Post Masters Family Nurse Practitioner Certificate Program

The Byers School of Nursing Post-Master's Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) Certificate Program allows Master's-prepared nurses to expand their scope of practice to include care of individuals across the lifespan. The program includes didactic and clinical experiences that focus on the primary care needs of individuals, families, and communities. Upon completion of the program, students are eligible to sit for the national Family Nurse Practitioner Certification Exam.

The Post-Master's Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) Certificate Program objectives are to:

  1. Demonstrate personal, collegial, and collaborative approaches that enhance the family nurse practitioner's effectiveness in working in an interprofessional manner.
  2. Synthesize theoretical, scientific, and contemporary clinical knowledge for the assessment and management of both health and illness states, health promotion, health protection, disease prevention, and treatment of all patients including those with multiple chronic conditions.
  3. Ensure quality of care through consultations and collaboration with other professions.
  4. Analyze situations to improve health outcomes for patients, communities, and systems by overseeing and directing the delivery of clinical services within an interprofessional system of health care.
  5. Translate knowledge and psychomotor skills to enhance patients' ability for self-care through advocating, modeling, and teaching.
  6. Demonstrate a commitment to the implementation, preservation, and evolution of the family nurse practitioner role as well as build interprofessional relationships to provide optimal care to the patient.
  7. Provide culturally competent care with respect to cultural and spiritual beliefs and make health care resources available to patients from diverse cultures.

Target Audience

  • Nurses who are DNP or PhD graduates or students who wish to gain expertise as a Family Nurse Practitioner.
  • Master's students within any other track of Walsh's Master's Nursing program.
  • Post-master's nurses with clinical expertise who are seeking educational training.

Features of the Program

  • Access to excellent faculty with real-world teaching experiences.
  • The Post-Graduate FNP Certificate program allows Master's prepared nurses to expand their scope of practice to include care of individuals across the lifespan. The program includes didactic and clinical experiences that focus on the primary care needs of individuals, families, and communities.
  • Option to participate in a global experience opportunity.
  • Interprofessional venues with state of the art teaching modalities including Clinical Placements, IPE, and active learning lab experiences.

Global Experiences

While enrolled in the certificate program, certificate students may participate in the Byers School of Nursing's global experiences(s). The student is advised to seek more information on global experiences from the Graduate Program Director or the Office of Global Learning.

Certificate Academic Guidelines

Admission Policy

  • Participants enrolled in the Family Nurse Practitioner Certificate program must comply with the Byers School of Nursing, Graduate admissions requirements:
  • Minimum 3.0 GPA from an accredited undergraduate institution.
  • Completed non-degree student application form accompanied by a non-refundable fee of $25.
  • Official transcript(s) of undergraduate, and all other graduate study, sent directly from the applicant's college(s) or university(ies) to the Walsh University Office of Admissions.
  • Current resume.
  • A current unencumbered Registered Nurse license.

Program Delivery

The Family Nurse Practitioner Certificate program is offered using a distance learning methodology*. Face to face classroom experiences are held at the main campus in North Canton, Ohio in conjunction with online methods.

Registration Procedures

  • Students enrolling in coursework for their first semester may register by completing a Graduate Registration Form: This form may be found either in the Student Service Center in Farrell Hall or downloaded from the file gallery on our website www.walsh.edu/forms4. Complete, sign and do one of the following (you do not need an advisor's signature)
  • Bring this form to the Student Service Center in Farrell Hall.
  • Scan and email to: sherman@walsh.edu or Fax the form to 330-490-7372.
  • You may also mail this form to:

Walsh University, Student Service Center

2020 East Maple St. 

North Canton, OH 44720-3336

Attention: Stacie Herman

  • Certificate students who have completed at least one semester in the program are strongly encouraged to utilize the Cavalier Center to register. PIN numbers will be distributed near the beginning of each semester through the Walsh email system.

* Online refers to the definition form the Higher Learning Commission: Distance-delivered course are those in which all or the vast majority (typically 75% or more) of the instruction and interaction occurs via electronic communication, correspondence, or equivalent mechanisms, with the faculty and students physically separated from each other.

Certificate Requirements

To receive the Certificate in Family Nursing Practitioner, a student will complete the following curriculum:

NURS 612Advanced Pharmacology 13
NURS 642Clinical Pharmacology 13
NURS 640Clini Assessment & Management 13
NURS 641FNP:Care of Adult/Gero Client 26
NURS 643FNP: Care of Child/Adolescents 26
NURS 645FNP: Care of Women 26
NURS 647FNP:Clients Mult Chronic Condi6
NURS 649FNP: Care of Fam in Pri Care5
NURS 648Interprofessional Collaborat1
Total Credit Hours24-39

Note: Please attach a Graduate Curriculum Course Proposal Form for each new course that will be offered in the proposed program. 

1 Courses may be waived for advanced practice nurses with prescriptive authority and current practice.

2 Courses may be waived for currently certified nurse practitioners in specialty practice (adult, women's health, pediatrics, nurse midwifery).