Family Nurse Practitioner

Nurse practitioners are in high demand, not only because of the nursing shortage, but also because of their approach to medicine. The medical field has been evolving and focusing on promoting health and wellness which is exactly the direction nurse practitioners have taken. They devote their time to preventative care, counseling patients on self-management and generally taking a holistic approach. As more patients seek out personalized care, nurse practitioners have become even more necessary.

The philosophy behind a NP role is to focus on holistic, preventative care with personalized treatment for each patient. Because NPs do their clinical training in a specific area, such as family care, they are also able to offer patients with specialized expertise. On the job, nurse practitioners roles can vary depending on their specialty, but general tasks include:

• Diagnosing patient illness and other conditions
• Treating illnesses and conditions
• Educating and counseling patients
• Prescribing medication

Program Curriculum

The focus of the Family Nurse Practitioner program is to provide the academic knowledge and clinical skills necessary for health promotion, disease prevention, assessment, and management of common acute and chronic illnesses. The family nurse practitioner program consists of a total of 44 semester hours, completely online. It also requires 1000 clinical hours, which will be completed in facilities and with preceptors that have been approved by the FNP Program Coordinators. The clinical sites will be located as close to the student’s geographic residence or local community as possible. Fulltime students may complete the program in 22 months.