The Master of Science in Nursing

The Family Nurse Practitioner Program in the Nursing Department at Sonoma State University offers a Master of Science in Nursing with FNP emphasis. We offer a four-semester, two-year, 46 semester unit full time option and a six-semester, three-year, 46 semester unit part time option. The program is currently offered in the geographic service areas of Sonoma State University, Chico, Redding and Turlock, Modesto, Stockton and Merced. The program accepts students from all geographic areas in Northern and Central California with the acknowledgement that students will be required to attend some seminars and labs on the SSU campus. 

The Family Nurse Practitioner concentration focuses upon the theoretical and scientific bases for the diagnosis and treatment of common illness, as well as health teaching, counseling and preventive services. Emphasis is placed upon advanced clinical skills, including history-taking and physical examination, health screening, management of common illness, and techniques of prevention and risk reduction. The graduate nursing program includes core courses which focus on theoretical/conceptual foundations, evidence based nursing practice, leadership and policy/advocacy issues in professional nursing. The Family Nurse Practitioner courses focus on the theory and practice of family nursing in primary (and some secondary) care settings. Students have a four-semester clinical preceptorship with a primary care provider. The majority of the programs coursework is web-based and students need to be competent in using a computer and the internet.

The SSU Family Nurse Practitioner option meets criteria specified in Section 1484, Title XVI of the California Administrative Code and is fully approved by the California BRN and the ACEN Accreditation. Graduates are eligible for and encouraged to seek national certification by taking either the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) FNP exam or the American Academy of Nurse Practitioner (AANP) exam.