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Program Description
The Master of Science in Nursing with a major in Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) prepares the advanced practice nurse to provide primary health care services across the lifespan to individuals, families and aggregates in the community. Besides primary care services, critical foci include practice models which emphasize the family as unit, health promotion and disease prevention and interdisciplinary collaboration.

The goal of the FNP program is to prepare highly skilled and culturally sensitive advanced practice nurses who are committed to providing quality and cost effective primary care services to individuals, families and communities. The program places special emphasis on providing services to the medically underserved.

At the completion of the Master of Science Degree in nursing, the graduate will have achieved the following objectives:

• 1. Synthesize theory and knowledge from nursing, related health disciplines, the liberal arts, and sciences as a foundation for advanced nursing practice.
• 2. Integrate specialty standards of advanced practice nursing to deliver culturally competent, quality health care services to individuals, populations and systems.
• 3. Practice advanced nursing reflectively within moral, legal and humanistic frameworks.
• 4. Demonstrate a commitment to social justice and advocacy for vulnerable populations in the delivery of advanced nursing practice services.
• 5. Exercise leadership, critical thinking and effective communication skills in the development and implementation of advanced nursing practice services.
• 6. Integrate professional nursing standards, values, and accountability into role and self-development as an advanced practice nurse.
• 7. Utilize inter and intra-disciplinary collaboration to facilitate desired health outcomes for clients, populations and systems.
• 8. Utilize information technology and an evidence-based research approach in the development of nursing knowledge and the design of health care services for clients, populations and systems.
• 9. Analyze the financial, sociopolitical and organizational forces of the health care environment that impact the advanced nursing practice role.

National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission
The nursing programs at the McAuley School of Nursing are fully accredited by the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission and the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education.

Admission Criteria for the Master of Science in Nursing Program

• 1. A baccalaureate degree in nursing from a nationally accredited program.
• 2. A minimum cumulative undergraduate GPA of 3.0.
• 3. A minimum of 2000 hours of experience as a registered nurse.
• 4. A license to practice as a registered nurse in the State of Michigan.
• 5. Three letters of professional recommendation with at least one from someone in supervisory capacity.
• 6. An autobiographical statement of personal goals and objectives.
• 7. An interview with graduate faculty.
• Note: A GRE is required for any student petitioning for admission to the program with a cumulative GPA less than 3.0.

The MSN degree with the FNP major requires 44 credit hours and 720 clinical hours. The MSON is committed to flexibility in the program and therefore offers both full-time and part-time options for degree completion. Full-time study can be completed in two years with some courses offered during the summer semester. A program of part time study can be completed in three years. The master of science degree is conferred at the completion of the program requirements. In addition, the MSON offers a post master’s certificate option for those individuals who already possess a master’s degree in nursing from a nationally accredited program. The requirements of this option are individualized but generally require the advanced practice nursing core and family nurse practitioner clinical courses.

Graduates of the program and those who complete the post master’s certificate are eligible to sit for the national certification examination administered by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) or the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners (AANP). Students are urged to contact the specific Board of Nursing in the state in which they intend to practice in order to ensure they are in full compliance with the education, practice and certification requirements.