Family Nurse Practitioner Certificate
The Family Nurse Practitioner Certificate prepares students to provide primary health care to clients and families across the lifespan.
Through the 16-credit-hour Family Nurse Practitioner Certificate program, Family Nurse Practitioners learn to provide comprehensive health promotion services to ambulatory clients; evaluate presenting problems at the client's initial contact with the primary care system; and continue care to clients with acute and chronic illnesses.
Clinical practice sites are generally located in the Kansas City metropolitan area, but may extend across the state of Kansas and other communities where students are located. A variety of practice settings are utilized: primary care or internal medicine clinics; occupational health clinics; home-based care; rural health clinics; and other child, adolescent, adult, and geriatric sites.
Required didactic courses are offered online. Practicum courses NRSG 916, NRSG 917, and NRSG 918 require visits to the KU Medical Center campus three times each semester for Clinical Intensive Workshops and Standardized Patient exams.
The program requires completion of an advanced practice registered nurse (APRN) graduate educational program from a nationally accredited school of nursing. Three separate, comprehensive graduate-level courses in advanced pathophysiology, advanced assessment, and advanced pharmacology are required.
The annual application deadline is June 1 for the FALL semester.
Sample Plan of Study
For learners beginning in Fall 2024
Year 1
Fall 2024
NRSG 914, Primary Care I: Family Health (3 credit hours)
NRSG 916, Primary Care Practicum I: Family NP (4 credit hours)
Total: 7 credit hours
Spring 2024
NRSG 915, Primary Care II: Family Health (3 credit hours)
NRSG 917, Primary Care Practicum II: Family NP (4 credit hours)
Total: 7 credit hours
Summer 2025
NRSG 918, Primary Care Practicum III: Family NP (2 credit hours)
NRSG 987, Primary Care Across the Lifespan IV (new course offered in 2025) (2 credit hours)
Total: 4 credit hours
Total: 18 credit hours, 640 practicum hours
Objectives
The objectives of the post-graduate nurse practitioner certificate are:
- Integrate science-based theories with clinical expertise and organizational management to provide leadership in health care systems and in development of health care policy.
- Synthesize, interpret, and apply knowledge from nursing practice, research, and theory to promote and sustain evidence-based nurse practitioner practice.
- Demonstrate professional values in nurse practitioner roles.
- Communicate and collaborate with colleagues in nursing and other disciplines to meet the health needs of client systems in varied health care delivery systems.
- Use information and technology to contribute to evaluation of outcomes of care, care systems, and quality improvement.
Admissions
Application for the Health Systems Leadership Certificate is an online process. Detailed instructions on how to apply are posted on the School of Nursing website.
Nursing Licensure
This program prepares nurses who have completed an advanced practice registered nurse (APRN) graduate education program from a nationally accredited school of nursing for an additional advanced practice specialty certification. APRN eligibility differs across states and may require a specialty certification. Specialty certifications are acquired through national exams that do not vary by state. For information on individual state's requirements, visit the National Councils of State Boards of Nursing website.
As of July 1, 2020, the U.S. Department of Education implemented Regulation 34 CFR 668.43 (a) (5) (v) that requires professional nursing programs to provide information on how their curriculum meets education requirements for professional licensing in each state. You may review KU School of Nursing's information on licensure by state.
Funded Nurse Training Programs
Qualified applicants may be eligible for federal funds up to $25,000 per year to apply towards the cost of this degree through Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)-funded opportunities.