Skip to content

Online Post-Master's Family Nurse Practitioner Certificate

Elevate Your Career with the Post-Master’s FNP Certificate

Learn More Today

Complete the form to learn more about this program.

  • Duration 1.5 years
  • Cost per Credit $955
  • Credit Hours 24

Program Benefits

  • Expand your knowledge and career opportunities
  • Learn from experienced and highly qualified faculty
  • Benefit from Sacred Heart University’s extensive healthcare network
  • Prepare for certification as a family nurse practitioner from the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) or the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners (AANP)

Provide High-Quality Care to All Patients as an FNP

When you enroll in the 24-credit online Post-Master’s Family Nurse Practitioner Certificate program, you connect with expert faculty who will guide your development of advanced clinical knowledge and skills. Our extensive healthcare network provides hands-on learning opportunities and practical experience. Upon graduation, you will be prepared to step into one of the over 30,000 roles projected to open by 20301 and provide critically needed primary care to patients of all ages and across a range of healthcare settings.

Build Vital Skills and Care with Confidence

Earning the Post-Master’s FNP Certificate equips you to advance your nursing career with the educational and experiential background to provide primary care across the lifespan. These features help you build vital skills to seize the growing number of job opportunities and an average salary of $120,5802. Upon graduation, you will be able to confidently provide quality care and improve patient outcomes in your choice of primary care settings.

An FNP Curriculum to Build Your Primary Care Expertise

24 Credits

15 Months

Your FNP Certificate program experience will cover various topics essential to providing primary care. You will learn to comprehensively care for adult patients, including how to diagnose and treat acute and chronic illnesses. You will also explore primary care for children and women, focusing on preventative care and health promotion.

In addition, the curriculum includes advanced primary care for families in complex systems. This program covers the skills necessary for providing care to families with a variety of health needs, such as managing chronic illnesses and coordinating care between multiple healthcare providers. With this comprehensive curriculum, professionals who earn the online Post-Master’s FNP Certificate will be well-prepared to provide high-quality, patient-centered care in various healthcare settings.

Required Courses (24 Credit Hours)

This course, the first within the Family, Primary Care, and Community sequence, addresses selected family, primary care, and community theories within the context of advanced practice nursing and clinical leadership roles. The family system is viewed as both unique and dynamic, existing interdependently with the community and the environment and requiring advanced nursing expertise and caring at various times across the life cycle. Particular emphasis is placed on family and community assessment strategies, the impact of culture upon the family and community systems, and the impact of various primary care-oriented health problems on family roles and functions. In addition, relevant concepts and principles of epidemiology are applied to the current and emerging health status of families and communities. Faculty collaborate with students as they apply advanced clinical knowledge to the family system in a community setting. Students function interdependently with other health team members in the care of families and evaluate a plan of care using standards for advanced clinical practice.

This is the first of four clinical courses in this online nurse practitioner program designed to enable students to learn problem-solving skills and clinical strategies necessary to socialize into the role of the Family Nurse Practitioner. Coursework introduces students to a systematic approach to understanding the delivery of primary health care to the well adult. Various principles of illness prevention and health maintenance are introduced, as well as methodologies used to diagnose and treat common primary care problems. Emphasis is on the consultation role component of the nurse practitioner as well as on the direct provision of primary care and health promotion.

Primary Care of Children applies knowledge of wellness and prevention to children, focusing on birth through adolescence. Topics include health promotion/maintenance, growth and development, disease prevention, diagnosis and treatment of common acute and chronic illnesses in diverse infant, child, and adolescent populations. Emphasis is placed on a primary, collaborative, community approach with interprofessional teams as a foundation for clinical practice. In addition to didactic, students participate in clinical experiences.

Primary Women’s Healthcare introduces the Family Nurse Practitioner student to well woman care and care of the antepartum woman. The course will enable students to participate in clinical decision making in the primary care of women, from adolescents through the menopause transition. Gynecologic and antepartum management including cervical and breast cancer screenings, contraceptive care, acute and chronic gynecologic pathologies, and healthy prenatal examinations will be covered. In addition to didactic, students participate in clinical experiences.

Primary Care II: Advanced Primary Care of Families in Complex Systems
The fourth of four clinical courses designed to enable graduate FNP students to learn problem-solving skills and clinical strategies necessary to diagnose and treat common and complex primary care problems found in complex adult families and their members. Emphasis is on the leadership role component of the nurse practitioner as well as on the direct provision of primary care. In addition to classes, students participate in clinical experiences.
Prerequisites: NU 566, NU 551, NU 552, NU 561, NU 606, and NU 607

Accelerate Your FNP Career at a Top-Ranked University

The online Post-Master’s FNP Certificate program at Sacred Heart University offers a fast-track option for nurses to expand their nursing expertise. In just four courses, students gain specialized knowledge and hands-on experience in primary care for adults, children, and women and advanced care for families in complex systems. In addition, students hone these skills through an online program at a university recognized nationwide for its commitment to providing quality education and clinical expertise. Students graduate from Sacred Heart prepared to provide exceptional patient care and make a meaningful difference in their communities.

Earning the online Post-Master’s FNP Certificate from Sacred Heart can enhance professional development and bring new opportunities in the rapidly evolving healthcare industry.

Certificate Outcomes

Admissions Requirements

  • Up to six transferrable credits
  • No GRE/GMAT required

You’re ready to take the next step in your career and apply to the online Post-Master’s Family Nurse Practitioner Certificate program! Admission requirements for this program include:

Apply Now

Tuition Details

  • $22,920 Tuition*
  • $955 per Credit Hour

Investing in the online Post-Master’s FNP Certificate program unlocks your ability to obtain the knowledge, skills, and credentials needed to become a sought-after family nurse practitioner. This advanced certification can expand career opportunities and leadership potential in healthcare settings, empowering nurses to make a meaningful impact on patient care and outcomes.

Please note this certificate program is not eligible for federal financial aid.

Tuition and Fees

Frequently Asked Questions

If you have a question we don’t cover here, request more information or call 877-791-7181.

You can complete the program in just 15 months. To see the curriculum, view our courses page.

Tuition is $955 per credit hour. You’ll need to complete 24 credits for a total tuition of $22,920.

Note that this is the estimated total tuition and will vary depending on additional fees, textbook costs and other considerations.

Tuition for the program is $22,920. You need to complete 24 credits at $955 per credit hour.

Note that this is the estimated total tuition and will vary depending on additional fees, textbook costs and other considerations.

While no prior work experience is required, the program is designed for students who want to advance their careers as Family Nurse Practitioners, and who possess an unencumbered RN license and an MSN degree.

Yes, the online Post-MSN Family Nurse Practitioner Certificate program accepts up to 6 transfer credits.

The requirements for the online Post-MSN Family Nurse Practitioner Certificate program include:

  • Unencumbered U.S. RN license
  • MSN from an accredited college
  • 3.0 GPA
  • Prerequisite courses: Advanced Pathophysiology, Advanced Pharmacology and Advanced Health Assessment
  • Computer TOEFL score equivalent to 80%
Visit our FAQ page

Sources and Disclaimer

  1. “Nurse Anesthetists, Nurse Midwives and Nurse Practitioners,” Occupational Outlook Handbook, Bureau of Labor Statistics. Retrieved April 13, 2023, from https://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/nurse-anesthetists-nurse-midwives-and-nurse-practitioners.htm
  2. “Family Nurse Practitioner (NP) Salary in the United States”. Retrieved April 13, 2023, from https://www.salary.com/research/salary/alternate/family-nurse-practitioner-np-salary

*Note that this is the estimated total tuition and will vary depending on additional fees, textbook costs and other considerations.