Orthopedics Specialty

9 credit hours, including 168 clinical hours

This specialty program will help to build the foundation for solid clinical skills and musculoskeletal expertise for those graduate nursing students aspiring to enter musculoskeletal care setting.

This specialty prepares advanced practice nurses to diagnose and manage a variety of musculoskeletal problems across the life span as well as to provide guidance and counseling to promote and maintain health and quality of life. Students in the program will come to campus to practice hands-on advanced orthopedic physical assessment techniques and orthopedic skills necessary for clinical practice such as joint injections, casting, and suturing. As a synthesis, the students complete a final clinical residency under the mentorship of an experienced clinician in the orthopedics specialty.

Students who complete this coursework are prepared to provide musculoskeletal care across a variety of settings such as urgent care, military medicine, emergency care, occupational health, or physical medicine. Students will be well prepared for a purely orthopedic setting or to practice where many patients will have musculoskeletal problems.

The orthopedics specialty is open to students in the Duke MSN Program with adult-gerontology nurse practitioner – AC, family nurse practitioner, or pediatric nurse practitioner – AC APRN majors. It is also available to students in the Duke DNP Program with comparable APRN preparation. Duke MSN students also have the option of utilizing individual orthopedics specialty courses as didactic and/ or clinical electives for APRN majors.

R-ORTH-SCT - Orthopedics (Specialty)

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