About the Family Nurse Practitioner M.S.N. Program

The Family Nurse Practitioner program prepares registered nurses for leadership in primary care to families and individuals of all ages. With a focus on delivering high-quality, patient-centered primary care, the program offers both didactic and clinical experiences that prepare nurse practitioners to care for the physical, mental, emotional, social, and spiritual health of patients, families, and communities.

The program stresses the integration of research and nursing practice with a strong emphasis on solving real-world problems. Program content includes pathophysiology and pharmacology, health assessment, health maintenance and promotion, and diagnosis and management of common primary care health concerns, providing the theoretical and practical foundations for nurses to expand their scope of practice.

The program’s versatile distance-based format allows professional nurses to advance their education while working, but also provides students with a rigorous curriculum and access to the resources and experts at GW. Selected on-campus experiences invite students to campus to interact with faculty and other students. Simultaneous clinical experiences ensure that students meet all criteria to sit for the family nurse practitioner certification examination.

The program consists of 48 credits and is available on a full- and part-time basis.