YSU clinical hours, program by program, with the source for each

Hours by YSU program

YSU states its hours in the catalog, the online program pages, the graduate handbook and the online FAQ, each written at a different time. The table gives the figure each one states and shows both numbers where two disagree. The planner on this page lists the same clinical courses track by track and links each one to its own guide.

Only the two nurse practitioner totals truly conflict. The FNP hours guide explains where YSU's 600 comes from, and the AGACNP hours guide does the same for 540. Certificate students register for the same five practicums as MSN students, so we read the older certificate totals as out of date rather than as a lighter load; ask your advisor which total your catalog year carries.

Nursing Education, Capstone and RN to BSN hours

Nursing Education has two supervised practicums, NURS 7022 at 50 hours and NURS 7023 at 100, both in education and health care settings, with the second focused on nursing education. The MSN and the post-master's certificate share them. YSU's public pages do not say who arranges them; the Nurse Educator practicum guide lists what to ask.

NURS 7005 Capstone Practicum is the last course in the FNP, AGACNP and Nursing Education MSN. YSU's FNP page puts its workload at 60 project clock hours, apart from the precepted practicums, and lets it run with the final practicum or in the term after. The Capstone guide covers the timing.

RN to BSN students complete 60 practicum hours: 20 in NURS 4852 and 40 in NURS 4854L. The preceptor is an RN holding a BSN or higher, with at least a year of leadership experience, and a practicum contract between YSU and the facility comes first. YSU suggests doing it where you work, outside your scheduled shifts; the RN to BSN page has the rest.

How YSU records and approves your hours

YSU's 2026-27 graduate handbook splits the record-keeping between you, your preceptor and your clinical faculty. The log forms and course syllabi are not public; enrolled students find them in Exxat and Blackboard.

1. Set the schedule with your preceptorYSU's FAQ leaves the weekly plan to you and your preceptor, and the handbook makes fitting your work shifts around clinical time your job.
2. Record each day in ExxatThe handbook has you enter clinical hours, patient encounters and the rest of your practicum documentation in Exxat, or in another system YSU approves. The older FAQ says hours were tracked in Medatrax; the Exxat guide explains the switch.
3. Your preceptor verifies the hoursPreceptors verify clinical hours and complete the student evaluations the program requires, according to the handbook.
4. Clinical faculty evaluate and gradeClinical faculty make site visits or virtual evaluations and assign the final clinical grade, basing it on what preceptors report, what faculty observe directly, your clinical documentation and your practicum logs.

Two more handbook rules protect the record. Missed hours get made up only at times your preceptor and clinical faculty agree to, and misrepresenting clinical hours or patient encounters is listed as unsafe practice.

Keeping 150 hours per term within reach

YSU sets the hours; the hard part is a preceptor whose clinic week can carry 150 of them inside seven weeks. We look for preceptors with enough clinic days for your practicum, check the setting against YSU's primary care or acute care rule and your workplace limits, and have the next practicum's preceptor in progress while the current one runs. For FNP students, the plan also shows where the pediatric and women's health hours will come from, well before the practicum that needs them.

Already short of hours mid-term? The behind on clinical hours page sets out what to do this week, and the form below starts a search near you.