Certificate in Post-Masters in Family Nurse Practitioner

The Division of Nursing offers a Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) Certificate for RNs who already hold a Master of Science in Nursing degree. The FNP Certificate is designed to provide the nurse with the necessary skills and knowledge to assume the role of a primary health care provider in a variety of clinical settings. Didactic and clinical course content focuses on assessment and management of health promotion and maintenance strategies, risk reduction, common acute and chronic alterations in health status for individuals and families across the lifespan and role development. Clinical experiences are in a wide variety of ambulatory and community rural and medically underserved health care settings appropriate to the family nurse practitioner track.

The FNP Certificate is designed to meet the needs and be sensitive to the MSN-prepared RN, with the philosophy that post-master's students are highly motivated adult learners who learn independently as well as in structured settings. Course work can be completed in 12 months of full-time study. Didactic courses are offered one day a week. Clinical experiences are arranged with individual preceptors in surrounding communities. 720 clock hours are spent in faculty or preceptor supervised settings. Graduates of the FNP Certificate program are eligible to sit for the national certification exam given by either the American Nurses Association or the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners.

The program can be completed in 12 months full time with summer courses. A part time program is available. Cohorts are established in September or January. All classroom courses are on Thursday. Clinical placement is arranged by faculty and will be scheduled at the convenience of the facility hosting the student.

Admission Criteria:

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Degree Requirements:Prerequisites, in additon to the MSN, include 3 credits of advanced pathophysiology, 3 credis or advanced pharmacology, 3 credits of a general health assessment course. All courses must be at the 500 level or above.

Family Nurse Practitioner Specialty Course Curriculum

Course Title Hrs.
NP 610 Primary Care of Families I 3
NP 620 Primary Care of Families II 3*
NP 630 Primary Care ofWomen and Children 3
NP 650 Primary Care of Families Practicum I 3*
NP 670 Primary Care of Families Practicum II 3*
NP 680 Primary Care Advanced Practicum 4*
NP 690 Advanced FNP Role Development 1
Graduate Elective 3
Total 20

* This course includes clinical experiences. The ratio of clinical to clock hours is 1 clinical hour = 4 clock hours.

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