UC AGACNP practicums: acute-care hours and the SICU option

The three AGACNP practicums

Every AGACNP practicum carries the same 168 hours, so the clinical load stays level from the first term to the last. In the MSN the practicums fall in semesters 3 to 5 of a five-semester plan; in the DNP they sit in semesters 6 to 8.

Seminars ANNP8020, ANNP8022 and ANNP8024 run with the practicums, and ANNP8002C and ANNP8004C, Advanced AGACNP Topics I and II, share the second and third clinical semesters.

Acute care areas on UC's list

UC's requirements sheet names the services where AGACNP hours fit: cardiology, the CCU, the CVRU, neurology, intensive care, nephrology, the emergency department, heart failure and hospitalist teams. Clinics and private offices appear too, for the first practicum.

The degree sheet doesn't split the 504 hours by service. The certificate sheet, though, says every certificate student should preferably complete one cardiology rotation plus one in an ICU, a pattern worth copying. Rotating through different services also makes it easier to meet the rule against keeping one preceptor for the whole program.

Cincinnati-area hospitals each run their own student process, from affiliation agreements to separate NP contracts; Cincinnati clinical sites covers how the main systems take NP students.

Preceptor mix across 504 hours

The AGACNP preceptor rules are short, and they apply across the whole program rather than per course.

• At least 100 of the 504 hours with an NP. NPs are the preferred preceptors, and MDs and DOs are accepted.
• At least 80 hours with each preceptor.
• One preceptor can't cover all three practicums.
• No family members as preceptors, and nobody from the department you work in.

A service staffed mostly by physicians can still work, as long as NP time across the three terms reaches 100 hours. If your first two preceptors are physicians, the third practicum has to carry all 100 NP hours, so plan the order deliberately. How to approach acute care NPs and physicians is covered on finding a UC AGACNP preceptor.

The optional SICU month

The requirements sheet offers a one-month intensive rotation in a surgical ICU during Practicum II or Practicum III, capped at 168 hours. Because that equals a full practicum's hours, a SICU month could cover the whole course for that term.

The sheet prints the Practicum III cap as 1608 hours, which is almost certainly a typo for 168. It doesn't explain how students are chosen for the rotation or how the unit is arranged, so if you want it, raise it with your CSC and course faculty a term ahead. A SICU month still needs an approved preceptor and an affiliation agreement in effect, the same as any other rotation, and the hours still count only inside the semester's dates.

Labs and campus days around your clinical terms

AGACNP is a hybrid program with its labs at Procter Hall on UC's Uptown campus. Nearly all coursework is online, but the plan includes one semester of weekly advanced health assessment sessions and two semesters of weekly procedure labs. Where those weeks overlap a practicum, keep the lab day clear when you agree a schedule with a preceptor. The skills covered are listed on UC's immersions and labs page.

Enrollment in the MSN, DNP and certificate is limited to people living in Ohio, Kentucky or Indiana, and all three start in the fall only. UC doesn't list AGACNP among the tracks that may count limited telehealth hours, so plan on all 504 in person. The residency rule is explained on UC state authorization.

Post-master's AGACNP internships

Certificate students take ANNP8026, ANNP8027 and ANNP8028, Internships I to III, at 1 credit and 168 hours each, which sums to 504 over a plan of about a year and a half. The first can include clinics and private offices as well as acute care areas, the later two focus on acute care, and the certificate sheet repeats the SICU option.

The certificate sheet's preference for one cardiology rotation and one ICU rotation applies here directly. The didactic side adds NURS8026, ANNP8030, ANNP8032, ANNP8002C and ANNP8004C, and residency is the same: Ohio, Kentucky or Indiana. The certificate overview covers admission.

Confirm the rules before you plan

The AGACNP requirements PDF has March 2026 in its file name, yet its footer gives a revision date of 06/2022. The rules may have moved on since that revision, so ask your CSC to confirm the preceptor minimums, the SICU option and any site-specific requirements before you commit to a plan. The sheet also doesn't mention ACLS; ask your CSC and each unit whether they expect it.

Our search covers acute care NPs and hospital physicians across Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana, matched to the service each practicum needs. We put together the details your CSC will check, and approval stays with UC. Use the form on this page to tell us your term and practicum.