MSN: Family/Individual Across the Lifespan Nurse Practitioner
Major: Nurse Practitioner, Family/Individual Across the Lifespan
Degree Awarded: Master of Science in Nursing (MSN)
Calendar Type: Quarter
Minimum Required Credits: 56.0 quarter credits; 720 clinical hours
Co-op Option: None
Classification of Instructional (CIP) code: 51.3801
Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code: 29-1171
About the Program
The Family/Individual Across the Lifespan Nurse Practitioner (FNP) online program focuses on the application of advanced-practice nursing knowledge—including physical, psychosocial and environmental assessment skills—to manage common health and illness problems of clients of all ages and their families. It emphasizes health promotion and disease prevention. Family nurse practitioners primarily practice in ambulatory care settings, such as primary care clinics, physician offices, HMOs, outpatient clinics, schools, nursing centers, emergency departments, long-term care facilities, industry, the armed services, public health departments, correctional institutions and home health agencies. Graduates of the program are eligible to sit for the ANCC’s Family Nurse Practitioner Examination and/or the AANP’s Family Nurse Practitioner Examination.
The nurse practitioner faculty is committed to quality and excellence in the nurse practitioner (NP) programs. Students meet on campus for mandatory On-Campus Intensive (OCI) learning experiences, simulation and evaluation. Students will attend an in-person on-campus intensive in NURS 534 for four days during week one of the summer quarter. Dates are subject to change. During the OCIs, students engage in simulated clinical learning experiences conducted in the College of Nursing and Health Professions' state-of-the-art, multidisciplinary patient simulation lab. These visits provide direct guidance and mentoring from faculty and the opportunity to collaborate with peers. Mandatory, on-campus visits are essential to students transitioning into the NP role.
The program is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education.
Additional Information
For more information about this program, contact:
Graduate Nursing Division
CNHPGraduateDivision@drexel.edu
Additional information is available on Drexel's College of Nursing and Health Professions MSN in Family/Individual Across the Lifespan Nurse Practitioner webpage and on the Drexel University Online MSN in Family/Individual Across the Lifespan Nurse Practitioner webpage.
Degree Requirements
| Core Courses | ||
| NURS 500 [WI] | Confronting Issues in Contemporary Health Care Environments | 3.0 |
| NURS 502 | Advanced Ethical Decision Making in Health Care | 3.0 |
| NURS 544 | Quality and Safety in Healthcare | 3.0 |
| RSCH 503 | Research Methods and Biostatistics | 3.0 |
| RSCH 504 | Evaluation and Translation of Health Research | 3.0 |
| Support Courses | ||
| NUPR 520 | Nurse Practitioner Clinical Orientation Seminar | 0.0 |
| NURS 548 | Advanced Pathophysiology | 3.0 |
| NURS 549 | Advanced Pharmacology | 3.0 |
| NURS 550 | Advanced Health Assessment & Diagnostic Reasoning | 4.0 |
| NURS 556 | Pharmacology for Family Nurse Practitioners | 3.0 |
| NURS 664 | Professional Issues for Nurse Practitioners | 1.0 |
| Clinical Courses | ||
| NURS 534 | FNP I: Primary Care of the Emerging Family | 5.0 |
| NURS 535 | FNP II: Primary and Episodic Care of Infants, Children and Adolescents | 5.0 |
| NURS 536 | FNP III: Primary Care of Adults and Older Adults Across the Adult Age Spectrum I | 5.0 |
| NURS 537 | FNP IV: Primary Care of Adults and Older Adults Across the Adult Age Spectrum II | 5.0 |
| NURS 538 | FNP V: Integrative Practicum in Family Practice Across the Lifespan | 4.0 |
| Elective * | 3.0 | |
| Total Credits | 56.0 | |
- *
Nursing Electives can be any course with the prefix Nursing (NURS, NUPR), Interprofessional Studies (IPS), or Complementary and Integrative Health (CIT), with course number ranging from 500-699. Other graduate courses outside of these designations will need to be approved by the department chairperson.
Writing-Intensive Course Requirement
A [WI], Writing Intensive, next to a graduate course in this catalog indicates that the graduate course is a writing intensive course. The graduate course is a required course in your curriculum.
Sample Plan of Study
| First Year | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall | Credits | Winter | Credits | Spring | Credits | Summer | Credits |
| NURS 500 | 3.0 | NURS 502 | 3.0 | NURS 549 | 3.0 | Elective | 3.0 |
| NURS 544 | 3.0 | RSCH 503 | 3.0 | RSCH 504 | 3.0 | NURS 548 | 3.0 |
| 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | ||||
| Second Year | |||||||
| Fall | Credits | Winter | Credits | Spring | Credits | Summer | Credits |
| NUPR 520 | 0.0 | NURS 556* | 3.0 | NURS 550 | 4.0 | NURS 534 | 5.0 |
| NURS 664 | 1.0 | ||||||
| 0 | 3 | 5 | 5 | ||||
| Third Year | |||||||
| Fall | Credits | Winter | Credits | Spring | Credits | Summer | Credits |
| NURS 535 | 5.0 | NURS 536 | 5.0 | NURS 537 | 5.0 | NURS 538* | 4.0 |
| 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | ||||
| Total Credits 56 | |||||||
* Note: This term is less than the 4.5-credit minimum required (considered half-time status) of graduate programs to be considered financial aid eligible. As a result, aid will not be disbursed to students this term.
Note: Some terms are less than the 4.5-credit minimum required (considered half-time status) of graduate programs to be considered financial aid eligible. As a result, aid will not be disbursed to students these terms.
Program Level Outcomes
- Practices within a legal and ethical framework of health care delivery.
- Advances the role of advanced nursing practice in the health care system through scholarship, clinical experience and political involvement.
- Demonstrates critical thinking and diagnostic reasoning skills in clinical decision-making.
- Integrates multiple technologies and relevant theories into the organization and synthesis of health data required to develop plans of care for patients, families and communities.
- Integrates culturally sensitive health promotion activities that contribute to the health and wellness of the community into clinical practice.
- Demonstrates leadership in nursing and health care through involvement in the development of outcome-based standards of care and practice-based health policy issues.
- Evaluates and modify the quality and effectiveness of clinical practice based on current research findings, standards of care and patient outcomes.
- Contributes to the advancement of nursing, health care and humanity through communication, collaboration and education.