One of the many programs offered by different nurse practitioner schools is the family nurse practitioner program. A family nurse practitioner program will prepare a registered nurse with the much needed skills so as to be able to provide basic health care to families in various settings. Undertaking this program, a registered nurse is able to follow a patient through his or her recovery process by using gynecologic, pediatric, and diagnostic skills acquired.
Nurse practitioner schools came to being due to the rapid growth in the health care industry, which in fact outpaced the rate at which doctors were graduating from medical schools. This in turn, created shortages of medical specialists within the health care industry. However, with the emergence of nurse practitioner schools, registered nurses are taking advanced programs in a specific field and hence becoming professionals in such fields. On completion of the nurse practitioner program, the registered nurse is awarded a certificate.