Adult Geriatric Nurse Practitioner (AGNP) Residency

Program Structure

The VANAP- GE AGNP residency program is a one-year comprehensive post-graduate residency to facilitate the transition of the new-graduate AGNP to a competent and professional AGNP (and clinical leader for DNP graduates). The residency is both didactic and clinical learning and is structured to give the resident clinician broad exposure to the basic areas of VA medicine and to provide fundamental skills training, professional development activities and enhance leadership skills with an emphasis on the needs of the geriatric population. The residents will be trained to the Veterans’ Affairs Health System Patient Centered Care Model and the Jean Watson’s Theory of Human Caring/Caring Science.

This 12-month residency consists of 32 hours per week in clinical settings. The nurse practitioner resident will be assigned a mentor in a home based primary care geriatrics clinic. For the first 2 months clinical care will be in the resident’s home based primary care clinic. In this home base the resident will maintain a 25% case load by the end of the first quarter, 50% case load by the end of the second quarter, 75% case load by the end of the third quarter and a full case load by the conclusion of the residency.

Specialty Rotations In months 3-12, the AGNP resident will be scheduled to rotate through other specialty clinics and or consult services within Veterans Affairs facility and in the community centers of care to provide the resident with additional experiences that can be directly applied within their homebased primary care clinic to enhance patient care and increase NP competence. Rotation assignments are based on major required rotations identified in the curriculum. Consideration of both the resident’s interest and identified training needs whenever possible to ensure individual needs are addressed to ensure success. Each resident will participate at a minimum of four clinical rotations over the course of the year.

Didactic and Experiential Education The AGNP resident will also have 8 hours per week for didactic and experiential learning, case studies, journal clubs, meetings, Grand Rounds and other didactic sessions on a scheduled basis at The Catholic University of America and Washington DC VA medical center. These didactic and experiential experiences will facilitate the resident meeting the specific components within the AGNP residency core domains.

Capstone Project Approximately 4 to 6 months into the residency program, the resident will identify one quality or process improvement opportunity preferably geriatric focus at the Washington DC VA Medical Center as a capstone project. Based upon a resident’s assessment of the quality of care problem and a thorough literature review, the resident will formulate a solution and propose a plan to address the problem. The resident will be expected to present their capstone proposal to the Nursing Education and Research committee for feedback/input prior to final approval of plan. When feasible, the resident will carry out the improvement plan. Additionally, the residents will be expected to present/disseminate the capstone project with in the VA Medical Center. The residents will work closely with the residency directors in the development of the capstone project. The Catholic University of America VANAP-GE Faculty will provide capstone leadership for the residents as well as editorial assistance for manuscripts from the capstone projects. Since the project is in the VA Medical Center complex, the knowledge dissemination from publications of the capstone would highlight VA innovations and innovative practice models that are a hallmark of the VA healthcare system.

A resident who is enrolled in the PhD or DNP program at CUA during their residency year may use their residency hours toward requirement. Their capstone project would focus on initiatives to benefit the DCVAMC or the larger population of veterans.

Upon completion of this program, graduates will receive a Residency Completion Certificate from the Residency Program. Our program will admit 4-6 residents a year.