While practical and registered nurses form the front line of care professionals tasked with providing health services to patients across the nation, advanced practice registered nurses comprise the elites in this field. They possess the knowledge and credentials required to administer complex treatments that could overwhelm less experienced nurses. Reaching this level of expertise requires advanced learning.
Specialized training and advanced education can prepare nurses for challenging careers in specific areas of practice, such as family, pediatric, and mental health, and can help a registered nurse pursue the role of a family nurse practitioner (FNP). With the convenient option of online family nurse practitioner programs, nurses can earn their Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) degree online, thereby allowing them to qualify for more demanding—yet rewarding—clinical and administrative roles in the nursing profession without attending classes on campus.
What Is the Role of the Family Nurse Practitioner?
As the population ages and more physicians retire, nurse practitioners are taking on more responsibility in the field of health care than ever before. The role of the family nurse practitioner is particularly important as FNPs can provide care for patients of all ages. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), most family nurse practitioners work in the offices of physicians or manage their own practices. They also work in hospitals and outpatient care facilities.
The role of the family nurse practitioner consists of caring for patients from childhood until adulthood. The responsibilities of FNPs include the following:
- Managing patient documents and records
- Conducting examinations
- Creating patient care plans
- Prescribing medication
- Counseling patients and their family members
- Ordering and reviewing lab tests
- Diagnosing and treating patients of all ages
- Assisting physicians with minor surgeries
Online Learning: Balance Personal Life and Professional Advancement
The road to pursuing the family nurse practitioner role can, and often does, take as many as five years of higher education and professional clinical training. The demands of completing coursework and physically attending classes on campus may hamper prospective nurses’ opportunities to work while they learn, slowing their careers and restricting their income. Following their initial education at the bachelor’s degree or associate degree level, their career may again reach a point where higher education is the key to career advancement. However, due to the demanding nature of nursing work, the “cost” of such education can sometimes be too significant for a practicing nurse.
With online learning, students can usually learn from experienced nurse educators without sacrificing their current positions to attend class—as classes can be attended from their own homes.
Top Concerns for Students Pursuing Family Nurse Practitioner Programs Online
While there are several benefits associated with pursuing an advanced nursing education online, students who are used to in-person classes often have several concerns. The following are some typical concerns for nursing students interested in pursuing the role of family nurse practitioners:
Quality Education
Before entering into an online family nurse practitioner program, many prospective students are concerned that they may be missing out on the quality of education offered through traditional classroom-based degree programs; this is not the case.
For family nurse practitioners, online programs use a variety of web-based tools and applications to provide a highly interactive and personalized educational experience through a structured curriculum that is designed in accordance with professional nursing education standards. Therefore, graduates will have been exposed to the same concepts as classroom-based students, just without the limitations of a strict classroom schedule.
Communication and Collaboration
Apart from their concern about the overall quality of the education, students are also sometimes concerned that their educational experience will be lacking the same interpersonal relationships that come with a classroom-based education.
Much to the contrary, many online family nurse practitioner program participants commented that with today’s highly accessible online communication tools, they always felt connected to their professors and academic peer groups. These connections are also consistently encouraged through the curriculum, as many of these online higher education programs incorporate group projects that require collaboration, as well as real-time group discussions that spark conversation among the students.
Consistent Support from Instructors
If some aspect of the course is unclear, students are also given the opportunity to request one-on-one phone/video meetings with their instructors, or simply present them questions via e-mail. Christell O. Bray, professor and coordinator of the on-campus and online family nurse practitioner programs at Texas A&M University, stated that “students have more access to me online than they do face to face,” showing that getting instructor support is just as possible for nursing students participating in online graduate programs.
Online Family Nurse Practitioner Programs
Only graduate-educated nurses can be certified and take on the role of family nurse practitioners, because graduate level family nurse practitioner programs are structured to provide in-depth knowledge on clinical subjects that are not prioritized in bachelor’s degree or associate degree programs. For example, family nurse practitioners are allowed to administer primary care, but only advanced degrees will provide the level of disease management, health promotion, health education, and preventive health care knowledge necessary to do so effectively.
Furthermore, online family nurse practitioner programs also emphasize teaching students how to collaborate with interdisciplinary teams of health care providers, via group projects, interactive online seminars, and online discussions designed to hone a nurse’s ability to connect with others to achieve success. This is a critical component of nursing, especially for the role of the family nurse practitioner, as nurses in this specialization will often comanage the symptoms of their patients, which requires forming a cohesive bond with the patient through effective communication.
Residency Programs Can Prepare Nurses for the Role of Family Nurse Practitioner
Although the administration of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners declares that “NPs are prepared to provide safe, high-quality patient care from the point of graduation,” surveys have demonstrated that many nurses have a desire for postgraduate training. The idea that many graduate nurses do not feel equipped to perform well during the initial stages of their professional careers grants credence to the idea that nursing residencies, following the completion of an online family nurse practitioner program, can be an essential opportunity to accelerate career growth.
Residency programs offer family nurse practitioners additional “supervised practice” among other clinicians, helping them build confidence in their capabilities as primary care providers before fully starting their careers. Normally, these programs offer graduate nurse practitioners access to specialized rotations of assigned duties, including opportunities to work in primary care while supervised by experienced physicians and qualified nurse practitioners.
The mentorship opportunities presented in residency strengthen the participant’s assessment and clinical skills through skill-based training, enhancing the graduate’s overall job readiness and allowing a smooth transition into a career as a competent nurse practitioner. Today, these residency programs are becoming more commonplace, and national health care groups are still lobbying to gain increased federal funding to establish more of them.
Educated Nurses Are in High Demand
The population of the U.S. is constantly rising, and a larger proportion of the population is over the age of 65 than at any other time in U.S. history. Due to this, the health care system is strained more than ever due to the overwhelming number of senior citizens relying on it, as they inherently demand more health resources due to the chronic health conditions that become more common in old age.
On the other end of the problem, patients also outnumber active nurses in the field due in part to the number of veteran nurses retiring from the field, entering education roles, or simply switching careers. While there are only about three million nurses in the U.S., approximately one million nurses are currently aged 50 and older, so within the next 10 to 15 years, the system can expect to lose an entire third of the nursing workforce to retirement.
Although training new nurses to fill the vacancies is the best solution to this problem, the nurses entering the field will need to be effective in the roles of family nurse practitioners in order to fill the gap left by their likely more experienced predecessors. But many nurse education programs lack the necessary resources for educating the large number of nurses that the health care workforce will need in the coming years.
With that said, online advanced learning options, such as online family nurse practitioner programs, allow schools to reach a wider range of students, ensuring that the next generation will still have access to efficient and effective nurses. Online MSN programs ensure that graduates will be academically qualified candidates for nurse practitioner opportunities across the nation, which are expected to grow by 26% between 2018 and 2028 according to the BLS.
Maintaining a reasonable patient-nurse ratio in a facility is key to guaranteeing patient safety and providing the highest quality of care, as understaffed facilities will stretch their nurses too thin, limiting the amount of time and energy they can commit to each patient.
Learn More
At Regis College, the online family nurse practitioner program’s curriculum is developed with the aid of active nursing professionals, so the coursework reflects the practical skill sets that are currently being sought by employers. Family nurse practitioners play a major role in today’s health care field. The responsibilities of FNPs have evolved alongside that of physicians, which means additional opportunities, autonomy, and authority.
At Regis College, the online Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) program with a Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) specialty can help you develop the specialized skill set you need to practice at the advanced level and pursue the role of a family nurse practitioner.
Recommended Readings
Nurse Practitioner vs. MD: Exploring the Responsibilities
Nurse Practitioner vs. Physician: What’s the Difference?
Understanding the Types of Nursing Degrees and Career Paths
Sources:
American Association of Nurse Practitioners, Scope of Practice for Nurse Practitioners
American Association of Nurse Practitioners, What’s a Nurse Practitioner (NP)?
Johnson & Johnson, Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) at a Glance
Nurse.com, “Cyber-Education: More Pros Than Cons”
PayScale, Salary for Certification: Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP)
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Nurse Anesthetists, Nurse Midwives, and Nurse Practitioners