Post-Master of Science in Nursing: Family Nurse Practitioner Certificate
Overview
Take your Nursing Career to the Next Level with an FNP Certificate
Grand Canyon University's (GCU) Post-Master of Science in Nursing: Family Nurse Practitioner Certificate is part of the College of Nursing and Health Care Professions and is designed for MSN-prepared, experienced registered nurses who wish to work as advanced practice primary care providers for individuals across the lifespan.
This post-MSN certificate program provides you with the skills necessary to complete and interpret head-to-toe assessments as well as focused assessments for chief complaints in diverse populations and across age groups.
Select states may have additional requirements to meet their standards; reference your enrollment agreement or contact GCU for more information. Our family nurse practitioner certificate prepares you to sit for the Family Nurse Practitioner board certification exam through the AACC or AANP.
Degree Outcomes
FNP Certificate Designed with You in Mind
Throughout the family nurse practitioner certificate program, designed for MSN graduates, you take part in peer discussions and practice activities, along with a 650-hour practicum experience that allows you to collaborate with faculty members to select a community-based primary or family health-focused clinical site.
What You Will Learn
FNP Certificate for Diverse Populations and Age Groups
Course topics include:
- Advanced physiology and pathophysiology
- Advanced pharmacology
- Diverse applications of advanced practice concepts
- Advanced health assessment and diagnostic reasoning
- Advanced practice management of adult healthcare problems, pediatric and adolescent health care problems, women's healthcare issues and geriatric issues
Career Outcomes
Propel your Nursing Career with an FNP Certificate
With a post-MSN family nurse practitioner certificate, you may choose to work in acute or chronic care settings, diagnosing and treating illness either as part of a healthcare team or, in some cases, independently. As a family nurse practitioner, you work in primary care with pediatric through geriatric populations. Family nurse practitioners diagnose and treat patients across the lifespan, including prescribing medication and performing diagnostic tests, including lab work.
Course List
Program Core Courses
Course Description
This course focuses on advanced physiology and pathophysiology principles. This course is used to guide the advanced nursing practice student in understanding normal function and interpreting changes in normal function that result in symptoms and diagnostic markers indicative of illness. Emphasis is placed on the following systems: cellular environment and inflammatory changes; fluids, electrolytes and acid-base balance; genetics, genetic diseases, and the role of the environment; stress, disease, and the development of neoplasms; hematology and alterations in immunity. In addition, the physiology and pathophysiology of the endocrine, pulmonary, renal, digestive and integumentary, cardiovascular and lymphatic, musculoskeletal, reproductive, and neurological systems, including mood disorders, are addressed. Prerequisite: Admission to the graduate nursing program or college approval. NUR-502, NUR-504, NUR-508.
Course Description
This course focuses on the basic concepts and principles of pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics and their practical implication in clinical practice. This course also places an emphasis on the strong influence of physiological variables (age, ethnicity, or pregnancy) and pathological conditions (hepatic or renal insufficiency, cardiac dysfunction) on drugs' pharmacological response. An in-depth understanding of the relationship between patient's physiological/pathological variables and pharmacodynamics/pharmacokinetics can provide additional insight for practitioners in predicting potential drug interactions, and thus will provide additional guidance in prescribing strategies. This course also includes clinical pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics; principles of pediatric and geriatric pharmacotherapy; clinical toxicology; and pathology and pharmacotherapy of cardiovascular, psychiatric, endocrine, respiratory, gastrointestinal, bone and joint, infectious, reproductive, and dermatological disorders. Prerequisite: NUR-631.
Course Description
This course presents practice concepts that blend the function of the clinical nurse specialist with the family nurse practitioner (FNP) role for a futuristic vision for integration of these roles to include assessing and addressing the needs of client populations and nursing personnel across the continuum of care. Management concepts include case management, teaching of professionals, program planning, evaluation, peer review, broad-based consultation, marketing, business management, resource management, cost-effective use of formularies, and payment for services, including processing insurance claims.
Course Description
This course builds upon the student's undergraduate and clinical assessment skills, offering advanced health assessment content to provide the foundation for the advanced practice nursing role. This course addresses the completion and interpretation of a head-to-toe assessment in addition to focused assessments for chief complaints that include physical, psychosocial, spiritual, risk, and functional assessments in diverse populations and across age groups. Students learn a systematic method of diagnostic reasoning and clinical decision making to establish differential diagnoses. Prerequisites: NUR-631, and either NUR-632 or NUR-633.
Course Description
This course focuses on the three levels of prevention and comprehensive primary care management of adult health care problems of individuals and their families within a culturally and spiritually diverse environment. Advanced health assessment, advanced pharmacology, spirituality, and advanced physiology and pathophysiology principles are integrated with advanced nursing theory. Evidence-based research is utilized to develop comprehensive, cost-effective, least invasive, quality health care for adult health care problems. Care will include health promotion counseling, screening, and client education to optimize the client's health. Emphasis is placed on critical thinking and diagnostic reasoning to guide clinical decision making. Management of client illness includes ordering diagnostic tests, prescribing pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic integrative healing therapies, collaborating with other health professionals and community agencies, and pursuing appropriate follow-up. Prerequisites: NUR-631, NUR-634 and either NUR-632 or NUR-633. Co-requisite: NUR-675C.
Course Description
The student will collaborate with faculty members to select a community-based, adult or primary care clinical site for completion of 150 clinical hours. The clinical component for NUR-675 allows the student an opportunity to provide comprehensive health care to diverse clients across the lifespan. Clinical hours are completed in person with a qualified preceptor (NP, DO, MD, DNM) and serve as the opportunity to demonstrate clinical skills, learn clinical decision-making skills, and learn the role of the advanced practice nurse in collaboration with experienced preceptors who serve as mentors. The clinical component of each course is accomplished during the same semester as the corresponding didactic course and is graded as Pass/Fail. Failure of a clinical course constitutes failure of the corresponding didactic course. Prerequisites: NUR-631, NUR-634 and either NUR-632 or NUR-633. Co-requisite: NUR-675.
Course Description
This course focuses on the three levels of prevention and comprehensive primary care management of pediatric and adolescent health care problems of individuals and their families within a culturally and spiritually diverse environment. Advanced health assessment, advanced pharmacology, and advanced physiology and pathophysiology principles are integrated with spirituality concepts and advanced nursing theory. Evidence-based research is utilized to develop comprehensive, cost-effective, least invasive, quality health care for pediatric and adolescent health care problems. Care includes health promotion counseling, client education, and appropriate screening to optimize the client’s health. Emphasis is placed on critical thinking and diagnostic reasoning to guide clinical decision making. Management of client illness includes ordering diagnostic tests, prescribing pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic integrative healing therapies, collaborating with other health professionals and community agencies, and pursuing appropriate follow-up. Prerequisite: NUR-675. Co-requisite: NUR-668C.
Course Description
Students collaborate with faculty members to select a community-based pediatric or adolescent clinical site for completion of 150 clinical hours. The clinical component for NUR-668 allows the student an opportunity to provide comprehensive health care to diverse clients across the lifespan. Clinical hours are completed in person with a qualified preceptor (NP, DO, MD, DNM) and serve as the opportunity to demonstrate clinical skills, learn clinical decision-making skills, and learn the role of the advanced practice nurse in collaboration with experienced preceptors who serve as mentors. The clinical component of each course is accomplished during the same semester as the corresponding didactic course and is graded as Pass/Fail. Failure of a clinical course constitutes failure of the corresponding didactic course. Co-requisite: NUR-668.
Course Description
This course focuses on the three levels of prevention and comprehensive primary care management of women’s health care issues (including care of the pregnant patient) for individuals and their families within a culturally and spiritually diverse environment, contextually within the health care delivery system. Advanced health assessment, advanced pharmacology, spirituality, and advanced physiology and pathophysiology principles are integrated with advanced nursing theory. Evidence-based research is utilized to develop comprehensive, cost-effective, least invasive, quality health care for women. Care includes health promotion counseling, screening, and client education to optimize the client’s health. Emphasis is placed on critical thinking and diagnostic reasoning to guide clinical decision making. Management of client illness includes ordering diagnostic tests, prescribing pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic integrative healing therapies, collaborating with other health professionals and community agencies, and pursuing appropriate follow-up. Prerequisite: NUR-675. Co-requisite: NUR-667C.
Course Description
Students collaborate with faculty members to select a community-based, women’s health-focused, clinical site for completion of 75 clinical hours. The clinical component for NUR-667 allows the student an opportunity to provide comprehensive health care to diverse clients across the lifespan. Clinical hours are completed in person with a qualified preceptor (NP, DO, MD, DNM) and serve as the opportunity to demonstrate clinical skills, learn clinical decision-making skills, and learn the role of the advanced practice nurse in collaboration with experienced preceptors who serve as mentors. The clinical component of each course is accomplished during the same semester as the corresponding didactic course and is graded as Pass/Fail. Failure of a clinical course constitutes failure of the corresponding didactic course. Co-Requisite: NUR-667.
Course Description
This course focuses on the three levels of prevention and comprehensive primary care management of geriatric health care problems of individuals and their families within a culturally and spiritually diverse environment. Advanced health assessment, health promotion and disease prevention counseling, advanced pharmacology, and advanced physiology and pathophysiology principles are integrated with spirituality concepts and advanced nursing theory. Evidence-based research is utilized to develop comprehensive, cost-effective, least invasive, quality health care for geriatric clients. Care includes health promotion and disease prevention counseling, client education, and appropriate screening to optimize the client's health. Emphasis is placed on critical thinking and diagnostic reasoning to guide clinical decision making. Management of client illness includes ordering diagnostic tests, prescribing pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic integrative healing therapies, collaborating with other health professionals and community agencies, and pursuing appropriate follow-up. Prerequisite: NUR-675. Co-requisite: NUR-669C.
Course Description
Students collaborate with faculty members to select a community-based, geriatric health-focused, clinical site for completion of 75 clinical hours. The clinical component for NUR-669 allows the student an opportunity to provide comprehensive health care to diverse clients in late age. Clinical hours are completed in collaboration with a qualified preceptor (NP, DO, MD, DNM) and serve as the opportunity to demonstrate clinical skills, institute health promotion and disease prevention interventions, learn clinical decision-making skills, and learn the role of the advanced practice nurse in collaboration with experienced preceptors who serve as mentors. Clinical hours: 75. Prerequisite: NUR-675. Co-requisite: NUR-669.
Course Description
In this culminating practicum experience, students collaborate with faculty members to select a community-based primary or family health-focused clinical site for completion of 200 clinical hours. This clinical practice affords students the opportunity to refine their clinical-decision management of primary health problems for diverse clients across the life span. Students use the SOAP method to analyze case studies in accordance with the guidelines of evidence-based practice and current standards of care. Clinical hours: 200.
Faculty Bios
Program Locations
Online
Evening
* The Department of Education defines how an institution must calculate a program's On-Time Completion rate for federal disclosure purposes. The On-Time Completion rate is based on a program’s published required number of months to complete all degree requirements as provided in the institution’s catalog. Completion statistics are updated every January and are based on the cohort of students who graduated between 7/1 – 6/30 of the preceding year. The On-Time Completion rate is determined by the number of students in the cohort who completed the program within the published program length divided by the number of students in the cohort who graduated.
Online and Evening program disclosures* Please refer to the Academic Catalog for more information. Program subject to change.