YSU's online MSN in Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner
Youngstown State University's AGACNP track is a 46-credit online MSN for registered nurses who already work in critical care. It shares the MSN core with the family NP track, adds three acute care specialty courses, and finishes with five acute care practicums, NURS 7071 to NURS 7075. YSU's program page counts 750 practicum hours where the catalog says 540, and each preceptor has to be approved before the term begins.
Plan your acute care practicums
Tell us your city and the practicum ahead, and a placement advisor starts the hospital search.
NURS 7071 to NURS 7075
Who the acute care track is for
Adult-gerontology acute care is the hospital-facing half of YSU's nurse practitioner offering, taught by the Centofanti School of Nursing online in 7-week terms. You can start at any of the four fall and spring 7-week term openings, and the online program page gives 22 months as the shortest finish. The catalog names the ANCC certification exam for graduates, and the graduate handbook lists the AACN exam as well.
The catalog adds two acute care items to the general MSN admission requirements, which include an unencumbered RN license in the state where your practicum hours will take place.
The two acute care requirements
- One year or more of recent critical care experience. Emergency department, ICU and intermediate acute care work all count, and the catalog ties the year to your admission start and to registering for your first specialty course.
- A current ACLS certification before clinicals start, uploaded to Exxat with your BLS card and the rest of your compliance file (compliance checklist).
The 46 credits, stage by stage
The plan moves through three stages, and a B is the key at every gate. Nine core courses, 27 credits in all, are shared with the FNP track. Three acute care courses follow, then five practicums.
| Stage | Courses | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Core | NURS 6900, NURS 6901, NURS 6902, NURS 6903, NURS 6904, NURS 6917, NURS 6918, NURS 7003, plus the NURS 7005 Capstone Practicum | 27 |
| Acute care specialty | NURS 7037, NURS 7039, NURS 7041: Adult Gerontology Acute Care 1, 2 and 3 | 9 |
| Practicums | NURS 7071 to NURS 7075: AGACNP Practicum 1 to 5, 2 credits each | 10 |
| Total | 46 |
Every specialty course needs a B or better in Advanced Health Assessment, Differential Diagnosis and Advanced Diagnostics and Technologies, and NURS 7071 opens only when all three specialty courses carry a B. YSU's online MSN guide lists the program at 45 credits; the 2026-27 catalog table totals 46, and that is the number to plan on.
You take one specialty course per term, and a practicum cannot share a term with a didactic course, so the five practicums fill five 7-week terms in a row. The 7-week term guide shows how that plays out on the calendar.
Five practicums, from direct to indirect supervision
The catalog describes a steady handover of responsibility. In NURS 7071 you begin managing common acute problems while your preceptor supervises directly. By NURS 7073 the setting is high-acuity, such as intensive care and specialty units. In NURS 7075 you care for acutely and critically ill patients more on your own, with the preceptor supervising indirectly. Each course is covered in the AGACNP practicums guide.
Every site has to be acute care. YSU's FAQ points to ICUs, internal medicine, emergency and trauma, and specialty services such as cardiology, pulmonology and neurology as focus areas; it also names stand-alone emergency departments and urgent care, and mentions long-term care. For any setting near the edge of acute care, get your clinical faculty's view before you commit.
750 hours or 540
YSU's online AGACNP page and the FAQ's list of courses give each of the five practicums 150 hours, 750 in total. The 2026-27 catalog still says 540, as do the certificate pages and YSU's online MSN guide; that is the total of the older three-practicum sequence, which the guide splits into 180 hours apiece. The FAQ also expects 180 hours in each 7-week term, roughly 26 a week, which does not square with 150 per course.
Plan for 750 until YSU reconciles the figures, confirm your cohort's total with clinical faculty, and check the weekly load in the clinical hours planner. Hours worked in your paid job never substitute for practicum hours, even at the hospital where the practicum takes place, and any clinical time you miss is made up on a schedule your preceptor and clinical faculty approve.
Who can precept you, and where you cannot train
The graduate handbook revised in August 2026 accepts APRNs with a master's or doctorate and national certification in your population, certified nurse-midwives, licensed physicians, and, for AGACNP students specifically, master's-prepared physician assistants licensed in the practicum state. The older online FAQ excludes PAs and sets a two-year experience bar for AGACNP preceptors, before saying a few lines later that one year is enough for either track. The handbook is newer, but confirm with clinical faculty before you approach a PA (preceptor requirements).
Because the track requires recent critical care experience, you are probably applying from an ICU or emergency department job, and the workplace rule shapes the search. Your own hospital can host a practicum, but not on your unit or patient care area, not with your direct supervisor as preceptor, and never while you are being paid. An ICU nurse who trains with a hospital medicine team elsewhere in the building fits the rule; the same nurse precepted on their own ICU does not.
Finding acute care preceptors on YSU's timeline
YSU highly encourages AGACNP students to arrange their own preceptors, expects every preceptor's information two months ahead of the practicum, and asks you to open the site request at admission. If you have no preceptor, the Graduate Clinical Coordinator needs to hear from you at least 90 days ahead, and a placement YSU helps with may involve a commute (YSU's preceptor rules).
Hospitals bring their own steps. When a facility requires an affiliation agreement, YSU's FAQ cautions that the negotiation may not wrap up before your start date, in which case you may need another site. YSU is on the list of schools Cleveland Clinic will consider, according to its graduate student page, but the Clinic asks students not to contact its sites directly and requires an active Ohio RN license. Here is how we work through it with you:
- Match each practicumHospitalist, intensivist, emergency and specialty teams chosen for where you are in the sequence, from direct supervision in
NURS 7071to the ICU and specialty units ofNURS 7073. - Check YSU's rulesA preceptor outside your own unit and reporting line, credentials that match the handbook, and a site in a state YSU accepts.
- Clear the paperwork earlyThe preceptor and site details YSU needs, an early read on any affiliation agreement, and ACLS, BLS and Exxat items tracked well ahead of the 30-day deadline.
- Stay a term aheadYour next preceptor is lined up before the current practicum ends, and a replacement search begins immediately if a preceptor leaves.
Approval stays with YSU's clinical faculty. Our part is a request that is complete and suited to the practicum when it lands with them. Tell us your city and next term.
Questions YSU students ask
Which states can I live in during YSU's online AGACNP?
Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Michigan appear in YSU's catalog, graduate handbook and program map, while the online MSN page names a different fourth state, so confirm yours in writing before you apply. You must complete the program while living in an accepted state, hold an RN license where you train, and tell your advisor right away if you plan to move. See the state authorization guide.
Can I keep a full-time ICU job during YSU's AGACNP practicums?
It depends on your schedule, because the hours are substantial. By our arithmetic, 150 hours across a 7-week term is a little over 21 hours a week, and YSU's FAQ plans for about 26. The handbook makes you responsible for arranging work around clinical time, and practicum hours never count while you are on the clock, even at your own hospital.
Is there an on-campus requirement for YSU's AGACNP?
No campus residency is written into the catalog or handbook. Your graduate nursing ID badge arrives by mail during your first didactic course once your photo is on the Y Card, and clinical faculty check on your practicum in person or virtually, as the program requires. Proctored exams use a lockdown browser with a camera, and YSU requires a Sentinel U account for all NP students.
What if I need to pause between AGACNP practicums?
Talk to your advisor before you step away. Missing two or more 7-week terms in a row can mean an individualized remediation plan before you resume, according to the handbook, and a break from practicum courses of more than 365 days means the practicums you already finished no longer count and must be taken again. A leave of absence also leaves the four-year MSN limit where it is.
Is YSU's AGACNP accredited, and how do graduates do on boards?
CCNE accredits YSU's master's programs, the AGACNP among them, through December 31, 2032. YSU reports an 85% certification pass rate for AG-ACNP graduates in each of 2023, 2024 and 2025, with 2026 pending. After certification, practicing in Ohio takes an APRN license from the state nursing board; YSU's catalog and handbook still use the pre-2017 term, certificate of authority.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-26
We check these pages against YSU's own catalog, graduate handbook, online program pages and FAQ, and Ohio rules. Your clinical faculty, the Graduate Clinical Coordinator and your advisor have the final word.
YSU asks you to secure your preceptor. We find one near you.
Tell us your YSU track, where you live and when your next practicum starts. We find preceptors near you who fit the practicum, check YSU's rules and hand you what the preceptor request needs, two months ahead, with the next term's preceptor already in view.
- Primary care preceptors for FNP practicums
NURS 7061toNURS 7065, acute care for AGACNPNURS 7071toNURS 7075 - Outside your own unit and away from your supervisor, in a state YSU accepts
- Across Ohio, from the Mahoning Valley to Cincinnati, and in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Michigan
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