Adult Primary Care Track

The adult primary care program prepares adult nurse practitioners in adult health, gerontologic health, occupational health, and women's health. These are 45-credit programs, except for the 52-credit occupational health option, and can be completed in two years of full-time study or three to four years of part-time study. Graduates of the program are prepared to sit for the appropriate certification exam offered by the professional credentialing organization.

Adult Health Concentration
Gerontologic Health Concentration
Occupational Health Concentration
Dual-Degree Program in Occupational Health
Women's Health Concentration

Adult Health Concentration

This concentration prepares advanced nurse practitioners to deliver primary health care to adult clients in the community. A principal focus of this concentration is to prepare the nurse practitioner to collaborate with members of the interdisciplinary health care team as they make decisions concerning the diagnosis and management of health care problems.

Those individuals selecting adult health should have a strong interest in caring for the primary, secondary, and tertiary health care needs of individuals and target populations across the life span, commencing with late adolescence. Graduates are prepared to deliver total care for clients as part of interdisciplinary teams and to sit for the adult nurse practitioner certification exam offered by the American Nurses Association.

To provide students the best clinical experiences possible, the program maintains close teaching and clinical relationships with major health care facilities. Clinics, neighborhood health centers, hospitals, and private practices in the greater Boston area provide additional clinical experiences that broaden the scope of practice to meet individual student needs and interests.

Gerontologic Health Concentration

This concentration focuses on the primary health care needs of the elderly and the frail elderly. Clinics, extended-care facilities, home health agencies, neighborhood health centers, nursing homes, and private practices provide valuable clinical experiences to meet students' learning needs.

They are prepared to sit for both the adult nurse practitioner and the gerontology nurse practitioner exams offered by the appropriate credentialing organizations.

Occupational Health Concentration

This concentration is a unique collaboration between Simmons College and Harvard School of Public Health. It is designed for those individuals desiring preparation as adult nurse practitioners and who wish to practice in the occupational health arena. These advanced practice professional nurses focus their nursing interventions on keeping the workforce healthy. They deliver primary care at the worksite, skillfully assess the work environment and its impact on worker health, develop health promotion programs, manage employee health centers, and function within the interdisciplinary occupational health team. Two program options are available in this concentration:

The forty-nine credit occupational health nurse practitioner program.
» Occupational Health Nurse Practiotioner Sample Curriculum (91K pdf)
The seventy-four credit dual-degree program in Occupational Health with Harvard School of Public Health.
» Occupational Health Dual-degree Sample Curriculum (44K pdf)

Each track prepares graduates as nurse practitioners, researchers, health educators, and managers. Graduates are prepared to sit for the adult nurse practitioner certification exam offered by ANCC and the COHN exam offered by ABOHN.

Dual-Degree Program in Occupational Health

Simmons College, in cooperation with the Harvard School of Public Health Educational Research Center for Occupational Health and Safety, funded by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, established a dual-degree option. This two-year, full-time program offers a Master of Science in Primary Health Care Nursing from Simmons College and a Master of Science in Occupational Health from the Harvard School of Public Health. The program prepares students in the fields of epidemiology and occupational health research, leadership, and policy development. Core courses include the graduate nursing core courses, the Adult/Occupational Health Primary Care core courses and courses at the Harvard School of Public Health.

Students admitted to the dual-degree program enroll in half-time study at both Simmons College and the Harvard School of Public Health for two academic years, plus one summer session at Simmons College. The program is 74 semester hours. Applicants to the dual-degree program must apply to both institutions and meet admission requirements for both institutions. Applications for the Harvard School of Public Health can be obtained from the school's admissions office:

Harvard School of Public Health
677 Huntington Avenue
Boston, MA, 02115
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/register/eh-contact.html

Women's Health Concentration

The women's health concentration prepares nurse practitioners with special expertise in issues related to women's health across the life span. Clinics, women's health centers, and private practices provide valuable clinical experience to meet the individual learning needs of students. Graduates are prepared to sit for the women's health practitioner certification exam offered by the appropriate credentialing organization.