* Curriculum currently under revision (Fall 2018)

Elizabeth Courts, Assistant Professor and Director, Family Nurse Practitioner Program
Health & Life Sciences Building, Office 159, (540) 665-5502, ecourts@su.edu

The School of Nursing offers an 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 knowledge, skills, values, meanings and experiences 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 graduate students are highly motivated adult learners who learn independently as well as in structured settings. Course work can be completed in 15 months of full-time study with summer admission. Clinical experiences are arranged with individual preceptors in surrounding communities. Approximately 700 clock hours are spent in faculty or preceptor-supervised settings. Graduates of the FNP Certificate program are eligible to take the national certification exam given by either the American Nurses Credentialing Center or the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners.

Prerequisites (may have completed in graduate program)

Prerequisites, in addition to the MSN, include three credits of advanced pathophysiology, three credits of advanced pharmacology, and three credits of a general physical assessment course. All courses must be at the 500 level or above.