Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP)
Do you want to deliver expert primary care to patients of all ages? FNP may be the specialty for you.
What will you do as a Family Nurse Practitioner?
The Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) provides comprehensive primary health care services to individuals from infancy through adulthood. FNPs are prepared to provide care to individuals with acute illnesses such as bronchitis or headache and chronic illnesses such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and obesity. Preventive health services, patient education, disease management, illness prevention and other kinds of care provide within the context of family and community. And Family Nurse Practitioners are among those who, according to the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), contribute significantly to providing health care to underserved populations residing in both urban and rural settings.
Where Will You Practice? (clinical sites)
In delivering primary care to people of all ages, the FNP has many practice settings from which to choose – both during your Vanderbilt program and upon graduation and certification:
- Ambulatory Care Centers
- Medical Offices
- Nurse-Managed Clinics
- Private Practices
- Health Departments
- Rural Health Clinics
- Work-site Based Clinics
- Migrant Clinics
- Indian Health Services
- Correctional Facilities
How Will Vanderbilt Prepare You for Practice?
At Vanderbilt School of Nursing, your three-semester FNP curriculum emphasizes acquiring knowledge and skills necessary to provide care of patients with acute and chronic illnesses and diseases with a family-oriented approach that emphasizes health promotion and health maintenance. In earning your Master of Science degree to become a Family Nurse Practitioner, your educational experience will include:
- MSN core courses that form the basis of graduate nursing education, which provide a foundation in nursing theory, research, the health care delivery system and the role of the advanced practice nurse.
- The FNP program, which focuses on didactic courses, laboratory and clinical practice experiences. These courses develop competencies in advanced health assessment, illness and disease management, health promotion, pathophysiology and pharmacology.
- Hands-on learning through 700 hours of supervised clinical practice – in clinical settings located in the Middle Tennessee area or in selected sites across the United States.
