Family Nurse Practitioner

1. Current, unencumbered license as a registered nurse (RN) with 1 year of current experience in the role.
2. Must have completed an undergraduate physical/health assessment course and an undergraduate statistics course as confirmed by an official college transcript. Applicants who have not completed these prerequisites prior to the application deadline will not be reviewed for admission.
3. Baccalaureate degree in nursing or related science field from a regionally accredited college or university with a minimum of a 3.0 grade point average.
4. Three letters of recommendation, with at least one from a former faculty member and at least one from a former employer while in the RN role.
5. A 500-700 word essay that addresses the applicant's goals and reasons for seeking certification as a family nurse practitioner.

Up to 12 credits of graduate level coursework completed at another accredited institution may be considered for transfer if those credits were not part of a previously conferred degree. Transfer credits may include only coursework for which grades of B or higher are earned. No credits may be transferred if they are older than eight years. Students who wish to transfer allowable credits must submit a special request for evaluation of transfer credits to the graduate program director. Any transfer credit requests should be submitted to the program director within two weeks of notification of admission to the program.

The Family Nurse Practitioner program is offered primarily online, as a distance learning program. The FNP curriculum is provided in various formats including online content and televised (video streamed) lectures. Students will access course presentations and information via the Canvas platform. Designated courses may include some live televised/video streamed classes with required attendance either in person or through video-streaming. Additionally, students are required to attend sessions at the ODU Virginia Beach campus one or more times during a semester to work with standardized patients.

The Family Nurse Practitioner program requires clinical experiences with faculty approved preceptors in a variety of settings to include primary care, pediatrics, and women's health. Old Dominion University Ellmer School of Nursing has a Student Clinical Services Coordinator who assists the practicum course faculty and the student to locate appropriate clinical sites and ensures that the appropriate agreements are in place. Students are strongly encouraged to identify potential clinical sites for these experiences prior to the beginning of the program.

Yes, if the site and preceptors are approved by the faculty, and are in states adhering to the National Council for State Authorization of Reciprocity Agreements (See http://nc-sara.org/ for further information regarding your state). Because faculty conduct sites visits each semester, the clinical site must have access to HIPAA compliant telehealth technology or software so the faculty site visit can be done virtually.

For each credit hour of course work, it is recommended that you study 3-6 hours per week. The amount of time devoted to online activities such as chats, discussions, conferencing, library literature searches, etc. depends on the structure of the individual course. Some courses have weekly requirements while some courses have activities scheduled at intervals.

For FNP program curriculum information including an outline of courses by semester and course description, please visit the Graduate Catalog.