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This program prepares RNs or NP’s who have a master’s degree in nursing to function as nurse practitioners in ambulatory or community-based areas. FNPs provide comprehensive care to all members of the family unit: infants, children, and adults, including child-bearing women; they also provide direct health care services incorporating health promotion, health protection, disease prevention and disease management. Graduates of this specialty are eligible to take the Family Nurse Practitioner certification examination prepared by an approved national organization as accepted by the Board of Registration in Nursing and to apply to practice in the expanded role in their state based on regulatory guidelines.
Two family nurse practitioner post-master’s graduate certificate programs are available, one requiring 12 credits of graduate course work, the other requiring 21 credits, depending on the student’s prior course work in the master’s program.
The 21-credit option is open to RNs with a master’s degree in nursing from an NLN- or CCNE-accredited program. The program of study includes 9 credits of didactic study and 12 credits of clinical course work, including 600 hours of clinical practice in the family specialty area. It may be completed in two semesters full-time or four semesters part-time.
The 12-credit option is open to RNs with strong clinical backgrounds, a master’s degree in nursing, and current national certification as a family, adult, pediatric, or gerontological nurse practitioner, who wish to sit for certification exams in a second specialty area. Students complete a minimum of 6 credits of didactic and 6 credits of clinical course work, including 300 hours of clinical practice. Participants concentrate in advanced practice family nursing. The program may be completed in one semester full-time or two semesters part-time.
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