Family Nurse Practitioner

Faculty Coordinator:

Georgia Nygaard, MSN, RN
612-626-2881 or nygaa008@umn.edu

Specialty Area Information:

The Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) area of study provides a foundation in nursing theory associated with primary care of individuals of all ages within traditional and non-traditional families.

Students take courses in nursing theory, moral/ethical issues, research, family theory, physical assessment, and primary care in the management of children, adults, the pregnant female, the elderly and families. Clinical practice combines theory and research in primary care health service settings.

The FNP program starts fall term and on average admits 10-15 students. The FNP clinical courses must be taken in sequence as a full-time student. The non-clinical courses may be taken as a part-time student. Efforts are made to provide students with practica in their geographical areas. Applicants are required to have at least one year of clinical experience, preferred within the population in the anticipated area of practice. Application deadline is November 1.

To be eligible for FNP certification, students must complete approximately 700 hours of clinical experience. At the completion of the program, students are eligible to take the Family Nurse Practitioner certification examination offered by the American Nurses Credentialing Center.

Admissions

Applications are reviewed once a year, and the deadline is November 1.

Those students who are not selected may be placed on a waiting list. If placed on a waiting list, it does not ensure entrance into the specialty area for the following year. If you are not selected from the wait list, you must reapply the following year for consideration.

Students already enrolled in the School of Nursing in a non-FNP area of study may apply for the FNP area of study by submitting a new School of Nursing application and a Graduate School Change of Status form. The deadline is November 1.

Clinical Experiences

Clinical experiences are arranged, if possible, in the students' geographic "home" regions. This may not always be possible due to lack of preceptors or clinical sites which provide the best possible learning experiences. There are also situations where a clinical site may only be able to accommodate students for half of the needed clinical hours, and in those cases, students may have clinical experiences at two different clinical sites during the same semester. Students need to be flexible in the times they are available for clinical experiences. There are clinical experiences in four practica courses.

Required Coursework

Course Descriptions

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For more information, please contact the Office of Student Services.