Program Design

All students in the master’s degree nursing program are required to take five core courses: Theoretical Foundations in Advanced Nursing Practice, Health Care Policy, Advanced Nursing Research, Advanced Role Development, and the capstone course - Scholarly Synthesis. Students in the family nurse practitioner concentration curricula must also complete the advanced practice core courses, which include Advanced Health Assessment didactic and clinical, Advanced Pathophysiology, and Advanced Pharmacology. Once pre- or co-requisites are met, the clinical courses for the Family Nurse Practitioner concentration can be taken in any order. These clinical courses are age specific and have comparative learning outcomes. All clinical courses must be successfully completed before the student takes the Practicum course, which is designed for synthesis of previously gained knowledge and skills

Credit and clock hour requirements for clinical courses by concentration

FNP Concentration Required Clinical Hours

In addition, 60 contact hours are required for Advanced Health Assessment - Clinical. These hours are not calculated into the 720 clinical hour requirements for the concentration.

Administrator, informatics and educator practicum are supervised using a 1:8 ratio of faculty to students. Nurse practitioner clinical and practicum courses use a 1:6 faculty student ratio. The program has been designed to assure graduates are eligible to sit for advanced practice certification in the concentration related specialties. Furthermore, graduates successfully meeting certification requirements are eligible to apply for advance practice licensure in the State of Tennessee. The Nurse Practice Act, T.C.A. §§ 63-7-101, et seq., requires a certification process for a nurse practitioner to prescribe and/or issue legend drugs. Tennessee Code Annotated § 63-7-126 requires nurse practitioners…..meeting certain qualifications to apply to the Board of Nursing for a certificate to practice as an advanced practice nurse including authorization to use the title "advanced practice nurse" or the abbreviation "APN.” Advanced Practice Nurse (APN)- means a Tennessee licensed registered nurse who has a master's degree or higher in a nursing specialty and has national specialty certification as a nurse practitioner, nurse anesthetist, nurse midwife, or clinical nurse specialist. To be issued a certificate as an advanced practice nurse with privileges to hold oneself out as an advanced practice nurse (APN), the applicant must meet all of the following requirements: (1) a current, unencumbered license as a registered nurse under T.C.A. Title 63, Chapter 7; (2) preparation in advanced practice nursing at the master’s, post-master’s, doctoral, or post-doctoral level; (3) graduation from a program conferring a master’s degree or higher in a nursing specialty; and (4) a current national specialty certification in the appropriate nursing specialty area.

Faculty supervision of students in clinical/practicum courses may be direct or indirect. Direct supervision occurs when program faculty function as on-site clinical preceptors. When nurse practitioner faculty provide direct supervision of students the on site faculty/student ratio is 1:2 if the faculty is not seeing their own patients. If the nurse practitioner faculty is seeing their own patients the on site faculty/student ratio is 1:1. Indirect supervision has three components: (1) to supplement the preceptor’s teaching, (2) to act as a liaison to a community agency, and (3) to evaluate the student’s progress. The ratio for indirect faculty supervision, which encompasses coordinating the clinical experience, interacting with the preceptor, and evaluating the student, is 1:6 for nurse practitioner students and 1:8 for students in other concentrations. However, ratios may vary relative to certain practice areas and the individual faculty member. Whether through direct or indirect roles, the faculty are responsible for all students in clinical or practicum courses.