Mar 29, 2024  
2022-2023 Graduate Catalog 
    
2022-2023 Graduate Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Nursing - Adult-Gerontology Clinical Nurse Specialist (AGCNS) (CAGS) - Certificate


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16 credits

A Plan of Study is available on the Graduate Certificate in Nursing website.

The Graduate Certificate (GC) - Adult-Gerontology Clinical Nurse Specialist (AGCNS) is for nurses who have completed a graduate degree in nursing from a nationally accredited graduate nursing program and in another nursing specialty or role. The AGCNS GC program provides nurses the opportunity to acquire the education, skills, and abilities to seek certification and practice as an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN), or Adult-Gerontology Clinical Nurse Specialist (AGCNS). GC graduates are prepared for eligibility for the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Adult-Gerontology Clinical Nurse Specialist exam or the American Association of Critical Care Nurses (AACN).

*Clinical hours may be tailored based on prior experiences.

Admission Prerequisite


Graduation from a nationally accredited graduate program in nursing with evidence of prior completion of advanced pathophysiology, advanced health assessment (including diagnostic reasoning), advanced health promotion, and advanced pharmacology (within the last three years required in some states for credentialing) or enrollment and successful completion of these courses once admitted to Graduate Certificate Program prior to taking the specialty role courses.

Graduate Nursing Certificate Programs


Grounded in an environment of scholarship, the mission of the WSU Department of Nursing is to educate knowledgeable caring, ethical, creative, and accountable nurse leaders who provide person- and relationship-centered care for individuals, families, groups, communities and populations in a diverse society. This mission is based on the beliefs that:

  • a caring, diverse, and respectful community provides the best environment for students to learn how to care for themselves and others
  • optimal learning to care for self and others occurs in a caring, diverse and respectful community
  • faculty and students are accountable for maintaining and modeling professional standards of moral, ethical, and legal conduct
  • recognizing and valuing human diversity is essential to person- and relationship-centered care
  • individuals have different ways of knowing and learning about the world
  • creativity and innovation contribute to continuous quality improvement and sustainability
  • an enriched learning environment is the responsibility of faculty, staff, and students
  • effective nurse leaders engage in continuous professional development and lifelong learning

The Graduate Programs in Nursing offer six Graduate Certificate programs for nurses interested in post-nursing graduate education: Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner ; Adult-Gerontology Clinical Nurse Specialist ; Family Nurse Practitioner Nurse Educator ; Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner ; or Nursing and Organizational Leadership .

Clinical hours: (1 clinical credit = 60 hours of contact time)


Adult-Gerontology Clinical Nurse Specialist (Certificate): 480 hours

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