Family Nurse Practitioner*
Education
If you are a registered nurse interested in providing primary health care to patients of all ages, the Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) program offers a flexible and rewarding career path for you. First launched as a certificate program in 1974, the VCU School of Nursing FNP concentration prepares you to assess, diagnose, and manage common health problems as well as maximize the health and well-being of individuals and families across the life span. Using comprehensive physical and psychosocial assessments, diagnostic reasoning, advanced practice skills and procedures, and evidence-based treatment strategies, graduates of the VCU School of Nursing FNP concentration are prepared to provide direct care to individuals and families in a variety of primary care settings.
- Post-Baccalaureate Plan of Study
Full-and part-time students begin in the fall. Full-time students can complete all courses in five academic semesters. Foundational courses, taught weekly in Richmond during the first year of enrollment, provide advanced knowledge and skills in health assessment, pathophysiology, pharmacotherapeutics, health promotion, and research. The FNP specialty courses, beginning in the spring semester of the first year of enrollment, meet weekly in Richmond. These courses address the primary care management of health problems as well as health promotion across the life span. Students are prepared to assume an expanded scope of practice that includes prescriptive authority along with advanced assessment, diagnosis, treatment, and collaborative management of primary health care needs within the context of the family system.
Students in the FNP concentration complete 585 hours of clinical experience in primary care settings that focus on child, women’s and adult health and culminates in a family practice setting. Students are directly supervised by qualified providers (NP or MD) who have expertise in providing primary care to families and are committed to student education. School of Nursing faculty strives to provide opportunities for students to work with diverse patient populations, with an emphasis on providing care to underserved populations.
- Post-Master’s Certificate Plan of Study
The post-master’s certificate in the FNP concentration is designed for nurses who have already earned a master’s degree in nursing and wish to become a FNP. This option is 35 credit hours, typically with 12 to 24 credit hours of supervised clinical practice. The post-master’s certificate plan of study is tailored to meet the individual needs of students who plan to apply for certification as an FNP and offers flexibility for those who work full time.
Certification
Students who successfully complete the FNP concentration are eligible to apply for certification as a family nurse practitioner by both national certifying bodies: the American Nurses Credentialing Center and the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners.
Clinical Practice
FNPs practice in a variety of primary care settings and have a distinguished record of achieving positive patient outcomes. FNPs complete health histories and conduct physical examinations, interpret results from laboratory and diagnostic procedures, diagnose and treat many primary care health problems, and prescribe and manage medications and other therapies. They provide health teaching and coaching with an emphasis on building a relationship with the patient, which leads to improved health outcomes.
Demand for Family Nurse Practitioners
Family nurse practitioners are in high demand; almost 50% of NPs across the U.S. are certified as FNPs.1 Our graduates are employed in FNP positions in a variety of both urban and rural primary care settings throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia and across the U.S. As important members of the health care team, they function independently and provide leadership in interdisciplinary collaboration to deliver safe, high quality and evidence-based care focused on maximizing health outcomes across the life span.
1American Academy of Nurse Practitioners. (2011). Nurse practitioner facts. Retrieved from http//www.aanp.org/NR/rdonlyres/B899F71D-C6EE-4EE6-B3EE-466506DFED60/5145/AANPNPFactsLogo72011.pdf
More Information
For additional information about the FNP concentration and questions about the application process, please contact the Office of Enrollment and Student Services (OESS) at VCU_Nurse@vcu.edu. or call 804-828-5171. We look forward to working with you as you consider the educational opportunities at VCU School of Nursing.
The following websites provide additional information about the Family NP specialty:
- American Academy of Nurse Practitioners (AANP)
- American College of Nurse Practitioners (ACNP)
- American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC)
- National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties (NONPF)
*Name changed from Family health pending University approval
