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Graduate Family Nurse Practitioner program student taking blood pressure readings at a Health Fair at Mercy Learning Center in Bridgeport, CT |
MSN-FNP Program
Why SHU?
The goal of the Family Nurse Practitioner track (FNP and Post Masters Certificate) is to prepare students to successfully pass either the American Nurse’s Association Certification or the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners Certification as a Family Nurse Practitioner.These national certification examinations allow the student to apply for an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse license in the State of Connecticut with full prescribing privileges.An essential component of this curriculum is an emphasis on health promotion, disease prevention and health restoration within a strong community framework.The curriculum promotes student understanding of the benefits, challenges and issues of working with individuals and families from a variety of socio-cultural backgrounds. The FNP program provides essential content and clinical experiences required for practice in family primary care for individuals of all ages. The graduate will be competent in the provision of care for medically underserved populations and provision of care in such settings as ambulatory care, long-term care and other community based settings. Degree candidates will spend 500 clinical hours in a variety of agencies to allow for synthesis of clinical judgment, assessment, and diagnostic reasoning skills. Our flexible curriculum allows for a combination of both learning online and in the traditional classroom setting.
What the degree prepares you for:
Our graduates are well prepared for the evolving role of Family Nurse Practitioner. Upon completion of the didactic and clinical curriculum, graduates are prepared to diagnose and manage the most common acute and chronic health problems encountered in the primary care setting. In the advanced practice role, FNPs demonstrate autonomous and collaborative decision-making (with physicians, nurses, and other members of the health care team), and are directly accountable for clinical judgment. The graduate will assume the responsibilities of prescriptive authority as delineated by the Connecticut Nurse Practice Act for Advanced Practice Registered Nurses. Recent graduates are employed in a wide variety of settings including physician offices, hospitals, clinics, sub-acute settings, public health departments, schools of nursing, etc…
Admission Criteria
- BSN Degree from an accredited college or BA/BS in related field, with a GPA of 3.0
- Provisional admission status is possible for individuals with a GPA of less than 3.0
- Statement of professional goals
- Interview with graduate nursing faculty
- Undergraduate research course recommended
- Statistics course required
- Basic Health Assessment course (30 hours or greater) or Prior Learning Portfolio
- Current Connecticut RN license (or for online students, RN licensure in state of professional practice)
The applicant for admission must submit a completed application, résumé, two letters of recommendation, and send official copies of transcripts of all prior nursing and academic work.
Clinical Sites/Affiliations: Precepted clinical experiences are individually arranged. Students may select clinical sites and preceptors for clinical supervision that are within their own geographic location. The FNP Program has contracts with many local agencies including several large federally qualified health centers where students may secure clinical placement. Clinical preceptors may be nurse practitioners, nurse midwives, physicians, or physician assistants. In the last semester of study students may select a specialty rotation in a clinical area of interest such as cardiology, oncology, neurology, dermatology, emergency medicine, etc…
Program Description & Fact Sheet
Graduate Catalog
Graduate Admissions