Dr. Sharon Simon, Assistant Professor, Director Family Nurse Practitioner Program
ICPH Site, 540-542-6233, ssimon@su.edu

The FNP Program is designed to provide the nurse with the necessary knowledge, skills, values 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 health 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 provided in a wide variety of ambulatory, rural and medically underserved health care settings appropriate for the Family Nurse Practitioner student. There are approximately 600 clinical hours in the program. Graduates of this program are  eligible to take the national certification exam given by either the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) or the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners (AANP).

In addition to the 20 credits of required MSN core courses, the Family Nurse Practitioner requires 25 credit hours of specialty courses.

Graduates of the FNP program will be able to:

1. Evaluate and apply evidence-based research and clinical guidelines to improve the quality of clinical practice across the lifespan.
2. Integrate technology for communication and clinical decision making to support and improve patient outcomes
3. Analyze ethical, cultural, legal and social factors that influence access, equity, quality and cost effectiveness of health care.
4. Utilize advanced leadership principles to generate collaborative change to prove access, quality and cost-effective health care.
5. Demonstrate independent advanced practice nursing by critically analyzing data and integrating knowledge for the provision of health care for patients throughout their lifespan.
6. Contribute to and collaborate in the development of advanced nursing practice through evidence-based practice, leadership, policy and education.