Emergency Nurse Practitioner (ENP)

Question 1: What types of work are accepted for the scholarly essay admissions requirement?
The scholarly essay should reflect how obtaining the ENP certificate will contribute to your professional development through advancing practice.

Question 2: Is there an application deadline?
The application deadline for the class entering fall of each matriculating year is May 1st. Please visit the apply now page for more details on the application process

Question 3: How can I request an application packet?
The apply now page will provide you with step-by-step instructions regarding the application process. From this page you can download the application documents or request hard copy forms.

Question 4: If I receive and accept a seat offer early in the application period, will the University stay connected with me?
Yes. The Office of Admissions and the College of Graduate Nursing will keep in contact with you via email. You will also have an opportunity to participate in certain college events before you matriculate in the fall, including the mandatory Welcome Week held in August for all entering students.

Question 5: Are on campus interviews required?
No. Phone interviews (for selected applicants).

Question 1: Does the program require any prerequisite?
Yes. Please visit the view requirements page for detail.

Question 2: Do I need to have a graduate degree to apply?
Yes. You must have earned a graduate degree (MSN or DNP) in nursing from an accredited program and already have your national certification as a Family Nurse Practitioner. Visit the view requirements for additional requirements.

Question 3: Can I apply with a NP specialty other than FNP?
No. The ENP Post Graduate Certificate at Western University of Health Sciences is an educational offering that prepares the already nationally certified Family Nurse Practitioner to be eligible to take the fully accredited ENP certification as a dual role certification via AANP. Only the Family Nurse Practitioner role is eligible to sit for the ENP exam.
The ENP is not for other NP specialties. Students with other NP specialty roles would need to go back to school to obtain their FNP to be eligible for our Post Graduate ENP Certificate offering.

Question 4: Do I need to have an active RN license to apply?
Yes. You will be asked to submit proof of your licensure and national certification at the time of application. Visit the view requirementsfor additional requirements.

Question 1: How do I check my application status online?
You can check your application status by visiting the application status page.

Question 2: What if I want to change information on my application after I have completed it?
You may not change answers or documents submitted with your application, but you may upload additional, supplemental materials. To do so, visit the application status page and use the “Upload Materials” section of the page to submit your supplemental materials.

Question 3: What if I want to apply to more than one program? Do I need to create a new account?
You can apply to multiple programs using a single account. Visit our online application, log in, and click “Start New Application” at the bottom of the page.

Question 4: What address should I use if I need to mail any additional application materials?
For official transcripts please mail to:
Western University of Health Sciences
Attn: Admissions Operations/College of Graduate Nursing
309 E Second Street
Pomona, CA 91766

For unofficial documents, please upload to the online application as indicated in the application instructions.

Question 5: How do I pay my application fee?
All application fees require payments made by credit card. Only cards with Visa and Master Card logos will be accepted. No checks, money orders, or cash will be accepted for payment of application fees.

Question 6: What if I do not have a Visa or Master Card?
Payment may be made with a Visa or Master Card prepaid gift card which can be purchased at many major chain stores or online. Please be aware that the gift card must contain a balance sufficient to cover the application fee in one full payment.

Question 7: Are fee waivers accepted?
Payment is required at time of application, if fee waiver is approved a reimbursement will be issued.

Question 1: How will WesternU graduates be prepared to assume the ENP role? 
WesternU’s Emergency Nurse Practitioner Certificate provides comprehensive preparation for nursing at the highest level of urgent care and emergency department practice. The ENP prepares students for the expanding role, functions and needs of this subspecialty practice and care provided within the urgent care and emergency department setting. Transforming health care delivery recognizes the critical need for clinicians to continuously improve the context in which care is delivered.
Nurses prepared at the emergency nurse practitioner level with a blend of clinical, organizational, economic, and leadership skills, will be able to significantly impact health care outcomes. ENP certificate graduates will practice in diverse leadership and practice roles within the urgent care and emergency department, delivering and managing the health care needs of patients within this subspecialty setting across the human life-span.

Question 2: How does the ENP certificate differ from the FNP role population?
The ENP certificate is not a population foci, rather the ENP is a subspecialty practice role.

Question 3: What is unique about WesternU’s Post Graduate ENP certificate?
WesternU’s ENP program is designed for master’s-prepared nurses who already have their FNP and are nationally board certified in their population foci that wish to obtain a dual role in the subspecialty practice of urgent care and emergency medicine. This program is unique because it will be the only post-graduate ENP certificate program in the state of CA and west of Houston, Texas. Currently there are 11 programs/certificates for ENP in the United States.

Our unique curriculum is designed to allow students to continue to practice, keep family commitments, and live in their community. The Web-based design of this program is especially convenient for students living in rural areas, small communities, or who are on active military duty. The program consists of 2 semesters, 12 credit hours, and 270 total clinical hours.

There are four integrated elements: 1. flexible web-based curriculum; 2. practice immersion in the urgent care and emergency setting completed in your own community; 3.application-skills intensives at the Pomona, California campus once per semester, and 4. a case study project. Visit the welcome and examine the curriculum pages to learn more about what makes WesternU’s ENP curriculum unique.
Clinical Sites:

• Clinical sites are throughout the Greater LA, Inland Empire (San Bernardino/Riverside Counties) and Pomona Valley as well as in rural areas beyond the metropolitan area. Students are placed in Emergency Departments as well as in Urgent Care settings. Students may be placed with a physician or nurse practitioner preceptor.
• Students are each assigned to a single preceptor for a clinical day. Over the course of a semester a student may have two clinical ED and/or two Urgent care sites.

Question 4: What are the benefits of learning in a web-based program?
There are many advantages to a web-based program. First, it allows the master’s-prepared nurse to complete their Post graduate ENP Certificate while living and working in his/her own community. This offers the student a great degree of flexibility in scheduling written coursework around job, personal, and family commitments. Second, the one-on-one nature of web-based class discussion groups allows the nursing faculty to get to know students better than in a more traditional group classroom format. Finally, WesternU’s program is designed with the adult learner in mind. Students will find the course content to be more relevant to their needs, since they are actively involved in shaping their educational experience.

Question 5: Why get the Post Graduate ENP certificate when I already have my FNP ?
The vision for the ENP certificate is to educate Family Nurse Practitioners (FNPs) currently working in the emergency or urgent care settings or interested in working in these areas with the intent to obtain a sub-specialty board certification as Emergency Nurse Practitioners (ENPs).

• American Academy of Nurse Practitioners regulatory guidelines dictate that post-masters FNP students obtaining further training for clinical sub-specialty certification must obtain a program certificate recognized by the educational institution to be eligible for the national certification exam. The ENP curriculum will enhance student outcomes and achieve this goal.
• WesternU CGN’s pursuit of this post-graduate ENP certificate further advances nursing education to improve health care in vulnerable populations.

FNPs graduating from academic Emergency Nurse Practitioner (ENP) degree programs, post-graduate ENP certificate programs and Emergency Department fellowships are recognized as having the knowledge, skills and competencies to begin entry level practice in the ED. The American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) and American Academy of Emergency Nurse Practitioners (AAENP) began certifying this group of specialty Emergency Nurse Practitioners in January, 2017. Certification for ENPs in the specialty is in the best interests of ensuring patient safety and quality care.

According to the American Academy of Emergency Nurse Practitioners (2014):

The interpretation of the Advanced Practice Registered Nurse Consensus Model, specifically within the components of Licensure, Accreditation, Certification and Education (LACE) is interlinked with sub-specialty competencies. Current initiatives for preparing NPs to attain established ENP core competencies within the LACE model leads to certification include established educational curricular standards for:

• supporting the practice of current ENPs through post graduate education and certification,
• providing ENP core competencies and,
• exploring potential partnerships with nursing and medical organizations to improve continuing education, recruitment and retention of qualified ENPs.