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Nursing student working in McCord

Nursing: Concentration Family Nurse Practitioner

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Why Study the Family Nurse Practitioner

The Graduate Nursing Program at APSU prepares graduates to make significant contributions to the overall improvement of health and essential professional practice standards in a variety of settings. 

The Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) concentration prepares nurses to deliver quality health care and improve health outcomes in the outpatient primary care setting. Graduates can assess, diagnose, prescribe medications and evaluate care for patients throughout the lifespan. Graduates from APSU’s accredited program are eligible and prepared to sit for the FNP specialty certification exam through the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) or the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners (AANP), and to apply for licensure to practice as an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN).

The 43-hour concentration (with 600 required clinical hours) is designed with the working professional nurse in mind, and is primarily delivered online. There are two required on-campus visits designed to enhance learning, practice hands-on skills, participate in simulation, and for professional networking/socialization. Students can complete the program in as little as 6 semesters.

The APSU Graduate Nursing Program strives to have a personal relationship with its students and to offer an affordable pathway to graduate nursing education

The Graduate Nursing Faculty are expert clinicians and educators whose goal is to make online education positive for all students. The faculty have the experience and credentials to educate students in their advanced nursing roles.

 

Admission Requirements

For information related to admission requirements or to view the courses within each program, please visit the graduate bulletin.

Apply for admission

 

What will I learn

 

Sample Course Plan

Nursing: Family Nurse Practitioner, MSN

 

Professional Licensure Disclosure

Students should be aware that licensure and certification requirements vary from state to state and are subject to change. Licensing agencies or boards also may have requirements in addition to an earned degree. APSU recommends that students who are not Tennessee residents or who plan to seek licensure or certification outside the state of Tennessee contact the appropriate licensing agency or board before they enroll in an academic program designed to lead to licensure or certification and discuss their plans with an advisor.

Please visit the Professional Licensure Disclosure webpage to review specific licensure information for your state and academic program.

Shondell Hickson

APSU nursing professor aids nurses in Guyana with new equipment

Associate Professor Hickson is a Guyanese native with 15 years of nursing experience

Last semester, Dr. Shondell Hickson, APSU associate professor of nursing, decided to help her fellow nurses, so in June, she arrived in Guyana with a shipment of new stethoscopes for the GPHC nurses. But Hickson didn’t act alone. Before she left, she asked her colleagues to consider helping the health care professionals in her home country of Guyana. The entire APSU School of Nursing faculty chipped in at least $50 a person, eventually raising $1,200 for the stethoscopes.

“As a Guyanese native, this project was personal and emotional for me,” Hickson said. “I petitioned the faculty and staff of the School of Nursing at Austin Peay, and collectively we were able to purchase and donate 30 brand new, high quality stethoscopes.”