Women's Health Nurse Practitioner Masters Programs

What Could You Learn in a Women's Health Nurse Practitioner Master's Program?

A women’s health nurse practitioner typically is an advanced-practice nurse who diagnoses and treats common and more complex medical conditions with a focus on female patients. They may provide care for women throughout their lifetime. This may include providing reproductive, gynecological, and obstetric care. They may provide preventive, diagnostic, and treatment as needed.

Completing a master’s in women’s health nurse practitioner program may provide a wide range of courses to prepare students to pursue a career in the field. This type of education typically includes courses on diagnosis and treatment of women-focused needs. This may include skills in areas such as assessment, diagnosing, and clinical treatment management for patients in areas of reproductive health concerns and sexual health.

Individuals who earn this degree program may be able to work in a range of fields, including cardiovascular care, critical care, emergency services, geriatric, infectious disease, oncology, and occupational health, though their focus is typically providing care to just women.

Some of those areas may include acute care for women, puberty and menopause, reproductive health, non-surgical gynecological care, childbirth and delivery concerns, antepartum, intrapartum, and postpartum concerns, and women’s primary care.

Women's Health Nurse Practitioner (WHNP) Courses May Include

Here is a look at some of the courses that WHNP students in this field of study may take:

Advanced Health Assessment

In this course, students may focus on foundational nursing skills. This may include areas such as comprehensive history and physical and psychological assessments.

Pharmacology for the Advanced Practice Registered Nurse

This course may cover topics regarding the prescribing of medications. Some areas addressed may include administering prescriptions as well as pharmacodynamics.

Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner I

This course may cover the basics of clinical practice in regards to women’s health. Topics covered may include the menstrual cycle, fertility control, and gynecological conditions.

Clinical Diagnostics for Advanced Practice Nurses

This course may cover the use of laboratory work and how to order and interpret lab results. The course may also go over the different techniques, and which ones apply to varying situations.

Pathophysiology for the Advanced Practice Nurse

In this course, students may go over human physiology. Other topics may include disease process across the lifespan and human physiologic function.

Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner II

This course may go over more features of clinical practice in regards to women's nursing. Some topics may include chronic health problems, assessment, and diagnostic techniques.

Find Funding for Nursing Programs

According to NCES, the average cost of a graduate program during the 2019 and 2020 school year was $19,792.

For some people, it is helpful to seek out financial support from one or more locations. Financial aid may be available to those who are eligible. For students who wish to pursue a degree program in this area, it may be possible to use a variety of methods to pay for that education. Consider a wide range of options that may be available. Here are a few examples.

Nursing Scholarships

A scholarship may provide some students with access to funds they do not have to repay. Scholarship providers set up these offers to those who meet the requirements they set. A scholarship may be need-based or it may be skill-based.

There may be available nursing scholarships for those pursuing a degree program in nursing available through Unigo.

Here are a few potential examples of nursing scholarship opportunities:

Is a women’s health nurse practitioner a rewarding career?

A nurse practitioner may diagnose and treat acute conditions, episodic conditions, or chronic illness. As a women’s health nurse practitioner, providers typically focus on women’s health needs. This may include the promotion of health and prevention of illness or injury. Additionally, a nurse practitioner may order, perform, and interpret diagnostic tests, including lab work and x-rays. They may prescribe medication to their patients. They are usually registered nurses who have a graduate education in the field of women's health.

Some of their day-to-day tasks include maintaining accurate and detailed patient records, health care plans, and prognoses. They also develop treatment plans based on standards of care, scientific rationale, and professional practice guidelines. They may analyze and interpret patient histories, symptoms, and health risk factors. They may diagnose and treat complex and unstable patients. In some situations, they may work in emergency care and work alongside other care providers.

To do this type of work, individuals typically need to be active listeners, problem solvers, critical thinkers and have active learning and reading comprehension skills. They may handle documenting and recording, decision-making about patient health, gathering information, assisting in the care for others, and maintaining their knowledge.

Their work experience often includes patient medical history recording, developing medical treatment plans, and analyzing any necessary imaging or test data. They may also communicate detailed medical information to patients as well as their families.

To do this type of work, individuals need to earn a graduate school degree program. They may receive some on-the-job education, but licensing and a higher level of education are typically necessary.

Important skills for Pediatric Nurse Practitioners:

• Active Listening – Giving full attention to speakers, taking time to understand the points being made, asking appropriate questions, and not interrupting.
• Complex Problem Solving – Identifying complex problems and reviewing information to evaluate options and implement solutions.
• Critical Thinking – Using logic and reasoning to identify strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.

2020 Median Annual Salary for Women’s Health Nurse Practitioners

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, these are the median annual salaries for individuals working as pediatric nurse practitioners in 2020.