FAMILY
NURSE PRACTITIONER
Whatever role you seek
as an advanced practice nurse, you’ll need knowledge, skills and
experience. You’ll also need to be able to tap into information
systems that help you stay current with today’s fast-paced health
care environment. You’ll find all of this at Oregon Health &
Science University School of Nursing, recognized nationally for excellence.
OHSU’s SoN is ranked among the top 10 graduate schools of nursing
in the country according to U.S. News and World Report.
Family Nurse Practitioners serve as primary care providers for individuals,
groups and communities across the entire lifespan and help people adopt
healthy behaviors while teaching them to care for themselves. FNPs apply
advanced knowledge and clinical skills in many facets of health care,
including providing prenatal care and family-planning services; providing
well-child care; obtaining medical histories and performing physical examinations;
diagnosing, treating, and monitoring acute health problems and chronic
diseases; ordering, performing and interpreting diagnostic studies; prescribing
medications and other treatments; and promoting positive health behaviors
and self-care skills through education.
The basic preventative health care provided by FNPs is increasingly to
patients in need in medically underserved and rural areas. The Family
Nurse Practitioner program at OHSU prepares practitioners with an understanding
in continuous primary health care, comprehensive care that includes strategies
to promote health, assessing and managing acute and chronic health problems,
consulting, and the referral process. Students in the Family Nurse Practitioner
program gain a solid foundation in clinical practice, as more than 600
hours of supervised clinical experience are completed during the program.
Clinical experiences are arranged in a variety of settings including private
offices, large health institutions such as HMOs, migrant and Indian Health
centers, and county health departments. Students obtain experiences in
clinical sites serving rural and underserved populations.
Upon graduation, FNPs work in a variety of settings including community
health centers, public health departments, hospitals, clinics, businesses,
physician offices, health maintenance organizations, government facilities,
independent nurse practitioner offices, and schools of nursing.
What You Will Study and Learn
The FNP program at OHSU emphasizes care that is interdisciplinary, collaborative
and culturally appropriate. In addition to content with a focus on all
age groups, the program of study also provides you with in-depth knowledge
and clinical experiences in such areas as:
• advance health assessment/physical diagnosing pathophysiology
• health promotion
• acute and chronic illness management
• role development as a primary care clinician
• pharmacology
• reproductive and prenatal care
Family Nurse Practitioner... Is this you?
• Are you passionate about working with people across the life cycle
and in a variety of clinical settings?
• Do you want to make a difference in the lives of people by showing
them how to stay healthy?
• Are you interested in working with medically underserved groups?
• Are you ready to grow in your role as a health care professional?
If you answered
yes to these questions and you have the necessary qualifications and experiences,
you may be an ideal candidate for this program.
Check out the Family Nurse Practitioner
Requirements and why you should choose OHSU.
Already have a Master's in
Nursing? Click here to learn about a Post-Masters
Certificate Option
Back to main graduate program
offerings page, click here