AGACNP clinicals at NKU: MSN 659L through MSN 663L

Every AGACNP clinical is worth 1 credit and occupies a single 7-week session. The 2024-25 catalog describes MSN 659L as "1 credit lab/clinical (equal to 150 direct patient care hours)."

Four of the five 2024-25 catalog entries set 150 hours each, and five courses at 150 equals the 750-hour total on NKU's current AGACNP page. The MSN 660L entry was never archived, so its figure is unconfirmed; the program total implies 150 there too, but treat that as arithmetic. The syllabus in each Canvas course has the binding number.

Spread across seven weeks, 150 hours is about 21 hours a week, the top of the 125 to 150 range NKU gives preceptors for a rotation. In practice that is roughly two 12-hour shifts, or three shorter days, every week of the session. The clinical hours guide sets the AGACNP beside NKU's other tracks.

NKU's FAQ places AGACNP clinicals in acute care hospitals and allows emergency departments and urgent care for up to 50% of hours. The program page describes the patients as acutely ill adults, adolescents through older adults, with complex conditions, and says Clinicals IV and V focus on "high-acuity and specialty areas."

Plan for that shift in focus. By MSN 662L and MSN 663L you want a preceptor on a high-acuity or specialty service, such as critical care or an inpatient consult team. The setting rules guide explains how the emergency and urgent care cap is counted.

Five credentials qualify: MD, DO, AGACNP, FNP and PA. Every preceptor needs a master's degree or higher and a minimum of one year in practice, and physician assistants are accepted only in states that permit them to precept. Allowing FNP preceptors widens the pool in hospitals where FNPs work on inpatient teams.

The preceptor must be employed at the hospital where you train and hold an active, unencumbered license in an NKU-approved state, and cannot be your supervisor, a relative or a friend. Because NKU's admission asks for a year of critical care experience, many AGACNP students want to train inside their own health system; the employer site guide explains NKU's three rules for that.

In NKU's sequence for Fall 2024 admits, the clinicals start after the specialty courses. MSN 626 and MSN 627 share a session, then MSN 659L and MSN 660L each run on their own. MSN 628 pairs with MSN 661L, MSN 662L runs alone, and the MSN 633 AGACNP Capstone pairs with MSN 663L.

A Spring 1 2025 starter on the standard path completes 16 sessions and finishes in Summer 2 2027. With a clinical in each of the last five sessions, the whole preceptor plan needs to be settled before MSN 659L begins.

NKU and the hospital must have a signed affiliation agreement in place before your term begins. Where none exists, your part is to hand NKU the right contact at the hospital; NKU runs the negotiation and cautions that a brand-new contract can still be open when class starts. The affiliation agreements guide explains how that runs.

Hospitals also run their own student onboarding, which can include badging, system training or extra checks. Ask about it as soon as a preceptor agrees, since that work runs alongside NKU's review.

The post-master's AGACNP certificate uses the same five courses and 750 hours, within 35 credits and as few as 20 months. NKU's certificates hub still mentions four supervised rotations, but the certificate's own curriculum lists five, and five is the figure to plan around. The post-master's AGACNP guide covers the rest.

Our search targets hospital-based AGACNP, FNP and physician preceptors who can give two or three days a week for a full session, at systems whose NKU agreement is in place or can be finished in time. Each request reaches your coordinators complete. The AGACNP program guide has the wider picture, and you can use the form below to get started.