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Family Nurse Practitioner

The BYU College of Nursing offers a unique Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) Program that leads to the Master of Science (M.S.) degree. The program is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) and is also approved by the Utah State Board of Nursing.

APPLICATION DEADLINE: MARCH 1ST

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FNP Student & Faculty News

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Deseret News Highlights the Research of FNP Alum Elizabeth Edwards

BYU College of Nursing faculty and Alumni reviewed the active ingredients that tackle a cold’s symptoms and offer guidance
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Utah Nurse Practitioners Inc. Honor Outstanding BYU FNP Students

By Kira Hoggan
November 27, 2023 10:06 AM
Two BYU FNP students received awards and scholarships.
1 Min Read
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Assessing Brick Workers' Respiratory Health in Nepal

By Ben Christensen
December 19, 2023 10:37 AM
FNP Faculty member Dr. Neil Peterson led research efforts in Nepal alongside nursing students.
1 Min Read
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Why Choose the FNP Program

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Program Overview
Criteria
Resources
Learning Outcomes
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Complete and Submit Application Before the Deadline: March 1st

Minimum criteria that must be met to be considered for acceptance into the graduate program include:

1. Accepted by the Graduate School of the University.

2. Completion of a baccalaureate degree in nursing from a school with national nursing professional accreditation (e.g. CCNE, ACEN, CNEA) AND regional accreditation (e.g. Middle States Commission on Higher Education, Higher Learning Commission).

3. Current R.N. licensure in Utah in good standing.

4. Completion of a basic undergraduate statistics course.

5. Completion of a college level pathophysiology course.

6. A minimum GPA of 3.0 or better. The GPA will be calculated using the cumulative GPA the applicant’s undergraduate program.

7. Three letters of recommendation from employers and former teachers. (Preference is given to current employers).

8. Statement of applicant’s purposes and goals for graduate education.

9. A personal interview.

10. A minimum of 1-year full time (or 2 years part time) RN experience.

Acceptance into the graduate Master’s Family Nurse Practitioner Program is highly competitive and with a limited number of openings each year. Approximately 15 students are admitted each year. All students who meet the minimum requirements will be considered but due to limited enrollment acceptance is not guaranteed.

Applicants are evaluated on a variety of criteria using a point system that measures the level of performance on criteria such as GPA, letters of recommendation, preparation for undertaking graduate studies, and an interview. The admissions committee will use their professional judgment in selecting the candidates to be accepted into the Family Nurse Practitioner Program.

FACILITIES

· Mary Jane Rawlinson Geertsen Nursing Learning Center: Fully equipped learning resource center with audiovisual and computer learning aids

· State-of-the-art clinical simulation laboratory

· Student study rooms

CLINICAL

Our faculty assist to our graduate students in finding clinical sites to complete 500+ clinical hours. Clinical practice opportunities exist in a variety of urban and rural hospital, school, home, and community settings along the Wasatch Front.

FACULTY

· 40 full-time faculty

· 31 faculty with Graduate Faculty status

The purpose of Brigham Young University College of Nursing is to develop professional nurses who promote health, care for the suffering, engage in the scholarship of the discipline, invite the Spirit into health and healing, and lead with faith and integrity. Students learn the science and advanced practice of nursing within the context of the teachings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The College seeks to meet the aims of a BYU Education "to be (1) spiritually strengthening, (2) intellectually enlarging, (3) character building leading to (4) life-long learning and service". Graduates of the program are expected to achieve stated learning outcomes.

CURRICULAR SCRUCTURE

The College of Nursing offers a Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) Program leading to a Master of Science degree. Graduates are prepared to provide evidence-based nursing care to diverse individuals, families, and groups in managing health and illness across the continuum of care.

The graduate program builds on the cognates of the baccalaureate degree and assumes that students bring from their undergraduate programs the appropriate skills in written and verbal communication., mathematics, critical thinking, basic patient assessment, and problem solving. Entrance into the graduate program also assumes that students, having graduated from baccalaureate nursing programs, have had exposure to a basic level of nursing practices, understand the health care system, cultural, social, and political perspectives that impact health benefits and healthcare and an awareness of legal and ethical concerns in nursing practice. For students to be prepared to address complex statistical issues in evidence-based practice and to understand complex pathophysiological conditions, students must also have passed courses in fundamental statistics and pathophysiology.

The graduate curriculum is divided into four sections: The Graduate Nursing Core, The Advanced Practice Core, The Population Focus Core, and Capstone Experiences.

The Graduate Nursing Core is designed to equip students with skills necessary to function as advanced practice nurses who understand how to translate the best evidence into clinical decision making and clinical practice. Students learn about advanced practice ethics, professionalism, leadership, finance, biostatistics, epidemiology, and organizational systems. The Graduate Nursing Core also provides students with the background necessary to influence healthcare planning and healthcare policy. In addition, these courses prepare students in the use of informatics and healthcare technologies, and quality improvement and safety strategies.

REQUIRED COURSES

The Graduate Nursing Core includes 9-10 credit hours the following courses:

· NURS 607: Informatics and Healthcare Technologies

· NURS 609: Quality Improvement, Safety, and Evidence-based Practice

· NURS 611: Policy, Leadership, and Organizational Systems

· NURS 612: Ethics and Professionalism

· NURS 613: Healthcare and Finance

· NURS 614: Biostatistics and Epidemiology

· NURS 590R: Career Strategies (Elective)

The Advanced Practice Core provides students with the foundational knowledge and skills for advanced nursing practice. These areas include advanced pharmacology, advanced pathophysiology/genetics/genomics, and advanced physical assessment.

The Advanced Practice Core courses include 10-11 credit hours and the following courses:

· NURS 555: Pharmacology in Advanced Practice

· NUR 619: Advanced Pathophysiology and Genetics/Genomics

· NURS 620: Advanced Physical Assessment Lab

· NURS 621: Advance Physical Assessment

· NURS 590R: Point of Care Ultrasound (Elective)

The Population Focus Core equips students with the knowledge and skills for advanced nursing practices as a Family Nurse Practitioner. The Population Focus Core progresses from novice to intermediate to advanced levels. Students learn about simple and complex patient conditions and common, chronic, and acute disorders. Pediatrics and gerontological content are housed in Nursing 633 and Nursing 634. During the clinical courses, students and faculty can track conditions of patients followed by students in clinical settings to have a clear understanding of changes needed in clinical assignments to maximize the breadth of learning necessary to practice as an FNP. As students move through the curriculum, they are better prepared to assume interprofessional collaborative and independent roles in healthcare to influence healthcare planning and to act as advocates for appropriate change in healthcare.

The Population Focus Core includes 27 credit hours and the following courses:

· NURS 624: Clinical Practicum #1

· NURS 626: Clinical Practicum #2

· NURS 627: Procedures and Diagnostics for the Advanced Practice Nurse

· NURS 633: Family Nurse Practitioner #1

· NURS 634: Family Nurse Practitioner #2

Capstone Experiences: The project links the concepts and principles learned in the Graduate Nursing Core and Advanced Practice Core with the clinical practice experience and issues seen in the Family Nurse Practitioner Population Focus Core. The project provides students with experience identifying a gap in clinical knowledge and using best practice to implement a quality improvement plan that is publishable in quality. In addition, students participate in a clinical internship which provides a focused and in-depth experience in settings approximating actual FNP practice.

The Capstone Experiences include 11 credit hours and the following courses:

· NURS 616: Project #1 Beginning the Process

· NURS 617: Project #2 Implementation, Data Collection, and Evaluation

· NURS 618: Project #3 Writing, Defense, and Dissemination

· NURS 635R: Family Nurse Practitioner Internship

· NURS 698R: Project

The FNP program is sequenced so that students are grounded in fundamental knowledge and skills necessary for a family nurse practitioner which include the graduate core and advanced practice core. A final clinical internship provides a focused and in-depth experience in settings approximating actual FNP practice.

During the clinical courses, students and faculty can track conditions of patients followed by students in clinical settings to have a clear understanding of changes needed in clinical assignments to maximize the breadth of learning necessary to practice as an FNP. As students move through the curriculum, they are better prepared to assume interprofessional collaborative and independent roles in health care to influence health care planning and to act as advocates for appropriate change in health care.

Co-curricular activities that support program goals and provide opportunities for graduate student engagement are appointments as members of College Councils, membership in professional organizations, scholarly activity, and presentations at professional conferences.

  • · Integrates scientific findings from nursing, biopsychosocial fields, genetics, public health, quality improvement, and organizational sciences for continual improvement of patient care across diverse settings.

    · Courses that Contribute: NURS 555 NURS 600 NURS 601 NURS 603 NURS 605 NURS 606 NURS 608 NURS 609 NURS 619 NURS 622 NURS 624 NURS 625 NURS 626 NURS 628 NURS 632 NURS 635R NURS 699R

    · Linked to BYU Aims: Quantitative reasoning, Human knowledge, Competence

  • · Utilizes organizational and systems leadership to promote high quality and safe patient care

    · Courses that Contribute: NURS 601 NURS 605 NURS 606 NURS 608 NURS 621 NURS 624 NURS 626 NURS 628 NURS 632 NURS 635R

    · Linked to BYU Aims: Think soundly, Communicate effectively, Human knowledge, Competence

  • · Applies methods, tools, performance measures and standards related to quality improvement and safety within organizations.

    · Courses that Contribute: NURS 600 NURS 605 NURS 607 NURS 608 NURS 609 NURS 624 NURS 626 NURS 628 NURS 632 NURS 635R

    · Linked to BYU Aims: Think soundly, Communicate effectively, Competence, Character

  • · Participates as a change agent in translating and integrating scholarship and evidence into practice settings to optimize quality patient outcomes.

    · Courses that Contribute: NURS 555 NURS 600 NURS 601 NURS 603 NURS 606 NURS 609 NURS 619 NURS 622 NURS 623 NURS 624 NURS 625 NURS 626 NURS 628 NURS 630 NURS 631 NURS 632 NURS 635R NURS 699R

    · Linked to BYU Aims: Think soundly, Communicate effectively, Quantitative reasoning, Competence

  • · Utilizes patient-centered and communication technologies to integrate, coordinate, deliver, and enhance health care.

    · Courses that Contribute: NURS 607 NURS 624 NURS 626 NURS 628 NURS 632 NURS 635R

    · Linked to BYU Aims: Think soundly, Communicate effectively, Quantitative reasoning, Competence

  • · Intervene at the system level through the policy development process and employing advocacy strategies to influence health and health care.

    · Courses that Contribute: NURS 606 NURS 607 NURS 608 NURS 624 NURS 635R

    · Linked to BYU Aims: Think soundly, Communicate effectively, Human knowledge, Competence

  • · Participates, consults, communicates and collaborates as a member and leader of interprofessional teams to manage and coordinate care.

    · Courses that Contribute: NURS 601 NURS 605 NURS 606 NURS 608 NURS 621 NURS 624 NURS 626 NURS 628 NURS 632 NURS 635R

    · Linked to BYU Aims: Think soundly, Communicate effectively, Human knowledge, Competence

  • · Applies and integrates broad organizational, client-centered, culturally appropriate concepts in planning, delivery, managing, and evaluating evidence-based clinical prevention and population care and services to individuals, families and aggregates/identified populations.

    · Courses that Contribute: NURS 555 NURS 600 NURS 601 NURS 607 NURS 608 NURS 609 NURS 619 NURS 621 NURS 622 NURS 624 NURS 625 NURS 626 NURS 628 NURS 630 NURS 632 NURS 635R

    · Linked to BYU Aims: Think soundly, Human knowledge, Lifelong learning, Lifelong service

  • · Provides competent evidence-based advance-practice nursing care as a family nurse practitioner to diverse individuals, families, and groups and manages health and illness across the continuum of care and across the lifespan.

    · Courses that Contribute: NURS 555 NURS 600 NURS 601 NURS 603 NURS 605 NURS 606 NURS 607 NURS 619 NURS 621 NURS 622 NURS 624 NURS 625 NURS 626 NURS 628 NURS 630 NURS 632 NURS 635R

    · Linked to BYU Aims: Think soundly, Competence, Character, Lifelong learning

  • · Provides care in a compassionate manner that respects, protects, and enhances spiritual integrity, human dignity, cultural diversity, and demonstrates the Healer's art.

    · Courses that Contribute: NURS 601 NURS 606 NURS 607 NURS 608 NURS 621 NURS 622 NURS 624 NURS 625 NURS 626 NURS 628 NURS 630 NURS 632 NURS 635R

    Linked to BYU Aims: Faith and testimony, Gospel knowledge, Lifelong service

Complete and Submit Application Before the Deadline: March 1st

APPLY NOW