Doctor of Nursing Practice - Family Nurse Practitioner Curriculum

Degree Overview

Credits: 86
Clinical hours: 1,035
Duration: 3 years (minimum)

DNP-FNP Curriculum

Core Courses

• Advanced Health Assessment & Diagnostic Reasoning (90 practicum hours)
• Advanced Pathophysiology for Advanced Practice Nursing
• Advanced Pharmacotherapeutics
• Advanced Roles for the DNP FNP
• Applied Statistics for Advanced Nursing Practice
• Evidence-Informed Practice I
• Evidence-Informed Practice II
• Family Systems
• Healthcare Informatics
• Healthcare Policy
• Introduction to the Art & Science of Nurse Coaching (90 practicum hours)
• Population Health & Emerging Diseases
• Practice Leadership for the Advanced Practice Nurse
• Practice Management for the Advanced Practice Nurse
• Research & Evidence Informed Practice
• Theories for Advanced Nursing Practice
• Vulnerable Populations
• DNP Project
• DNP Transition

Practicum Courses

• Family Nurse Practitioner I (135 practicum hours)
• Family Nurse Practitioner II (135 practicum hours)
• Family Nurse Practitioner III (180 practicum hours)
• Primary Care for the Chronically Ill: 1 (90 practicum hours)
• Primary Care for the Chronically Ill: 2 (90 practicum hours)
• FNP Residency (225 practicum hours)

Clinical Hours

You’ll complete 1,035 clinical hours. These clinical experiences take place in outpatient or primary care settings. They cannot be completed at your current workplace, but we’ll support you in finding clinical sites and preceptors.

Online Coursework

Most of your coursework can be completed online on your own schedule. We follow a semester format with regular deadlines, but you can access materials and complete assignments when it works for you. The only live requirement is during the nurse coaching course, which requires weekly 1.5-hour sessions at a set time.

In-Person Experiences

The program includes select in-person components that give you the hands-on skills and real-world confidence that set you apart as a practitioner.

Orientation

This one-day event brings all nursing graduate students to campus. Students connect with their peers and experience the close-knit community that makes Texas Wesleyan special.

Skills Intensives

You’ll attend two mandatory skills intensives at our Fort Worth campus. These sessions teach practical skills you’ll actually use in your day-to-day work, including:

• ECG and X-ray interpretation
• Suturing techniques
• Incision and drainage procedures
• IUD placement
• Casting and splinting
• Comprehensive patient evaluations

Defense and Poster Sessions

The DNP-FNP program culminates with an on-campus presentation. Over two days, students defend their final projects, present their research and celebrate what they’ve accomplished throughout their doctorate.

Community Service Learning Projects

These optional opportunities give students experience working on-site in underserved communities. This hands-on work prepares you to serve populations that often lack access to primary care, which is where family nurse practitioners can make their greatest impact.

For past projects, students have:

• Traveled to the Colonias along the Texas-Mexico border, where migrant day workers live with no electricity or running water, and worked alongside the Sisters of Mercy in Laredo to provide care
• Partnered with Child Care Associates in Fort Worth to offer health education to families and physicals for children in Head Start and Early Head Start programs
• Spent multiple days at Dallas clinics, working with local shelters to provide health screenings for unhoused teens

Learn More