Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Certificate Requirements (19-20 credits)
Pre-Requisites: Advanced pathophysiology, physical assessment and pharmacology
- NUR 502 – Psychiatric assessment & differential diagnosis
- NUR 513 – PMHNP: Integrated treatment of adults / older adults
- NUR 514 – PMHNP Practicum I
- NUR 518 – Neuropsychopharmacology
- NUR 545 – PMHNP: Integrated treatment child/adol/families
- NUR 546 – PMHNP Practicum II
For more information about the PMHNP post-master’s certificate, please contact Dr. Mary Leveillee at mleveillee@uri.edu.
Application Deadlines
Formal admissions and matriculation occur in Fall semester each year. Completed application packages, including supporting materials, are due by February 15 for admission the following Fall semester. However, students are welcome to explore graduate course offerings and/or begin work on their degree earlier by enrolling in courses as a non-matriculated student in spring or fall semesters. Those who are interested in taking courses on a non-matriculated basis should contact gradnursing@uri.edu.
Applications that are missing materials such as transcripts, resumes, or personal statements will not be reviewed. We recommend submitting your online application by no later than two weeks prior to the deadline in order to give your references two weeks to complete their recommendations.
Post-master’s Certificate Admission Requirements
- Master’s degree in nursing from a program accredited by the American Association of Colleges ofNursing or the National League for Nursing.
- Graduate G.P.A. > 3.3 and undergraduate G.P.A. > 3.0.
- Eligibility for RN licensure in Rhode Island.
- Goal statement that reflects strong writing ability and clear goals for pursuing advanced study in nursing that are consistent with the certificate program specialty
- Nursing license history will be verified for all master’s degree and post-master’s certificate program applicants. Any applicant with current or past license restrictions or recorded incidents should briefly explain the circumstances as part of their goal statement.
- Experience as an APRN or RN experience in the specialty applied for is preferred.
Important notes for applicants:
- Nursing license history will be verified for all nurse practitioner graduate students. Any applicant with current or past license restrictions or recorded incidents should briefly explain the circumstances as part of their goal statement.
- Consistent with RIDOH regulation 215-RICR-20-15-8 (August, 2021), our clinical partners throughout RI will not accept unvaccinated students who have religious exemptions. At this time, the URI CON Nurse Practitioner program is not able to offer any out-of-state clinical placements that will accept a religious exemption for COVID-19 vaccination. Given that, unless you are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or you qualify for a medical exemption under the RIDOH Medical Exemption guidelines, the CON will be unable to place you in a clinical experience with one of our preceptor sites for in the clinical practice courses (e.g., NUR 514, 532, 534, 546, 547, 562, 564, 590). Please see the full policy and statement regarding medical exemptions here.
- Our clinical agency partners require criminal background checks prior to placing any NP student at their sites. If you have a positive criminal background check, it is very unlikely that the CON would be able to place you in a clinical experience. In that case, it is very unlikely that you would be able to complete the program.
For more information, please contact the CON Graduate Office (gradnursing@etal.uri.edu).
Licensure Disclosure
In accordance with the 2019 Reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, URI hereby discloses only that the curriculum for this program meets the educational requirements for licensure as an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse in the State of Rhode Island. The applicable licensing board in Rhode Island may impose additional requirements on candidates prior to granting a license, and we encourage you to investigate those requirements. URI has not determined whether the curriculum for this program meets the educational requirements for licensure in any other states or territories and we encourage you to investigate the requirements in your state or territory prior to accepting an offer of admission at URI.