FNP clinicals at NKU: MSN 650L through MSN 655L

NKU's program page describes all six as supervised FNP clinicals "in a variety of primary care settings." Each carries 1 credit and fills one 7-week session.

The 2024-25 catalog lists each FNP clinical as "0 classroom + 1 lab/studio" and gives no hour figure per course. The FNP Capstone, MSN 630, requires MSN 623, MSN 629 and MSN 654L first.

NKU publishes the FNP total, 750 hours, but not a figure for each course. Six courses into 750 averages 125 hours apiece; that is arithmetic, not an NKU number. NKU's general guidance to preceptors puts a 7-week rotation at about 125 to 150 hours, and expects preceptors to be on hand two or three days weekly.

Your syllabus sets each course's weekly minimum and maximum. Read it the day the course shell opens and share the numbers with your preceptor, so the schedule fits from the first week. The clinical hours guide compares the FNP total with every other NKU track.

NKU's sequence template for Fall 2024 admits onward spreads the six clinicals across the back half of the program, in this order:

• MSN 621 alongside MSN 650L
• MSN 622 alongside MSN 651L
• MSN 623, then MSN 629, each in a session without a clinical
• MSN 652L, MSN 653L and MSN 654L, one per session
• MSN 630 FNP Capstone alongside MSN 655L

On the standard path, a Spring 1 2025 starter runs 17 sessions and finishes in Fall 1 2027. The two sessions in the middle with no clinical are useful time to confirm the preceptors for the final three courses. Where your advisor's plan differs from the catalog, follow the plan.

NKU's FAQ lists an MD, DO, NP or PA as FNP preceptors, each with at least one year of experience and a master's degree or higher; a PA qualifies only where the state allows it. Primary care clinics and physician offices are the core settings, and long-term care and hospice are also on NKU's list.

Specialty offices such as urgent care or cardiology count for up to 125 hours per specialty rotation. The setting rules guide explains that cap, and the preceptor requirements guide covers what every preceptor must meet, from license and location to the relationships NKU rules out.

Across the whole MSN, NKU permits anywhere from one preceptor to four. With six FNP clinicals, at least one preceptor will cover more than one course, and a strong preceptor who stays for several sessions saves you a fresh search each time.

Each course still needs its own Medatrax self-placement request and its own approval. Per NKU's preceptor FAQ, a returning preceptor sends a new CV only when something on it is different, so a repeat rotation is quicker to file. The self-placement request guide covers what each request contains.

The post-master's FNP certificate uses these same six courses and the same 750-hour total, within 36 credits and as few as 22 months. Everything above applies; the post-master's FNP guide covers admission and the rest of the certificate.

Earlier cohorts had a five-clinical FNP ending at MSN 654L, with a 600-hour total. If you were admitted earlier, check your own plan of study with an advisor before you promise a preceptor a sixth rotation.

We map all six rotations when you start with us: which preceptor covers which course, which sessions each can give, and whether any specialty hours fit under NKU's cap. Primary care preceptors who can commit to several sessions come first, which keeps your paperwork light and your hours steady.

Every request we prepare arrives with the preceptor's documents in order and the Preceptor Responsibilities form signed, ready for your Clinical and Concentration Coordinators. The FNP program guide gives the wider picture, and the form below starts your plan.