Family Nurse Practitioner

If you have a passion for nursing and believe that working with families in primary care is the setting that makes the best use of your nursing talents and expertise, then becoming a Family Nurse Practitioner may be the best choice for you. Family Nurse Practitioners work with patients throughout the lifespan. They enjoy working collaboratively with other healthcare providers and patients at many stages of health and in a variety of complex family situations. Although wellness is a focus for Family Nurse Practitioners, they also take care of many patients with complex acute and chronic illnesses in the outpatient setting.

The primary goal of the Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) specialty track is to prepare graduates for advanced practice nursing in a variety of clinical settings ranging from private practices, clinics, hospital systems and businesses to managed care organizations and governmental agencies. Coursework and clinical experiences allow our students to acquire the knowledge, values and skills necessary for advanced practice nursing roles. Graduates of the specialty will be eligible for national certification as a family nurse practitioner.

Our specialty track is a nationally ranked specialty that meets the nurse practitioner curriculum guidelines of the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties (NONPF) Advanced Nursing Practice: Curriculum Guidelines and Program Standards for Nurse Practitioner Education and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) Essentials of Master’s Education.

As colleagues of the country’s most comprehensive university health sciences center, our students benefit from their access to cutting-edge research and knowledge, a diverse selection of elective courses, and interdisciplinary collaboration among healthcare professionals. Many courses are available to students in a state-of-the-art computer-based format for convenience and accessibility.

Ohio State has two tracks in its FNP program. The on-campus track is available to both students with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) and also students in the Graduate Entry Program.  The distance-enhanced track is available to students entering with a traditional BSN. Students must choose at the time of application if they are applying to the online or on-campus FNP program.

Some of the courses in the online program meet at set times using web conferencing software. Students would complete their clinical experiences near their own community. Students in the distance-enhanced learning option are required to spend two days on campus for in-person learning and evaluation of clinical skills during their second clinical course. Students in the on- campus program may take some core courses that are required of all specialties online, but their clinical courses meet on campus and their clinical sites are within Ohio.

The College of Nursing is committed to the recruitment and preparation of diverse nurse practitioners who are qualified to provide culturally competent primary health care. State laws require post-secondary educational institutions to be legally authorized to provide online educational instruction in their states. This means that Ohio State online courses and programs must be legally authorized in a state prior to offering courses or programs to students residing there. Please check the status of your state of residence to determine if Ohio State has authorization to offer online courses and programs in your state. If you reside in a state in which Ohio State is authorized to provide online education, learn more about the distance learning option, e-mail nursing@osu.edu.