NURS 7062, FNP Practicum 2: building differential diagnoses in primary care
In NURS 7062, the second of five FNP practicums at Youngstown State University, the catalog turns the spotlight on diagnosis: you pull assessment findings together, form differential diagnoses and start weaving evidence-based interventions into care. It is a 2-credit, 7-week course that opens after a B in NURS 7061, and because YSU wants each preceptor's information two months ahead, this one is usually settled before Practicum 1 has found its rhythm.
Line up your NURS 7062 preceptor
Share your Practicum 1 dates and where you live. We plan the second preceptor before the first term gets busy.
From managing to diagnosing
The catalog's description of NURS 7062 begins: "Students synthesize assessment findings, formulate differential diagnoses, and begin to integrate evidence-based interventions within the practice settings." Set it next to the Practicum 1 description and the change is plain. The first course asks you to begin managing conditions; the second asks you to work out what the condition is.
NURS 7061 | NURS 7062 | |
|---|---|---|
| Core task | Begin to manage common acute and chronic conditions | Synthesize findings and formulate differential diagnoses |
| Evidence | Not named in the opening sentence | Begin to integrate evidence-based interventions |
| Prerequisite | NURS 7047, B or better | NURS 7061, B or better |
| Credits and hours | 2 credits; 150 hours in the FAQ | 2 credits; 150 hours in the FAQ |
The skill has a classroom root. NURS 6917 Differential Diagnosis is one of the core courses and a gate to the first FNP specialty course, and Practicum 2 is where it meets patients who arrive with a symptom rather than a label. The catalog gives no hour figure for the course itself; the FAQ's 150 and the wider totals debate are on FNP clinical hours.
A setting that sends you undiagnosed patients
YSU's setting rule stays fixed for all five practicums: primary care only, in one of the four populations YSU lists: adult, gerontology, pediatric or women's health. Inside that rule, diagnostic practice grows fastest where people come in with a new complaint, such as a family practice that keeps room for sick visits, rather than a clinic built around scheduled follow-ups.
Our suggestion, not a YSU requirement: if your first preceptor saw mostly adults, NURS 7062 is a sensible term to begin the pediatric primary care hours in YSU's recommended mix, with a pediatric preceptor or in a family practice that sees children. Young patients bring a different set of differentials, and starting early leaves three more terms of room if a pediatric site is slow to approve. YSU's minimums for each population are on our FNP hour mix page.
Who can precept Practicum 2, and the PA question
This is the first practicum where YSU's two documents part ways in a way that changes your options. The 2026-27 graduate handbook permits up to 150 FNP clinical hours with an approved physician assistant once the first practicum course is passed. The older online FAQ says a preceptor may not be a physician assistant. The handbook, revised in August 2026, is newer, yet it is worth asking clinical faculty before you build a term around a PA.
Everyone else on the handbook's list remains eligible: nationally certified APRNs holding a master's or doctorate, certified nurse-midwives, and licensed MDs or DOs, with the FAQ adding a one-year experience expectation for NP preceptors. The complete rules are on preceptor requirements.
Under the handbook, the physician assistant allowance is a ceiling of 150 hours for the whole FNP program, not 150 per practicum, and it applies only after NURS 7061 is passed.
Keep your first preceptor, or change?
Either can work. YSU sets no required number of preceptors and lets hours be divided among approved ones. Staying put saves orientation time with someone who already knows how you think; moving adds a new patient population and a second evaluator's view of your progress. A mixed plan works too: keep the Practicum 1 preceptor for most of the hours and add a second approved preceptor, perhaps in pediatrics, for part of the term.
Whichever you choose, YSU's FAQ asks for preceptor information before each clinical rotation, so treat a returning preceptor as a new submission for the new course and confirm with clinical faculty what Exxat needs. A preceptor who agreed to one term has not agreed to two, so ask directly and early.
Working diagnosis by diagnosis with your preceptor
Clinical faculty set the grade, weighing the preceptor's evaluations with direct observation, your documentation and your practicum logs, so what the preceptor sees day to day is what reaches YSU. These habits help, as our practical suggestions:
- Offer your differential first: name the likely diagnoses and your reasons, then hear the preceptor's view.
- Write diagnosis into your objectives: the handbook has students set individualized learning objectives with the preceptor and clinical faculty.
- Keep records current: encounters and hours logged in Exxat, ready for the preceptor to verify.
- Ask which evaluation forms apply: the current handbook refers to required student evaluations, and the archived 2022-23 handbook named midterm and final forms.
- Log exactly what happened: the handbook lists misrepresenting clinical hours or patient encounters as unsafe practice.
When the Practicum 2 preceptor is due
Take a student whose NURS 7061 runs in the Spring 2027 first 7-week term, January 4 to February 21, with NURS 7062 starting March 8. Two months before March 8 is about January 8, so the Practicum 2 preceptor's information is due in the first week of Practicum 1. The 90-day point for telling the Graduate Clinical Coordinator you have no preceptor falls near December 8, 2026, before Practicum 1 has begun. These dates are our arithmetic from YSU's rules and its 2026-27 calendar; the approval timeline explains the rules.
The practical answer is one search for two preceptors. That is how our placement desk works for YSU students: while you are still learning your first clinic, your placement advisor already has the second preceptor confirmed, checked against primary care, the approved preceptor list and YSU's workplace and state rules, with the details the Student Preceptor Agreement asks for in hand. Send us your practicum dates.
Questions YSU students ask
Do I have to do pediatric hours in NURS 7062?
No YSU rule assigns pediatric hours to a particular practicum. YSU's FAQ recommends a minimum number of pediatric primary care hours across the program, and when you schedule them depends on your preceptors and approvals. Placing some in Practicum 2 is our suggestion, because it leaves more terms to recover if a pediatric site falls through.
Can I start NURS 7062 after a C in NURS 7061?
You cannot start NURS 7062 until you repeat NURS 7061 with at least a B. The handbook allows one repeat of a required course and no more than two repeated nursing courses in the MSN. A repeat also moves every later practicum back a term, so your preceptor plans shift too. See grades and time limits.
Is there a required number of patients or diagnoses in Practicum 2?
YSU's public catalog, handbook and FAQ set no patient count or diagnosis list for NURS 7062. Syllabi and log requirements reach enrolled students through Blackboard and Exxat, so read the course syllabus and ask clinical faculty how encounters should be recorded before your first clinic day.
Can Practicum 2 be in a different state from Practicum 1?
YSU requires online students to live in a state it accepts for the length of the program and to hold a current, unencumbered RN license where practicum hours happen. Its sources disagree on the fourth accepted state, and a move mid-program should be cleared with your advisor first. Clinicals outside Ohio has the details.
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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