Learning Outcomes

The purpose of Brigham Young University College of Nursing is to develop professional nurses who promote health, care for the suffering, engage in the scholarship of the discipline, invite the Spirit into health and healing, and lead with faith and integrity. Students learn the science and advanced practice of nursing within the context of the teachings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The College seeks to meet the aims of a BYU Education "to be (1) spiritually strengthening, (2) intellectually enlarging, (3) character building leading to (4) life-long learning and service". Graduates of the program are expected to achieve stated learning outcomes.

Curricular Structure

The College of Nursing offers a Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) Program leading to a Master of Science degree. Graduates are prepared to provide evidence-based nursing care to diverse individuals, families, and groups in managing health and illness across the continuum of care.

The graduate program builds on the cognates of the baccalaureate degree and assumes that students bring from their undergraduate programs the appropriate skills in written and verbal communication., mathematics, critical thinking, basic patient assessment, and problem solving. Entrance into the graduate program also assumes that students, having graduated from baccalaureate nursing programs, have had exposure to a basic level of nursing practices, understand the health care system, cultural, social, and political perspectives that impact health benefits and healthcare and an awareness of legal and ethical concerns in nursing practice. For students to be prepared to address complex statistical issues in evidence-based practice and to understand complex pathophysiological conditions, students must also have passed courses in fundamental statistics and pathophysiology.

The graduate curriculum is divided into four sections: The Graduate Nursing Core, The Advanced Practice Core, The Population Focus Core, and Capstone Experiences.

The Graduate Nursing Core is designed to equip students with skills necessary to function as advanced practice nurses who understand how to translate the best evidence into clinical decision making and clinical practice. Students learn about advanced practice ethics, professionalism, leadership, finance, biostatistics, epidemiology, and organizational systems. The Graduate Nursing Core also provides students with the background necessary to influence healthcare planning and healthcare policy. In addition, these courses prepare students in the use of informatics and healthcare technologies, and quality improvement and safety strategies, as well as how to work interprofessionally to plan care.

The Graduate Nursing Core includes 9-10 credit hours the following courses:

NURS 607:  Informatics and Healthcare Technologies
NURS 609:  Quality Improvement, Safety, and Evidence-based Practice
NURS 611:  Policy, Leadership, and Organizational Systems
NURS 612: Ethics and Professionalism
NURS 613: Healthcare and Finance
NURS 614: Biostatistics and Epidemiology
NURS 590R: Career Strategies (Elective)

The Advanced Practice Core provides students with the foundational knowledge and skills for advanced nursing practice. These areas include advanced pharmacology, advanced pathophysiology/genetics/genomics, and advanced physical assessment.

The Advanced Practice Core courses include 10-11 credit hours and the following courses:

NURS 555: Pharmacology in Advanced Practice
NUR 619: Advanced Pathophysiology and Genetics/Genomics
NURS 620: Advanced Physical Assessment Lab
NURS 621: Advance Physical Assessment
NURS 590R: Point of Care Ultrasound (Elective)

The Population Focus Core equips students with the knowledge and skills for advanced nursing practices as a Family Nurse Practitioner. The Population Focus Core progresses from novice to intermediate to advanced levels. Students learn about simple and complex patient conditions and common, chronic, and acute disorders. Pediatrics and gerontological content are housed in Nursing 633 and Nursing 634. During the clinical courses, students and faculty can track conditions of patients followed by students in clinical settings to have a clear understanding of changes needed in clinical assignments to maximize the breadth of learning necessary to practice as an FNP. As students move through the curriculum, they are better prepared to assume interprofessional collaborative and independent roles in healthcare to influence healthcare planning and to act as advocates for appropriate change in healthcare.

The Population Focus Core includes 27 credit hours and the following courses:

NURS 624: Clinical Practicum #1
NURS 626: Clinical Practicum #2
NURS 627: Procedures and Diagnostics for the Advanced Practice Nurse
NURS 633: Family Nurse Practitioner #1
NURS 634: Family Nurse Practitioner #2

Capstone Experiences: The project links the concepts and principles learned in the Graduate Nursing Core and Advanced Practice Core with the clinical practice experience and issues seen in the Family Nurse Practitioner Population Focus Core. The project provides students with experience identifying a gap in clinical knowledge and using best practice to implement a quality improvement plan that is publishable in quality. In addition, students participate in a clinical internship which provides a focused and in-depth experience in settings approximating actual FNP practice.

The Capstone Experiences include 11 credit hours and the following courses:

NURS 616: Project #1 Beginning the Process
NURS 617: Project #2 Implementation, Data Collection, and Evaluation
NURS 618: Project #3 Writing, Defense, and Dissemination
NURS 635R: Family Nurse Practitioner Internship
NURS 698R: Project

The FNP program is sequenced so that students are grounded in fundamental knowledge and skills necessary for a family nurse practitioner which include the graduate core and advanced practice core. A final clinical internship provides a focused and in-depth experience in settings approximating actual FNP practice. 

During the clinical courses, students and faculty can track conditions of patients followed by students in clinical settings to have a clear understanding of changes needed in clinical assignments to maximize the breadth of learning necessary to practice as an FNP. As students move through the curriculum, they are better prepared to assume interprofessional collaborative and independent roles in health care to influence health care planning and to act as advocates for appropriate change in health care.

The MAP, Graduate Program Overview, Graduate Handbook, and Graduate Program Guide are all available by accessing the College of Nursing website and entering the student information through “Academics”.

Co-curricular activities that support program goals and provide opportunities for graduate student engagement are appointments as members of College Councils, membership in professional organizations, scholarly activity, and presentations at professional conferences.

Specific information regarding the graduate curriculum can be found in the links below:

Program Information

Graduate Catalog

Background for Practice from Sciences and Humanities

• Integrates scientific findings from nursing, biopsychosocial fields, genetics, public health, quality improvement, and organizational sciences for continual improvement of patient care across diverse settings.
• Courses that Contribute: NURS 555 NURS 600 NURS 601 NURS 603 NURS 605 NURS 606 NURS 608 NURS 609 NURS 619 NURS 622 NURS 624 NURS 625 NURS 626 NURS 628 NURS 632 NURS 635R NURS 699R
• Linked to BYU Aims: Quantitative reasoning, Human knowledge, Competence

Organizational and Systems Leadership

• Utilizes organizational and systems leadership to promote high quality and safe patient care
• Courses that Contribute: NURS 601 NURS 605 NURS 606 NURS 608 NURS 621 NURS 624 NURS 626 NURS 628 NURS 632 NURS 635R
• Linked to BYU Aims: Think soundly, Communicate effectively, Human knowledge, Competence

Quality Improvement and Safety

• Applies methods, tools, performance measures and standards related to quality improvement and safety within organizations.
• Courses that Contribute: NURS 600 NURS 605 NURS 607 NURS 608 NURS 609 NURS 624 NURS 626 NURS 628 NURS 632 NURS 635R
• Linked to BYU Aims: Think soundly, Communicate effectively, Competence, Character

Translating and Integrating Scholarship and Practice

• Participates as a change agent in translating and integrating scholarship and evidence into practice settings to optimize quality patient outcomes.
• Courses that Contribute: NURS 555 NURS 600 NURS 601 NURS 603 NURS 606 NURS 609 NURS 619 NURS 622 NURS 623 NURS 624 NURS 625 NURS 626 NURS 628 NURS 630 NURS 631 NURS 632 NURS 635R NURS 699R
• Linked to BYU Aims: Think soundly, Communicate effectively, Quantitative reasoning, Competence

Informatics and Healthcare Technologies

• Utilizes patient-centered and communication technologies to integrate, coordinate, deliver, and enhance health care.
• Courses that Contribute: NURS 607 NURS 624 NURS 626 NURS 628 NURS 632 NURS 635R
• Linked to BYU Aims: Think soundly, Communicate effectively, Quantitative reasoning, Competence

Health Policy and Advocacy

• Intervene at the system level through the policy development process and employing advocacy strategies to influence health and health care.
• Courses that Contribute: NURS 606 NURS 607 NURS 608 NURS 624 NURS 635R
• Linked to BYU Aims: Think soundly, Communicate effectively, Human knowledge, Competence

Interprofessional Collaboration for Improving Patient Care

• Participates, consults, communicates and collaborates as a member and leader of interprofessional teams to manage and coordinate care.
• Courses that Contribute: NURS 601 NURS 605 NURS 606 NURS 608 NURS 621 NURS 624 NURS 626 NURS 628 NURS 632 NURS 635R
• Linked to BYU Aims: Think soundly, Communicate effectively, Human knowledge, Competence

Clinical Prevention and Population Health

• Applies and integrates broad organizational, client-centered, culturally appropriate concepts in planning, delivery, managing, and evaluating evidence-based clinical prevention and population care and services to individuals, families and aggregates/identified populations.
• Courses that Contribute: NURS 555 NURS 600 NURS 601 NURS 607 NURS 608 NURS 609 NURS 619 NURS 621 NURS 622 NURS 624 NURS 625 NURS 626 NURS 628 NURS 630 NURS 632 NURS 635R
• Linked to BYU Aims: Think soundly, Human knowledge, Lifelong learning, Lifelong service

Master's Level Nursing Practice

• Provides competent evidence based advance-practice nursing care as a family nurse practitioner to diverse individuals, families, and groups and manages health and illness across the continuum of care and across the lifespan.
• Courses that Contribute: NURS 555 NURS 600 NURS 601 NURS 603 NURS 605 NURS 606 NURS 607 NURS 619 NURS 621 NURS 622 NURS 624 NURS 625 NURS 626 NURS 628 NURS 630 NURS 632 NURS 635R
• Linked to BYU Aims: Think soundly, Competence, Character, Lifelong learning

Practices According to the Healer's Art

• Provides care in a compassionate manner that respects, protects, and enhances spiritual integrity, human dignity, cultural diversity, and demonstrates the Healer's art.
• Courses that Contribute: NURS 601 NURS 606 NURS 607 NURS 608 NURS 621 NURS 622 NURS 624 NURS 625 NURS 626 NURS 628 NURS 630 NURS 632 NURS 635R
• Linked to BYU Aims: Faith and testimony, Gospel knowledge, Lifelong service