Provide care to patients of all life stages. Develop relationships with entire family units.
Family nurse practitioners (FNPs) provide a wide range of family-focused primary care services to patients across the lifespan. FNPs conduct health assessments and tests and provide preventive care, disease management, treatment of chronic and acute illnesses. Much like a physician, an FNP is able to diagnose health concerns and may even prescribe medication, depending on which state they practice in.
Family nurse practitioners enjoy the range of patients they can treat- people of all ages, from infants to geriatrics. Other NP specialties are narrow in scope and focus on a specific age group, branch of medicine, or medical setting.
FNPs are in demand
The AAMC reports that the U.S. will experience a physician shortage of between 46,900 and 121,900 positions by 2032. Nurse practitioners are well-positioned to help fill gaps in health care as they are now able to alleviate many of the duties and responsibilities of a physician. As the physician shortage worsens, the BLS has projected that overall employment for nurse practitioners will have increased by 52% between 2019-2029. As of May, 2021, there were 325,000 licensed nurse practitioners in the U.S., according to the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP).
Average FNP Salary: $96,281*
*Payscale.com
FNP responsibilities include:
- Conducting physical and health assessments
- Performing diagnostic tests and analyzing results
- Prescribing medications
- Developing treatment plans for acute and chronic illnesses
- Providing education and guidance on disease prevention and healthy lifestyle habits
- Facilitating preventive care and disease management
- Managing patient care for patients of all ages
Common practice settings include:
- Community health centers
- Hospital outpatient clinics
- Private group practices
- Private physician practices
- Health care systems
- Educational services
- Occupational health
- Nursing homes
- Government facilities
- Military medical departments
Did You Know?*
- The top diagnoses treated by FNPs are abdominal pain, urinary tract infection and gastroesophageal reflux disease.
- The top clinical focus areas for FNPs are family, primary care and urgent care.
- The majority of full-time NPs (59.4%) see three or more patients per hour.
*AANP
Regis College is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education
Accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing (ACEN)
Designated as a Center of Excellence in Nursing Education by the National League for Nursing 2008-2020
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