Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP)

Master of Science in Nursing

Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP)

The Master of Science degree in Nursing with the major in Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) prepares the advanced practice nurse to provide primary health care services across the life span to individuals, families and aggregates in the community.

Besides primary care services, critical foci include practice models which emphasize the family as a unit, health promotion and disease prevention and interdisciplinary collaboration.

The goal of the FNP program is to prepare highly skilled and culturally sensitive advanced practice nurses who are committed to provide quality and cost-effective primary care services to individuals, families and communities. The program places special emphasis on providing services to the medically under-served.

GRADUATE NURSING PROGRAM OBJECTIVES

Graduates of the Master of Science in Nursing degree program achieve the following terminal objectives:

1. Synthesize theory and knowledge from nursing, related health disciplines, the liberal arts and sciences as a foundation for advanced practice and decision-making.
2. Integrate specialty standards of advanced practice nursing to deliver culturally competent, quality health care services to individuals, families, populations and systems.
3. Practice advanced nursing reflectively within moral, legal and humanistic framework with a commitment to social justice in an urban setting.
4. Demonstrate a commitment to social justice and advocacy for vulnerable populations in the delivery of advanced nursing practice services.
5. Exercise effective leadership, critical thinking and communication skills in the development and implementation of advanced nursing practice services.
6. Integrate professional nursing standards, values and accountability into role and self development as an advanced practice nurse.
7. Utilize intra and interdisciplinary collaboration to facilitate desired health outcomes for clients, populations and systems.
8. Utilize information technology and an evidence-based research approach development of nursing knowledge and design of health care services for clients, populations and systems.
9. Analyze the financial, sociopolitical and organizational forces of the health care
   environment that impact the advanced nursing practice role.

The MSN degree with the FNP major requires 44 credit hours and approximately 720 clinical hours. The MSON is committed to flexibility in the program and therefore offers both full- and part-time options for degree completion.

Full-time study can be completed in two years with some courses offered during the summer semester. A program of part-time study can be completed in three years.

In addition, the MSON offers a post-master's certificate option for those individuals who already possess a master's degree in Nursing. The requirements of this option are individualized but generally require the advanced practice nursing core and Family Nurse Practitioner clinical courses.

Graduates of the program and those who complete the post-master's certificate are eligible to sit for the national certification examination administered by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC). Students are urged to contact the specific Board of Nursing in the state in which they intend to practice in order to ensure they are in full compliance with the education, practice and certification requirements.