UC FNP practicums and the 672-hour population mix
UC's family nurse practitioner track has three practicums worth 672 clinical hours: ANNP8070 (168), ANNP8072 (224) and ANNP8074 (280). The online MSN and the BSN-to-DNP take the same three courses under one requirements sheet. Every hour is outpatient, and the total has to break down into fixed blocks of women's health, pediatric care and adult primary care.
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672clinical hours across three FNP practicums
150hours of women's health care
200hours of pediatric primary care
322hours of adult-focused primary care
The three FNP practicums
The practicums fill the last three semesters of the plan, MSN semesters 4, 5 and 6 or DNP semesters 6, 7 and 8. Each has a seminar taken alongside it, and the hours rise with each course as the expected role widens.
| Course | MSN semester | Credits | Hours | Focus |
|---|---|---|---|---|
ANNP8070 Practicum I | 4 | 3 | 168 | Primary care across the lifespan, with seminar ANNP8080 |
ANNP8072 Practicum II | 5 | 4 | 224 | Adds differential diagnosis of acute and chronic problems, with seminar ANNP8082 |
ANNP8074 Practicum III | 6 | 5 | 280 | Evaluating care and taking on the full APN role, with seminar and capstone ANNP8084 |
UC names hospital and community clinics, private offices, internists, pediatricians and specialty offices as FNP settings, provided the preceptor practices primary care.
How the 672 hours divide by population
Your hours have to cover three populations, each with its own cap on specialty time. Tally them from the first week of ANNP8070, because a shortfall in one population is hard to close in the final term.
| Population | Required hours | Specialty allowance |
|---|---|---|
| Women's health | 150 | Up to 60 may be specialty or ambulatory; include some prenatal and postpartum exposure |
| Pediatric primary care | 200 | Up to 100 may be in an outpatient specialty clinic |
| Adult-focused primary care | 322 | Up to 90 may be specialty |
A separate ceiling covers walk-in settings: emergency departments, urgent care, retail clinics and fast track share a combined limit of 120 hours. Inpatient time doesn't count at all, because UC limits FNP clinicals to outpatient and ambulatory settings.
Courses to finish before pediatric and women's health hours
UC's FNP FAQ puts two didactic courses ahead of any pediatric or women's health clinical time: ANNP8062 Clinical Management of Children and ANNP8063 Clinical Management of Well Women for the FNP, or ANNP8060, which the FAQ names as an alternative. In the MSN plan both sit in semester 3, so students on the standard sequence finish them before ANNP8070 begins.
If you study part-time or on an adjusted plan, check the order before you book a pediatric office or a women's health clinic for Practicum I. The FAQ doesn't attach the same condition to adult primary care, which makes adult hours the natural fit for any early weeks that fall before those courses end.
Book pediatric and women's health time only after ANNP8062 and ANNP8063 (or ANNP8060) are complete. UC's FNP FAQ requires them first.
Preceptor rules that shape the hours
FNP preceptor rules are written in hours, so they belong in your plan next to the population targets.
- At least 150 of the 672 hours with an NP or CNM. Already-practicing NPs don't need to meet this one.
- At least 60 hours with each preceptor, which rules out one-off days with someone new.
- A minimum of three different preceptors (post-master's students already working as NPs need two), with no single preceptor spanning all three semesters.
- Accepted preceptors: NPs, FNPs, CNMs, WHNPs, and MDs or DOs in primary care. Clinical Nurse Specialists can't precept, and neither can holders of CPM, LM or CM credentials.
- No relatives, including by marriage. Your employer is allowed, but not your own department and not anyone who supervises you.
Finding family-practice preceptors who fit these rules is covered on finding a UC FNP preceptor. The workplace limits are compared across tracks on clinicals where you work.
Weekly pace and the term calendar
You can log no more than 40 hours in any week, and up to 32 hours beyond a practicum's requirement can carry forward to the next one. UC's student malpractice coverage runs only during the semester, so nothing logged before its first day or after its last day counts.
Every practicum needs its site locked in by the close of the second week. Practicum III's 280 hours in one semester is the heaviest stretch, so line up a preceptor with more than one open day a week, or a second preceptor, well before the packet deadline for that term.
UC may approve limited telehealth hours case by case, but for FNP those visits still happen with you in the room alongside the preceptor. How to record and verify the time is on UC clinical hour logs.
Post-master's FNP certificate internships
Certificate students take ANNP8086, ANNP8087, ANNP8088 and ANNP8089, Internships I to IV, at 1 credit each. Each can carry up to 168 hours, but UC's sheet notes the figure may vary by schema: your plan is individualized from your transcript and measured against the 672-hour requirement. Settings are the same primary care sites as the MSN.
If you already practice as an NP, the certificate asks for two preceptors instead of three and drops the 150-hour NP or CNM requirement. The certificate plan also includes ANNP8062, ANNP8063 and a 1-credit NURS8021L Pediatric Health Lab, so check where those fall before you book pediatric or women's health time. For admission and how UC builds the plan, see post-master's NP certificates at UC.
How we plan FNP hours
We start from your population gaps rather than from whoever has an opening. For each practicum we look for outpatient preceptors who meet UC's rules and fill the population you still need, then confirm they can host you for at least 60 hours inside the term. We help you prepare the Preceptor Application details your Clinical Site Coordinator (CSC) will check; the decision on each preceptor and site is UC's.
If a preceptor cancels partway through a term, we look for a replacement who sees the same population, so your mix stays on target; when a preceptor drops out covers the steps on UC's side.
Send your start term and your remaining hours by population through the form on this page.
Questions UC students ask
Can I do all my FNP hours at one family practice?
Not with one preceptor. UC requires at least three different preceptors, bars using the same one in all three semesters, and wants at least 60 hours with each. UC's rules count preceptors rather than sites, so ask your CSC whether several qualified clinicians in one practice would fit your plan and your population targets.
Does urgent care count toward UC FNP hours?
Yes, within a limit. Up to 120 of the 672 hours may come from urgent care, fast track units, retail clinics and EDs combined. The rest must come from other outpatient primary care or allowed specialty time, and everything still has to meet the women's health, pediatric and adult targets.
Can a physician assistant precept my FNP hours?
Only in the 14 states where UC accepts physician assistant preceptors, case by case and for limited hours. Kentucky is on that list; Ohio and Indiana are not. PA time also won't help you reach the 150 hours UC wants with an NP or CNM. See PA preceptors at UC.
What if I finish a practicum's hours early?
You can keep going, but only up to 32 hours beyond the course requirement carry forward to the next FNP practicum, and the 40-hour weekly cap still applies. Hours after the term's last day don't count, so finishing early doesn't let you bank time over the break.
Is the FNP DNP clinical sequence different from the MSN?
The clinical courses are the same. BSN-to-DNP FNP students take ANNP8070, ANNP8072 and ANNP8074 in semesters 6 to 8 under the same requirements sheet. Their 500 DNP project hours come from separate NDNP courses and sit on top of the 672 rather than replacing any of them.
Related pages
FNP (online MSN and DNP)Planning preceptors for UC's online FNP: three practicums, 672 outpatient hours across women's, pediatric and adult care, and UC's packet deadlines.Clinical hours by UC trackEvery UC College of Nursing track's clinical courses and hours in one table, 504 to 840 per track, plus the term-date, week-2 and NP-supervision rules.Clinical hour logsHow UC nursing students log clinical hours in eMedley so they count: 14-day verification, semester-date limits, weekly caps and carry-forward by track.Clinicals at your employerCan you do UC clinicals at your employer? AGPCNP students can't, FNP students can outside their own department, and midwifery needs a signed workplace plan.Telehealth clinical hoursWhich UC nursing tracks may count telehealth clinical hours, where you must be during a visit, and why your RN license must cover the state the patient is in.Post-master's NP certificatesUC's post-master's NP certificates: individualized FNP internships, OH/KY/IN residency for AGPCNP, AGACNP and PNP-AC, and the PMHNP virtual intensive.
Last checked 2026-09-24
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