Why Earn A Post
Post-masters certificate programs build your clinical skills and knowledge and provide the opportunity for you to take on new challenges and redefine your career path. The Family Nurse Practitioner Certificate prepares you to care for patients from infancy through adulthood, providing treatment for illnesses, as well as preventative and health education services.
Rivier offers post-masters nursing certificates to RNs that have already earned an MSN degree.
Family Nurse Practitioner Post
The University of North Georgia offers a Post-Masters Certificate in Family Nurse Practitioner. To receive the Post-Masters Certificate in Family Nurse Practitioner, students must successfully complete up to 46 credit hours of family nurse practitioner coursework, including all clinical courses plus Advanced Pathophysiology, Advanced Pharmacology, and Advanced Physical Assessment if not already taken at the graduate level. An individualized plan of study is developed based on the students earned masters degree.
Post Master Certification: Family Nurse Practitioner
Applications are no longer being accepted to the Post Master Certification: Family Nurse Practitioner program.
For current cohorts: the purpose of the post-masters FNP certificate program is to prepare nurses who already possess an earned Master of Science in Nursing for a career as a Family Nurse Practitioner. The program of study for each student will be determined following a review of the prior graduate education official transcript and course content. All students pursuing the Post-Masters FNP certificate will complete a designated number of credit and clinical hours . Additional course work in health assessment, advanced pharmacotherapeutics, or advanced pathophysiology. The program is tailored individually for current nurse practitioners who want the FNP certificate.
Upon successful completion of the certificate program, graduates are eligible to take the American Nurses Credentialing Center or the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners .
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Restrictions On Clinical Sites
We highly encourage all clinical hours to be conducted in the primary care setting for this program. Students are restricted from completing clinical rotations on their assigned unit. Your immediate supervisor at your place of employment may not serve as your preceptor. Students are not permitted to perform clinical rotations during hours they are working as an employee at a facility. Students are also not allowed to be paid during clinical hours.
What Is The Difference Between A Nursing Certification And A Post

When it comes to nursing certifications, there are several options for nurses based on their degree level. For example, nursing certifications differ from post-master’s graduate certificates for several reasons. First, the requirements for certification are different. Nursing certifications are offered to RNs with a minimum of 2,000 hours of practice in a specific specialty. Post-master’s certificates are offered to master’s degree nurses or higher. Second, nursing certifications usually only require a certain amount of clinical experience. Post-master’s certificates usually require completion of a curriculum in order to become certified.
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How To Choose An Online Fnp Post
Though online options for family nurse practitioners to obtain their post-masters certificate are becoming more common, its important to understand that some programs are actually a hybrid. These might allow you to complete much of the coursework online, but also require that you appear on campus a certain number of times. Students can also choose between full-time or part-time study options.
Prospective students can narrow down their choices by focusing on accredited FNP post-graduate certificate programs only, which are usually required for credentialing purposes.
Because of the wide range of certificates that you can choose to obtain, the number of credits that are required varies. This could also differ depending on the school you attend most range from 12 to 36. The required clinical hours also increase the length of time that is needed to complete the certificate of your choice.
What Will I Learn In A Post
Family Nurse Practitioner Post-Masters Certificate Program graduates obtain the necessary skills and knowledge needed to assess, diagnose and manage patients along the continuum of health. FNP professionals care for patients across the lifespan in a wide array of primary care settings including clinics, offices and other community settings.
Quick Facts
- Masters degree in nursing and at least one year of clinical nursing experience is required
- The FNP Post-Masters Certificate Program is not eligible for financial aid or financial assistance
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Compare The 2021 Top Ranked Online Fnp Post
For advanced-practice RNs who wish to switch or add a specialty as a Family Nurse Practitioner , the post-master’s certificate route is an increasingly popular pathway. Choosing the right program, however, is an important consideration. With online certificate programs popping up all over the country, prospective students need to pick wisely. Below, we’ve ranked the best online FNP Post-Master’s Certificate programs to help you find the right school for you. For more information on how we developed our rankings, visit our Methodology page.
- Online/Hybrid
List Of Online Family Nurse Practitioner Post
Search our listings below to find online and hybrid Family Nurse Practitioner post-masters certificate programs near you.
Select Your State:
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Tuscaloosa, AL |
University of Alabama in Huntsville
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Phoenix, AZ |
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Rohnert Park, CA |
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Pomona, CA |
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Milledgeville, GA |
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Peoria, IL |
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Romeoville, IL |
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Joliet, IL |
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Muncie, IN |
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Sioux City, IA |
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Richmond, KY |
University of Kentucky College of Nursing
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Hammond, LA |
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Bangor, ME |
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Spring Arbor, MI |
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Why Get An Fnp Post
While a family nurse practitioner MSN provides you with a broad and generalized scope of knowledge, the FNP post-masters certification is more specialized and takes your prior education into account. Obtaining a post-grad certificate also allows you to add another specialty to your expertise, opening up even more employment opportunities. The careers that are open to you as a family nurse practitioner with a post-masters grad certificate are similar to those who have an MSN in the field. FNPs are commonly employed in:
- Hospitals
- Primary care offices
- Private practices
Lets take a closer look at why you may wish to pursue this type of program.
Finding Clinical Sites And Preceptors
STU strongly encourages students to secure their own preceptors, as this is the best way to accommodate schedule and location to the students needs. We strongly encourage students to have an alternate preceptor available if needed.
If assistance with clinical placement is needed, you may be required to commute outside your local area, as STU cannot guarantee a clinical site within your immediate location. Please note that your clinical site could be up to 100 miles from your residence.
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Nurse Practitioner Career And Salary
Certified nurse practitioners are in high demand and the job outlook is excellent for these roles. According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, nurse practitioner positions are expected to rise 28 percent between 2018 and 2028, an increase of over 53,000 jobs . Additionally, nurse-midwifery positions are expected to increase by 16 percent for that same time frame. The average across all occupations is 5 percent, for reference.
Nurse practitioners can expect to earn between $80,670 and $182,750 per year with a median salary landing at $107,030 . NPs play an important role in healthcare, and given their advanced practice training and their significant autonomy and practice authority, NPs can help mitigate the shortage of family practice doctors across the country.
NPs study a wide variety of subjectsincluding courses on:
- Healthcare policy
What Is A Post

A post-master’s certificate is a pathway for nurses who have earned a master’s degree to gain specialized knowledge. This affords nurses more opportunity and career growth. Post-master’s certificates add another year or two of graduate study and are usually more specialized. Additionally, post-master’s certificates allow nurses with a master’s degree to become certified in niche specialties.
Nurses may also “cross over” to a different specialty than what they focused on in their original MSN program via a post-master’s certificate. For example, a nurse practitioner with an adult-gerontology specialty can become certified in family medicine. Sometimes the core courses they completed in their original master’s program can be applied towards the certificate program.
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Why Should I Pursue A Post
There are several reasons why a master’s-prepared nurse would pursue a post-master’s certificate. As mentioned earlier, nurse practitioners may wish to change specialties, or enhance their current practice. For example, a primary care nurse practitioner may want to become certified in acute care. A family practice nurse practitioner may wish to pursue a mental health certificate. Adding expertise in a clinical specialty helps to increase job prospects as well as provide high-quality care in current practice.
Nurses who hold a master’s degree in nursing may also wish to pursue more administrative or educational roles. For example, master’s-prepared nurses who work as clinical nurse specialists may want to earn certification in education to enhance their practice and expand their career mobility. Nurses with an MSN in nurse leadership may choose a certificate program in informatics, which would help them participate in designing and implementing innovative technology to improve patient care outcomes. Essentially, a post-master’s certificate broadens a nurse’s knowledge base and can help open more doors in their careers.
How Do Post
The DNP degree is considered a “terminal” degree for nurses – there is no higher degree option . Another way to view a post-master’s certificate is that it is an education level somewhere between a master’s and doctoral degree. Post-master’s certificate programs differ from DNP and Ph.D. programs in that they may not take as long to complete. Some programs also do not require completion of a capstone project. Of course, this depends on the nurse’s choice of specialty, the school, and the nurse’s educational background.
One can also understand the difference by picturing a tree the bachelor’s degree is the root, the master’s degree the trunk, and the DNP or Ph.D. the top leafy part. The post-master’s certificate can be any one of the branches reaching off the trunk – each one a different specialty which contributes to the fullness of the tree.
Choosing which program to pursue is an individualized choice and is based on the nurse’s long-term career and personal goals. Earning a DNP or Ph.D. means the nurse has reached the pinnacle of nursing practice and knowledge. For those who wish to reach the very top, a DNP or Ph.D. in nursing program might be the right choice. Master’s-prepared nurses who simply wish to change or enhance their current practice would do well choosing a post-master’s certificate program.
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