College of Nursing - Brigham Young University - Overview
Brigham Young University's Nursing Program Trains Family Nurse Practitioners Who Make Faith Part of the Healing Process
The Brigham Young College of Nursing in Provo, Utah is a community of scholars engaged in the promotion of health and worldwide healing. By practicing the healer's art with faith and spirituality, BYU develops professional nurses who forward the entire field of nursing by promoting health, caring for the suffering, engaging in scholarship, leading with integrity, and making faith and spirituality a part of health and healing.
The College of Nursing offers a generic Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) program that leads to the Master of Science (M.S.) degree. The program is approved by the Utah State Board of Nursing, and accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education.
Family nurse practitioners emphasize the promotion and maintenance of health by detecting and preventing possible negative changes in health. Family nurse practitioners teach, council, and support both families and individuals, working in illness care management and diagnosing common, chronic, and acute conditions.
BYU's Family Nurse Practitioner program requires students to keep current in both knowledge and skills relevant to modern health care. Students are expected to review and assimilate modern health care research, as well as contribute to the field of knowledge through peer review. Students in the program are also required to have a car, so that they can travel for clinical experiences.
Family nurse practitioners are expected to improve access to primary care for all populations, especially those considered under-served, whether inner city, suburban, or rural. This often includes providing care outside of the hospital in settings such as schools, workplaces, and offices.
Internships with local clinical agencies are also part of the family nurse practitioner program, training students not only in clinical research and management strategies, but also offering a challenging experience in development as an independent practitioner.
The faculty in the graduate program includes nurse clinicians and practitioners with doctoral and master's preparation in the areas they teach. In addition, adjunct doctoral faculty members in clinical areas also work with students to provide specialized knowledge.
BYU College of Nursing Offers Research Facilities with Statistical Software, and a Learning Center with Modern Equipment
Research at Brigham Young is supported by a dedicated research center, equipped with modern computer stations loaded with statistical software. Faculty and graduate students can easily enhance their research with quantitative data analyses and qualitative data management. The software can also produce graphics, making the research center an important place to prepare research presentations.
In addition to the main research center, the Nursing Learning Center (NLC) is located in the same building on the first floor. The NLC provides College of Nursing students with a study area, reference desk, numerous nursing instructional programs, and other resources. Access to the NLC is restricted to nursing students who are not carrying food or drink.
The nursing labs at the NLC provide valuable instruction that brings clinical reality into the educational portion of the nursing program. Hospital patient units and equipment are used to give students a realistic experience, and the Basic Nursing Lab is also equipped with a nurses' station and medication preparation area for the purposes of hospital simulation. The Advanced Nursing Lab simulates a critical care unit and medical surgical nursing unit. Additional learning areas are available for pediatrics and maternal/newborn patient care.
The NLC also boasts two sophisticated, high-fidelity computer-based human patient simulators. The adult and pediatric simulators allow students to: assess changeable heart sounds, breath sounds, and chest movement; experience cardiac monitoring; administer simulated medications; and observe the physiological effect of all of the above. Simulations use different patient profiles and health care scenarios, giving students a realistic experience of diagnosing a patient.
The NLC also houses a maternal and neonatal birthing simulator that provides students with the opportunity to practice childbirth patient care, from pre-pregnancy care to the delivery process itself, and after as well. The simulator provides experience with fetal position, fetal heart sounds, and Leopold maneuvers.
Brigham Young University's Post-Graduate Family Nurse Practitioner Certificate Program Provides Specialized Training
A post-master's family nurse practitioner degree is available for those who have already received a master's degree in nursing. The post-graduate Family Nurse Practitioner Certificate Program (FNP-CP) prepares nurses in advanced practice for clinical leadership and scholarship in community oriented primary care.
Students in the post-graduate program will learn assessment, treatment, primary prevention, and evaluation of actual or potential client health problems within a family framework. From scientific principles both behavioral and physiological, to resource and technology management, to consulting and collaboration, students will gain an understanding of all that is required to be a professional family nurse practitioner.
The post-graduate program takes six semesters of full-time study, although a part-time program is also available. Graduates of the program will be eligible to take the ANA Certification Examination for Family Nurse Practitioners.