Program Overview
The Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) program prepares registered nurses with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) or Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) to function as Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioners in the FNP role.
Equipped for the Future
The FNP program equips you with the skills to:
- Function as a licensed and nationally certified nurse practitioner capable of providing the full spectrum of primary care services for individuals and families across the lifespan.
- Critically analyze the best available evidence and theoretical knowledge from the sciences and humanities to improve the delivery of quality, patient-centered and primary care for diverse populations.
- Act both independently and in partnership with other health care professionals, and are focused on health promotion and disease prevention.
- Apply knowledge of complex systems to an inter-professional leadership role in the development, implementation, and evaluation of primary care for diverse populations.
- Prepares you to assume an inter-professional leadership role to improve the delivery of evidence-based primary care services for diverse populations aligned with the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) DNP Essentials (AACN, 2006).
After successful completion of the FNP and DNP curriculum and completion of a DNP project, the FNP program culminates in a Doctor of Nursing Practice degree.
Plans of Study
The FNP program offers two options for completion, based on your level of degree upon entry.
Hybrid Courses
Engage in a curriculum thoughtfully balanced between online and classroom learning. Courses are offered year round during fall, spring, and summer semesters. Practicum placements, when needed, are facilitated by the program.
Teaching Weekend Schedule
Fridays and Saturdays during the hours of 8:00 am to 9:00 pm. Lunch hour is observed from 12:00 - 1:00 pm.
NP courses
N706 Advanced Pathophysiology and N707 Applied Drug Therapy will meet on Fridays synchronously online during teaching weekends.
N7220 Advanced Physical Assessment Practica will meet in person on teaching weekends.
Family Nurse Practitioner Clinical Courses
N7230/N7240, N7250/N7260, N7270/N7280, and N7290 will meet in person on teaching weekends.
Clinical/Practicum Hours
FNP students must complete 1,000 supervised clinical practice hours.
Upon completion of the program, you will have completed the required coursework and clinical hours to meet the AACN Essentials of Doctoral Education for Advanced Nursing Practice.
Student clinical placements are facilitated by the FNP program.
Student Projects & Publications
All Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) students must implement an evidence-based quality improvement project designed to improve practice in their area of concentration. The project is guided by their faculty DNP Committee Chairperson and Committee and demonstrates their ability to apply the principles of evidence-based practice, through problem identification, project development and proposal, and the implementation and evaluation of practice, quality/process or systems improvements.
State Authorization
Please check our State Authorization Status List for the states and territories from which we can enroll students in specific online degree programs.
Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP-BSN, FNP-MSN, FNP Cert)
The USF Family Nurse Practitioner DNP program is intended to lead to national Family Nurse Practitioner Board Certification by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) and the American Association of Nurse Practitioners. The USF Family Nurse Practitioner DNP program is intended to lead to a state-issued Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN) license or state-issued Nurse Practitioner (NP) license or national population specific NP certification. If you have questions about pursuing a state-issued APRN or NP license upon completion of the program, please reach out to your program administrator.