Most nurse practitioner schools online offer a variety of specializations in the field of nursing. In the nursing field advanced programs are available and one example is the family nurse practitioner program and what you have here is a program that allows nurses to diagnose, treat, and counsel patients the minute they graduate. The family nurse practitioner program covers a vast area of study; however, the basics are as follows:
A couple of courses that you will tackle when it comes to this include advanced anatomy and physiology. Here, students will be briefed on human anatomy and physiology elements because they already hold a bachelor’s degree in nursing, a prerequisite when it comes to this program. In this case, the smaller aspects of human body systems will also be studied.
Another fundamental aspect of a family nurse practitioner program is primary care or health care. You will already be knowledgeable about primary healthcare provision since you are a holder of a bachelor’s degree coming into the program. What you have here is a program that will teach you about advanced concepts in the delivery of primary care.
Before patients are treated, they have to be evaluated first and this is the primary focus of any nurse practitioner program. Through the advanced health assessment course, you will know what it takes to properly evaluate the condition of patients. This will also serve as a review of the basic health assessment skills you have garnered as an undergraduate nurse.
The thing about family nursing is that age is not a factor when dealing with patients but most patients that consult such nurses are older. Because of this, lessons in adult and geriatric care are provided in the program. This will cover how to assess, diagnose, treat, and evaluate patients that are older than 12 years of age.
To be able to have a better grasp on diagnosing patients, one of the basic subjects includes advanced pathophysiology. For every patient, you need to focus on the pathophysiology of the condition so that the right diagnosis and treatment can be provided. What you have here applies to pediatric and adult diseases.
Advanced pharmacology is another course that should be taken up by family nurse practitioners since their profession allows them to prescribe medications to patients. Undergraduate programs normally focus on the nursing element that applies to the provision of meds. However, as nurse practitioners, you must be able to study the full specifications of a drug so that you can prescribe medications properly.
Actually, research is a major part of any family nurse practitioner program. A typical requirement that comes with this program is a thesis. Students have to depend on critical thinking, practical skills, as well as research methodologies.
You need enough clinical hours in this case especially because the nature of the job is hands-on. Adequate experience in healthcare institutions will be required from the students in this case. In this case, you need to have enough medical experience.
When it comes to this, courses differ based on the discretion of nurse practitioner schools. In nursing, you can specialize in various areas if you wish. No matter what area you choose to focus on, you will be dealing with nursing fundamentals such as pathophysiology and health care not to mention anatomy and physiology.
