Earn the degree you need to enter one of the fastest-growing occupations in the nation with our affordable online Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) - Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) track from Southern New Hampshire University. In the wake of a global pandemic, the healthcare system is faced with the challenge of providing truly equitable care. This is especially true for underserved populations, where quality primary care providers are needed to treat populations with limited healthcare access. Based on professional nursing standards and guidelines, this track is perfect for those looking to answer the call. As an FNP, you'll have the skills you need to step into a role as a primary care provider. You'll also be able to provide care in environments as diverse as family medicine, private practice, community health clinics, and more.
Combining hundreds of hours of clinical practice and an immersion experience, this 51-credit program is built to prepare you for future success. This MSN track promotes advanced practice knowledge across the lifespan and is grounded in evidence-based practice, interprofessional leadership, and global health awareness helping you deliver quality care to diverse patient populations. In this FNP track, you'll develop the skills you need to assess, diagnose, create treatment plans and manage the health of individuals across the lifespan with a variety of health needs. Upon successful completion of the family nurse practitioner track, you'll have met the educational requirements to sit for a family nurse practitioner national certification examination. You'll also learn to employ various clinical technological tools and applications, collaborate with a diverse group of healthcare professionals, and provide primary care services to individuals, families, and populations across the lifespan, consistent with independent practice as an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN).
Learn how to:
- Apply evidence-based practice, informatics, and healthcare technologies to support continuous quality improvement in complex health systems
- Lead and collaborate within interprofessional teams and organizational structures to manage change, improve nursing practice, and coordinate care across populations
- Develop advanced communication and advocacy strategies to improve health outcomes across the four spheres of care
- Advance equitable health policies and regulations that reduce health risk and promote financial stewardship, in alignment with ethical and legal standards
- Integrate person-centered health promotion and disease prevention strategies to address actual and potential problems through the role of change agent and patient advocate
- Integrate an advanced level of scientific knowledge in the role of advanced practice registered nurse to independently assess, diagnose, and manage the health outcomes of individuals, families, and populations across the lifespan in primary care settings
- Collaborate interprofessionally to provide high quality, ethical, and safe care to diverse populations In addition to the online coursework, the FNP track requires 650 clinical practicum hours in a variety of primary care settings.
You'll also participate in a multi-day, in-person immersion experience to demonstrate your skills. The Online MSN - Family Nurse Practitioner track starts with online, innovative coursework, followed by a multi-day immersion experience before 650 practicum hours under the guidance of preceptors to help prepare for success as a practicing FNP.
Like all online master's in nursing tracks at SNHU, this program requires the following 5 core courses:
- Role Development and the Transformation of the MSN Nurse
- Interprofessional Leadership in Healthcare
- Epidemiological and Biostatistical Applications in Healthcare
- Global Health & Diversity
- Evidence-Based Practice & Scholarly Inquiry
Upon completing your core, you'll take the following FNP-specific courses:
- Advanced Clinical Pathophysiology. Build upon existing knowledge of physiology and pathologic aspects of human disease across the lifespan. Advanced clinical pathophysiology, pathobiology, immunology, and genetics will all be analyzed. You'll gain knowledge to foster advanced clinical reasoning and decision-making skills. You'll then examine clinical manifestations of major health problems across the lifespan and explore the management of illness and health restoration.
- Advanced Health Assessment and Clinical Reasoning. Build on previous clinical experience and prior knowledge to master health assessment skills and advanced communication strategies. You'll conduct comprehensive health assessments incorporating environmental, genetic, multicultural, ethnic, and socioeconomic factors. You'll also gain mastery of the advanced history and physical exam, formulate plans to ensure effective patient-centered care, and adapt your communication style to meet the specific needs of diverse individuals and families.
- Advanced Pharmacology for the Prescriber, Immersion. Apply the advanced principles of pharmacology to the nurse practitioner by analyzing drug classifications for the management of acute and chronic disease states across the lifespan. You'll use clinical reasoning to formulate pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic approaches for individuals within a primary care setting. Gain the foundational knowledge for prescribing medications across the lifespan, considering legal, ethical, quality, and regulatory implications. In this course, you'll participate in a required in-person immersion opportunity to demonstrate advanced principles of assessment, diagnostic skills, and pharmacotherapies in a simulated clinical environment. The immersion experience will also prepare you for an advanced practice role with prescriptive authority.
- Primary Care of Adults and Gerontological Patients. Apply evidence-based practice to the primary care of adult and gerontological populations. Concepts from pharmacology, pathophysiology and health assessment will be integrated with advanced practice nursing theory, process, and research to assess, diagnose and manage patient care. You'll gain skills in clinical decision-making and management of adult and gerontological populations, using current clinical practice guidelines to help guide your decision-making process.
- Primary Care of Infants, Children, and Adolescents. Examine the physical, cognitive, psychosocial, growth, and developmental milestones from infancy through adolescence. Emphasis will be placed on the assessment and management of the child within the realm and context of cultural, environmental, and social factors of growth and development. You'll gain knowledge about caring for well and sick children and adolescents. You'll also refer to and utilize current care protocols and guidelines in the primary care of children and adolescents to help guide your decision-making process.
- Primary Care for Women. Apply history and physical examination findings to the primary care of women throughout their lifespan. You'll synthesize professional best practices while providing comprehensive care and diagnosing common gynecologic conditions. You'll gain knowledge of health maintenance, education, and counseling for women throughout all phases of the reproductive cycle, and use current care protocols and guidelines to help guide your decision-making process.
- Primary Care for Mental Health. Explore the mental and psychosocial conditions that are most commonly seen among individuals and families in a primary care setting. You'll evaluate evidence-based practices including cognitive-behavioral, psychopharmacological, collaborative, and nontraditional approaches to manage mental and psychosocial conditions across the lifespan. You'll also use approaches that support holistic collaborative treatment of individuals and families living with mental health conditions.
This course includes 30 hours of psychopharmacology content to help prepare you for the practice of prescribing psychiatric medications, including controlled substances, as well as addiction management principles. Immersion experience: As part of the FNP track, you'll take NUR 600 Advanced Pharmacology for the Prescriber, Immersion. This course requires you to travel to New Hampshire for one in-person immersion experience where you'll participate in simulation activities and perform assessments with standardized patients. This multi-day experience will help prepare you for your clinical practicums and provide pivotal hands-on learning to supplement your educational journey.
Please note that students have five years to complete their FNP track after completing NUR 600. The cost of the Immersion Experience is $2,000 and is separate from course tuition. The fee covers items associated with the immersion, such as facility rentals, on-site faculty, training materials, and standardized patients. Travel including transportation costs, flights, lodging, and meal costs are not included in this fee and are the responsibility of the student to pay for and secure. The Immersion Experience is scheduled in NUR-600 and will be held in New Hampshire. After the Immersion Experience, you'll embark on your practicum experiences, which include 650 clinical practicum hours across five courses in a variety of settings.
