As director, she’ll provide curricular leadership for the NNP specialty, overseeing all aspects of the program and ensuring all credentialing, certification, and program standards are maintained.
The University of Maryland School of Nursing (UMSON) has appointed Jennifer Fitzgerald, DNP ’15, MS ’00, NNP-BC, assistant professor, as the director of the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) Neonatal Nurse Practitioner (NNP) specialty.
As director, Fitzgerald provides curricular leadership for the NNP specialty, overseeing all aspects of the program and ensuring all credentialing, certification, and program standards are maintained. Her responsibilities also include directing student admission and program progression and collaborating with UMSON departments on student recruitment and program marketing. Fitzgerald is focused on strengthening UMSON clinical practice relationships, ensuring the UMSON student body reflects the diversity of patients and families in the Baltimore community, and maintaining a highly successful NNP specialty.
The need for advanced practice NNPs continues to increase, as preterm birth rates have risen steadily for the past six years. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2020, 1 in 10 babies in the United States was born before 37 weeks of gestation. As one of very few DNP NNP programs in the country and the only program in Maryland, the DNP NNP specialty helps meet the demand for skilled, advanced practice NNPs.