CLINICAL COURSE PROGRESSION AND CLINICAL REQUIREMENTS FOR FAMILY NURSE PRACTITIONER (FNP) STUDENTS Any licensed healthcare provider with the following qualifications may serve as a preceptor for a Nurse Practitioner student: Current, unencumbered license (MD, DO, ARNP/APRN, or PA-C) in the state where the student clinical experience will occur. At least one year of clinical experience following graduation, in the population-focused clinical or content area in which he/she is teaching or providing clinical supervision NURS 567-Family Nurse Practitioner Program Primary Care: Adults and Elders Year 2, Semester 1 (Fall semester) Course Description: Assessment, differential diagnosis and therapeutic intervention with adults; developmental changes, opportunities to provide diagnostic, maintenance and follow up care. Following completion of this course the student will: 1. Demonstrate competency in performing physical and psychosocial assessments. 2. Analyze relevant laboratory and diagnostic tests for developing a diagnosis. 3. Develop and evaluate treatment plans for individual clients. 4. Integrate appropriate theoretical perspectives to promote the health of adults and elders. 5. Demonstrate competency in managing a caseload of adults and elders. Students must complete a minimum of 135 hours of practicum/clinical at a primary care site, including at least 90 hours in a family practice setting working with adult clients age 21 59 years, and 45 hours working with adult clients >60 years. Sometimes a student can accomplish all of these hours at one site, but on occasion may need placement at two locations to meet clinical requirements. 1
NURS 567-Family Nurse Practitioner Program Primary Care: Adults and Elders 6. Demonstrate the ability to manage patient/client records, apply selected clinical skills and manage a caseload of clients under the direction of a preceptor. It is expected that the student will move towards independence in practice. NURS 568-Family Nurse Practitioner Program Primary Care: Infants, Children and Adolescents Year 2, Semester 2 (Spring semester) Course Description: Assessment, differential diagnosis, and therapeutic intervention with infants, children, and adolescents in rural and urban settings. Following completion of this course the student will: 1. Demonstrate competency in performing advanced physical and psychosocial assessment skills and documenting the findings. 2. Analyze relevant laboratory data and diagnostic tests for developing a diagnosis. 3. Design treatment plans considering developmental level of the child. 4. Integrate appropriate theoretical perspectives to promote the health of infants, children, and adolescents. 5. Demonstrate competency in managing an assigned caseload of infants, children, and adolescents in a primary care setting. The student must complete a minimum of 90 hours working with neonates through adolescents AND a minimum of 45 working with patients in a primary care practice. Depending on the site, the student may obtain the required pediatric care experience at a single family practice/primary care site that has a high percentage and variety of pediatric patients (infants, children, and adolescents from birth through age 21) or they may be required to obtain the pediatric experience at a specialty practice site (e.g., the office of a pediatrician or pediatric nurse practitioner). NURS 569-Family Nurse Practitioner Program 2
Primary Care: Family, Women s Health and Maternity Year 2, Semester 3 (summer semester) Course Description: Assessment, differential diagnosis, therapeutic intervention with individuals in childbearing, childrearing, and multigenerational families. Upon completion of the course, the students will be able to: 1. Demonstrate competence in using advanced physical and psychosocial assessment skills as a basis for care of individuals in family practice and women s healthcare settings. 2. Analyze relevant diagnostic data and interprets diagnostic test results as part of the process of developing an appropriate differential diagnosis and making accurate diagnoses. 3. Design and evaluate comprehensive, holistic treatment plans with consideration for individual and family needs using sound evidence-based practices. 4. Integrate appropriate developmental and theoretical perspectives to promote the health of individuals and families. 5. Demonstrate competence in managing an assigned case load of patients with increasing independence. Students must complete a minimum of 90 hours working with clients requiring general primary care and a minimum of 45 hours providing women s healthcare services across the lifespan (including postpartum). Students may be placed in 1-2 clinical sites to fulfill NURS569 clinical requirements. In some instances, it is possible to place the student for all 135 hours at one site with the same family practice preceptor if they have a sufficient number of female clients in their caseload to fulfill the student s 45 hour women s health requirement. NURS 540-Internship Primary Care: Family, Women s Health and Maternity, Newborns Semester students take this course is variable Course Description: Primary Care Practicum experience requiring the supervised provision of increasingly complex direct patient care. Application and integration of theoretical content, research findings, assessment and intervention strategies into primary care practice. 1. Continue improving in the application of all Students in the FNP program must 3
previously learned theoretical knowledge and clinical skills into advanced nursing practice. 2. Demonstrate mastery in completing appropriately focused or comprehensive subjective and objective assessments of individuals and families with consideration for existing health problems, genetic factors, health literacy, patient and family adherence to previous treatment recommendations, and co-existing health conditions. 3. Use findings from diagnostic studies to confirm and monitor acute and chronic health conditions 4. Developing diagnoses as well as treatment and ongoing care plans with respect for the complexity of individual and family health status 5. Consistently prescribe, monitor, and modify pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic treatment and follow-up plans for individuals across the lifespan with acute or chronic health conditions. 6. Demonstrate integration of principles of chronic disease self-management and health literacy into all aspects of care. 7. Consistently demonstrate increasing maturation of thought processes that will advance health outcomes for individuals and families. 8. Collaborate with patients, families, and other healthcare providers to evaluate the effectiveness of treatment plans, patient teaching, and counseling to improve health outcomes. 9. Demonstrate progressive professional role development as well as increasing rolebased sophistication and maturity in all communications with preceptors, faculty, and colleagues concerning assessment and proposed diagnostic and treatment complete 5 credits, inclusive of 225 clinical hours in this course. Students may begin taking N540 credits in the semester they are enrolled in N568. Students may enroll in one N540 credit at a time or a total of 10 credits per semester for all courses combined. In most cases, a minimum of 2 credits of N540 must be completed in a primary care/family practice setting, preferably in the same family practice setting used for other clinical rotations. While primary care is the focus of the program and this course, some students are granted permission to complete up to 3 credits of specialty care experiences during this course to supplement their practice experience. NURS540 student placement requests must be approved by the student s supervising clinical faculty member. Approval is based on satisfactory progress in clinical experiences, completion of program requirements, and student learning needs. Clinical assignment for the Internship course may be elective (student choice about where to complete it and with whom) or it may be prescribed (the faculties choice about where the student will complete it and with whom). Each request for clinical placement in the Internship course will be carefully reviewed by faculty before it is approved. (For example, if the student s logs do not indicate that he/she has cared for children of all ages, the student may be required to complete additional hours in a pediatric setting.) Students may have a maximum of 2 4
plans. NURS540 clinical placements/rotations per semester. Each placement can be for 1-3 credits. For example, a student taking 3 credits of NURS540 in a semester can do a credit in one rotation, and 2 credits in a second rotation, or can do all 3 credits in a single rotation. 5