The Family Nurse Practitioner Program prepares advanced practice nurses to manage the health care of individuals and their family across the life span in a changing health care system. Emphasis is on health promotion and primary care management of the acute and stable chronically ill patient. A Family Nurse Practitioner is provided with a broad preparation for the delivery of health services to individuals, families, and groups in a variety of settings. Graduates are prepared to be recognized as advanced practice nurses by the Texas Board of Nursing and to take the Family Nurse Practitioner National Certification Exams through American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) and American Academy of Nurse Practitioners (AANP).
This program provides a background to:
Assume responsibility as a Family Nurse Practitioner to provide health care in the areas of health promotion, disease prevention, and/or clinical management to patients and families in a variety of settings.
Develop collaborative relationships with other health care providers to focus on economic, psychosocial, cultural and environmental factors in the quality improvement of health care delivery for varied populations.
Use research and theoretical principles in the management and quality improvement of health care delivery and clinical outcomes in Family Nurse Practitioner practice.
Basic admission requirements must be met before a student can be accepted. Prospective students must apply to the university through the Office of Admissions, pay the application fee, and submit official transcripts to the UT Arlington’s Graduate Admission’s Office. The Graduate Admission’s Office is also responsible for calculating the admission GPA. All steps necessary to complete an application (i.e. submitting transcripts, paying fees) must be completed prior to progressing in the application process.
Prospective students should review of the College of Nursing and Health Innovation (CONHI) graduate program specific requirements. A CONHI Graduate Academic Advisor will review the application file for nursing specific requirements. Specific program requirements can be found in the University Catalog - Nursing, Graduate Programs.
If accepted, applicants will receive an acceptance form that must be signed and returned. If an applicant is denied, the option to appeal the decision is available.
Once the acceptance form has been completed and returned, an official email notification will be sent from the University to the student’s personal email. Accepted students with transfer credit should submit the transfer request form to the CONHI Academic Advisor during this time.
Clinical Requirements
The clinical requirements included in the MSN Nursing Education and MSN and Certification Nurse Practitioner programs at UTA are intended to provide students with experiential learning opportunities to enable them to transition successfully into the role of the nurse educator or nurse practitioner. An essential part of each clinical experience is active, hands-on practice, guided by a licensed preceptor with expertise in their advanced nursing practice specialty.
Clinical placement at The University of Texas at Arlington in the Department of Graduate Nursing is a collaborative process with each student. Students are asked to locate a preceptor which is aligned with their program requirements; however, the Department of Graduate Nursing will provide assistance with clinical placement when a student is experiencing difficulty. Clinical placement policies are available in the Graduate Nursing clinical management system, InPlace, and are available to all students upon admission.
Note: Some graduate programs have required courses and events scheduled on Saturdays. Please consult with the director of the program you are interested in, before applying for admission.
Nursing License Verification
Students are required to provide verification of an unencumbered license for acceptance into the Nursing program. The College of Nursing and Health Innovation uses NURSYS, a national database, to verify student license credentials. The NURSYS licensure and disciplinary database is the repository of the data provided directly from the Nursing Commission to the National Council of State Boards of Nursing’s (NCSBN) and is primary source equivalent. To learn more about NURSYS, please click or tap here.
To assist in expeditiously verifying your credentials, please ensure your information is available in this database.
We also encourage you to sign up for NURSYS e-notify. As a nurse you will enjoy receiving license expiration reminders, status updates to your license, and tracking your nurse license verifications for endorsement. Visit the link above to learn more about the benefits of e-notify.
Resources
Policies
While University faculty and staff members give students academic advice and assistance, each student is expected to take responsibility for his or her education and personal development. The student must know and abide by the academic and disciplinary policies given in the catalog and MSN handbook, including rules governing quantity of work, the standard of work required to continue in the University, scholastic probation and dismissal, and enforced withdrawal.
Students will not be relieved of their responsibility to know the policies, deadlines and rules of the University on the grounds that they were not told. If students have questions regarding policies, it is the University’s expectation that the student will consult his/her academic advisor for guidance and resolution.
All students are expected to be familiar with the following sources of information.
Graduate nursing education requires students to have dedicated time to devote to studying, completing assignments, preparing for, and completing clinicals and other course work. Students are encouraged to consider their work schedules and commitments considering the demands of the MSN/PMC program and adjust accordingly. Commitments which compete with graduate study may result in suboptimal academic performance and place the student in academic jeopardy.
Study Time Recommendations
In general, for every-one graduate nursing semester credit hour of enrollment a student should allocate 5 hours of study time outside of class. For example, a 3 semester credit hours course, may reasonably require 15 hours of work, outside of class, plus anytime needed to complete clinicals.
Employment Recommendations
It is recommended that a student’s employment not exceed 16-20 hours per week in either regular or summer semesters. Students are encouraged to evaluate their energy level, familial and personal obligations, and school commitments before starting their degree program.
Students should review the academic calendar prior to enrolling and prepare accordingly.
Students Success
MSN Student Success resources are available to all students achieving academic success at UT Arlington. Our dedicated faculty make every effort to assist students in meeting their academic goals across a wide variety of subject areas.
UTA CONHI is unique among many comparable universities for the remarkable amount of resources dedicated to student success. Learn more about our offerings on help with courses and writing/speaking.
Academic Advising
Students in the MSN program are welcome to meet with an advisor. Once admitted to UT Arlington, students may enroll in their coursework using the degree plan provided by the academic advisor and proceed to registration. Students are encouraged to contact their advisor with any questions. Learn more about Graduate Nursing Advising.
Master’s education builds on a foundation of undergraduate nursing education and provides specialty practice with an expanded theoretical and empirical knowledge base. The Master of Science in Nursing program prepares Registered Nurses for advanced functional roles that require increased accountability, expertise, and leadership. Graduates are prepared to provide evidence-based health care in collaboration with other health care providers and consumers.
MSN Outcomes
The graduate is provided a background to:
Demonstrate competence in an advanced nursing role.
Participate in scholarly endeavors to advance nursing knowledge.
Provide leadership in professional nursing and interdisciplinary health care.