Board certification is as an Acute Care Nurse Practitioner (ACNP) from the American Nurses' Credentialing Center (ANCC) or the American Association of Critical Care Nurses (AACN).  They manage acutely, critically, and/or chronically ill patients and can work in a variety of settings within the inpatient/hospital settings,  including the emergency department, intensive care units, specialty labs, acute and sub-acute/step-down care units, hospital-based clinics, and/or specialty clinics.  These practitioners diagnose, provide disease management, prescribe, and perform diagnostic and therapeutic interventions to manage a multitude of acute and critical health problems.  Some procedures ACNPs may perform include placing central lines, chest tubes, arterial lines, thoracentesis, paracentesis, or simple biopsies, depending on state regulations.  ACNPs collaborate with the inpatient healthcare team, and manage the patient’s care from hospital admission to the point of discharge and possibly also provide follow-up care post-discharge.

Acute Care NPs can work in any inpatient specialty. Some examples include:

 

Cardiology

Endocrinology

Gastroenterology

Hospitalist

Interventional Radiology

Nephrology

Neurosurgery

Plastic Surgery

Pulmonology

General Surgery

Trauma/Burns

Urology