It has been a great week for Frontier Nursing University (FNU) as we have celebrated National Nurse Practitioner Week (November 8-14, 2015). National Nurse Practitioner Week is held annually to celebrate exceptional health care providers and to remind lawmakers of the importance of removing outdated barriers to practice. In doing so, we hope that NPs will be allowed to practice to the full extent of their experience and education.

The American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) created National Nurse Practitioner Week.

This is a special year to us as we are celebrating 50 years of nurse practitioners. Fifty years ago, at the University of Colorado, the first NP program was established.  Now, 50 years later, NP programs graduated approximately 17,000 students in the 2013-2014 academic year.  There are more than 205,000 NPs licensed to practice in the United States, and NPs now have full practice authority in 21 states and the District of Columbia (according to the AANP).

FNU started the first Family Nurse Practitioner Program in 1970. Today, with graduate nursing specialties focused on women's health and family health, we offer our students both a Family Nurse Practitioner and Women's Health Care Nurse Practitioner track.  We currently have more than 700 nurse practitioner students enrolled in these two programs combined.

FNU has celebrated the week by promoting National Nurse Practitioner Week on our social media channels. Follow us on Facebook or Twitter to see ways that NPs are making a difference. We also held several news interviews in the Lexington area that we will be posting.

To check out the AANP proclamation map, go here.

To learn more about FNU and the programs and degrees offered, visit us here.