UC pediatric acute care NP clinicals: ANPC8020, ANPC8022 and ANPC8024

Two routes into UC's PNP-AC clinicals

UC offers pediatric acute care as a BSN-to-DNP track and as a post-master's certificate, and both start in fall only. The DNP runs online with immersions, and UC says it prepares graduates for the PNCB acute care pediatric NP exam. The certificate takes applicants from just three states, Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana, so its internships stay in that region.

UC has no primary care pediatric NP track. PNP-AC is an acute care program that happens to open with a primary care block, so don't treat it as a route into pediatric primary care practice.

DNP students also complete three project practicums worth 500 hours, which have their own page: the DNP project practicum. Washington is off the table for this DNP, on top of the states UC shuts to every graduate clinical; UC state authorization owns that list.

DNP practicums: 616 hours

The DNP major map, 76 to 79 credits in all, sets the practicums in semesters 6, 7 and 8, each beside a one-credit seminar (ANPC8030, ANPC8032, ANPC8034). The four-credit didactic courses ANPC8010 Pediatric Acute Care I and ANPC8012 Pediatric Acute Care II run alongside Practicums II and III. At two, four and five credits, each practicum works out to 56 clinical hours per credit, a ratio UC's documents imply but never state.

UC's requirement PDF gives hours by course; the 616 total is our addition. The semester-date and week-2 rules shared by every track are on clinical hours by UC track.

Practicum I: a primary care block first

ANPC8020 is the only PNP-AC practicum with two settings. Of its 112 hours, 72 are primary care, in either a school-based health center or a community pediatric office, and the other 40 are acute care on a pediatric hospital unit. That usually means two preceptors, two Preceptor Applications and possibly two affiliation agreements in a single term.

Give the primary care piece the same attention as the hospital piece. If you pick a school-based health center, check whether it keeps hours during school breaks that fall inside UC's semester. If a pediatric practice already hosts NP students, ask whether it has an agreement with UC and note the answer on the application.

From ANPC8022 on, you're in the hospital. Practicum III, at 280 hours, is the longest, so a preceptor who can offer steady shifts across the term matters more than the unit's name.

Post-master's certificate internships

The certificate swaps the three practicums for four one-credit internships. UC's certificate requirements list 140 hours each for ANPC8036, ANPC8037 and ANPC8038, and 140 to 180 hours for ANPC8039. The settings match the DNP: pediatric hospitals for acute care, and community pediatric practices or school-based health centers for primary care.

Added together, that comes to 560 to 600 hours. The certificate major map lists 12 credits over two years, including ANPC8010 and ANPC8012, and your personal plan takes shape only after UC has read your transcript. The certificate has no DNP project courses, so these internships are its whole clinical load. Check your own plan of study for the internship order, and see UC post-master's NP certificates for rules shared across certificates.

Who can precept, and where

UC's PNP-AC requirements accept a PNP, a physician (MD or DO) or a pediatric-focused FNP. PNCB is among the certifying bodies UC recognizes, and the rest of the shared standard is on UC preceptor requirements. Plan pediatric NP shifts deliberately, since UC requires no less than 20% of your time with an NP certified in your pediatric population focus.

PNP-AC carries an exception most tracks don't: according to UC's FAQ for preceptors, certain PNP-AC students can log hours on their own employer's unit. The FAQ stops short of saying which students qualify, so get a written answer from your CSC before you count on it; clinicals at your employer compares the rules by track.

Physician assistants may precept only in states on UC's list: Kentucky is on it, while Ohio and Indiana are not. A director can approve some telehealth hours, but a PNP-AC student has to be physically beside the preceptor, not joining by video.

Before each practicum term

1. Confirm your CSCUC's Clinical Planning page and Key Contacts page name different coordinators for PNP-AC. Ask which one handles your packet before you send anything.
2. Match the settingPrimary care plus acute care for ANPC8020; a pediatric hospital for ANPC8022 and ANPC8024.
3. Meet the packet deadlineANPC8020 may need two packets, one per setting, by the same Friday; each term's date is on UC packet deadlines.
4. Leave room for contractsUC's standard affiliation agreement needs six weeks at the least, and a children's hospital that negotiates its own terms may need half a year.
5. Have the site confirmed in week 2Without one, UC's rule is to drop the course in time for a full refund.