Become a Family Nurse Practitioner

A Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) is a nurse who performs many duties commonly performed by a physician, often partnering with patients throughout the family life cycle. FNPs offer education and counseling as well as tests and procedures, often conducting their work autonomously in conventional health clinics or doctors' offices.

What Family Nurse Practitioners Do

Also known as family nurses, family nurse practitioners are trained to provide a wide range of care to a diverse group of patients. They focus on health promotion and disease prevention beginning in childhood and continuing throughout the aging process, and are trained to diagnose and develop treatment plans for acute and chronic diseases. While they are capable of providing specialty care, family nurse practitioners often offer a broad range of services to people of all ages.

FNPs may serve as case managers, administrators, patient and staff educators, policy-makers and researchers within the field of family medicine. You can find more FNP scope of practice information at Wikipedia.

Required Education for Family Nurses

FNPs are nurse practitioners (NPs) with a specialty in family medicine.

Most family nurse practitioners spend their early years as RNs or BSNs then go back to school to earn their master's degree and become an Advanced Practice Nurse (APN). APNs are specialized nurses with masters or doctorate level training that deliver services that are commonly delivered by physicians. In addition to FNP, here are three other titles that APNs can earn:

• Certified Nurse Anesthetist — Administer anesthesia to surgery patients
• Certified Nurse Midwife — Provide prenatal care and deliver babies
• Clinical Nurse Specialist — Provide basic or specialized care

If you would like to become a family nurse practitioner, you will need a Master of Science in Nursing degree. Then you must become certified by your State Board of Nursing or receive a national certification offered by a variety of agencies, including the American Nurses Credentialing Center and the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners.

Family Nursing Perks

If you enjoy making long-term patient relationships and flourish in a rich, varied work environment with competitive salaries and individual growth opportunities, you will fit well in this nursing career.

Family Nurse Practitioner Salaries

NPs with a family nursing specialty can expect a marked increase in income. Salary.com states that NPs make nearly $20,000 more per year in base salary than RNs, nation-wide (for more information on nursing salaries, see our nursing salary survey report.) Additionally, with the opportunity to create and manage their own practices, family nurses are able to use entrepreneurial skills to increase their incomes.

Family Nurse Practitioner Work Settings

Flexibility and autonomy are two of the most treasured characteristics of the family nursing practice. In some states, FNPs have the flexibility to provide services in a variety of settings, which allows them to better meet the specific needs of their patients. Here are some commonly enjoyed FNP work settings:

• clinics
• private offices
• hospice centers
• nurse-managed health centers
• schools
• homes

Family Nurse Practitioner Career Outlook

The demand for family nurse practitioners is expected to increase significantly over the next ten years (see information about the current nursing shortage.) In general, the more training, certifications and experience a nurse has, the more demand there will be for his or her skill set. Job demand positively affects salaries, schedules, job openings, and the availability of training institutions and government grants for education (see our information on nursing school loan forgiveness programs.)