Clarkson College MSN AGACNP: clinical hours and preceptors
Clarkson College's online MSN in Adult Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner is 49 credits with 750 clinical hours: 100 in NRS 830 and 650 across four acute care courses, NRS 861 through NRS 864. You find each preceptor and site, Clarkson approves them before you register, and from the first acute course onward any NP who precepts you must be acute care certified.
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Tell us your Clarkson program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with the preceptor and site options that fit your course.
The AGACNP track at a glance
Clarkson offers adult-gerontology acute care NP preparation three ways: the MSN, a post-graduate certificate aimed at nurses with a master's or higher, and the BSN to DNP. All three use the same clinical courses. What changes is the credit count, the hours per course on the doctoral plan, and the added DNP work.
| MSN | Post-Graduate Certificate | BSN to DNP | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Credits | 49 | 33 | 71 minimum |
| NP clinical hours | 750 | 750 (same courses) | 975 |
| Full-time length | 7-9 semesters | 4-7 semesters | 10-11 semesters |
| Part-time length | 12-14+ semesters | 7-10+ semesters | 18+ semesters |
The MSN's 49 credits split into 19 in the core every MSN option shares and 30 in the AGACNP option. To be admitted you bring a BSN from an ACEN- or CCNE-accredited school (Clarkson's admission policy adds NLN CNEA), a grade point average of 3.0 or better, two recommendations from professional contacts, and an RN license without encumbrance that is valid where you work or will do clinicals. The 2021-22 graduate handbook adds a work rule: you stay employed as a registered nurse for the length of the program.
Five clinical courses, taken one at a time
Clarkson's notes for each NP track set a single-file path through the clinicals, one course per term, and every acute course names its predecessor as the prerequisite. The order never varies:
| Course | MSN hours | BSN to DNP hours | Where it happens |
|---|---|---|---|
NRS 830 Advanced Physical Assessment | 100 | 125 | Family practice or internal medicine; Graduate Weekend |
NRS 861 Introduction to Acute Care Concepts | 150 | 200 | Hospitalist short-stay or sub-acute units |
NRS 862 Applying Acute Care Concepts | 160 | 200 | Hospitalist medical-surgical |
NRS 863 Complex Acute Care Concepts | 160 | 200 | Step-down units or urgent care |
NRS 864 Advanced Acute Care Concepts | 180 | 250 | ICU, emergency and trauma |
At a steady pace that is five clinical terms in a row, each needing its own approved preceptor before registration, with the search for each course running during the one before it. The course pages go deeper, starting with NRS 861 and ending with NRS 864.
NRS 830 and the Graduate Weekend
NRS 830 Advanced Physical Assessment is the shared entry course for all three Clarkson NP tracks, and it brings the one required trip to Omaha. In 2026-27 the weekends are September 19-20, 2026, then February 6-7 and June 5-6, 2027, one in each term.
Under the 2021-22 handbook, nothing logged for NRS 830 counted until the weekend's physical assessment check-off was passed. Skipping any portion of the weekend meant failing the course, and so did a second failed check-off.
AGACNP students do NRS 830 beside a family practice or internal medicine clinician, and here any MD, DO, NP or PA may sign, a family NP among them. That flexibility ends with the next course, so it pays to know early whether your NRS 830 preceptor could continue. The Graduate Weekend page covers the visit itself.
Acute care certification shapes every search
Clarkson's November 2023 AGACNP clinical sheet draws the track's defining line. From NRS 861 on, a nurse practitioner counts as a preceptor only with acute care certification, and the sheet names family NPs as unusable. Physicians, DOs and PAs stay in the pool; the NP side shrinks to acute care specialists.
Layered on top are the rules every Clarkson NP student follows. The preceptor is licensed where you train, has practiced two full years, works in a field tied to the course and is not a relative, and you may use no more than two per course unless faculty agree in writing. PAs are off the table in Arizona, Florida, Maryland and Oklahoma. If you train at your employer, it has to be on a unit other than yours.
One familiar Omaha name is out of reach for this track: Children's Nebraska, whose advanced practice page covers PMHNP, PNP, PNP-AC, NNP and CRNA students, with no place for adult-gerontology acute care. The who cannot precept you page collects every exclusion, and the AGACNP clinical sites page matches units to courses.
Finding and approving each site
Clarkson's 2021-22 graduate handbook assigns the search to you: finding suitable preceptors and clinical sites is the student's task, not the College's or the program's. The 2026-27 catalog then attaches a condition to each acute course, so both the preceptor and the site must be approved before you can enroll.
Between those two rules sits the approval route in Clarkson's 2021-2024 documents. You submit the Clinical/Practicum Site & Preceptor Agreement Form in DocuSign. Your Graduate Nursing advisor verifies that the course and term are right, the Compliance office finds an affiliation agreement on file or negotiates one (Clarkson allowed up to two months), the preceptor fills in license and credential fields, and course faculty sign off before hour one. Files were due Jun. 1 for fall terms, Nov. 1 for spring terms and Mar. 1 for summer.
Clarkson has since taken those documents off its public site, so ask your advisor for the current handbook. Each stage is laid out on the placement process page.
BSN to DNP and certificate students
Doctoral students who started in Spring 2024 or later take the same five courses at larger totals: 125, 200, 200, 200 and 250, which makes 975. Another 125 DNP hours bring them to the 1,100 professional practice hours Clarkson sets for every DNP student. Those who started earlier were on 750 clinical hours plus 350 DNP hours.
One listing error matters here. Under the acute care option, both the 2026-27 catalog and the BSN to DNP web page print the family NP courses (NRS 832, NRS 840, NRS 842, NRS 844 and NRS 852), yet the Fall 2025 degree plan for that option shows NRS 861 through NRS 864 with NRS 854. Settle which list applies to you with your Graduate Nursing advisor before registering or starting a preceptor search.
Certificate students sit in the very same clinical courses as MSN students, and since each course page gives hours for MSN and DNP students only, 750 is the working certificate total. The BSN to DNP page covers the doctoral side.
Where you can train
Clarkson's AY 2026-27 state workbook answers once per state for all graduate nursing tracks, MSN, certificate and DNP alike. For the AGACNP that means 38 states marked as meeting requirements and 12 marked as not, New York, Georgia and Tennessee among them. California, Colorado and North Dakota carry footnotes that point students back to the program.
In a state marked as meeting requirements, training close to home works when your RN license covers that state and the preceptor holds a license there too. A move to a state where Clarkson lacks authorization can cost aid eligibility or the chance to finish, so the program director should hear about it before you pack. The state authorization page has the detail.
How we support Clarkson AGACNP students
Clarkson AGACNP students pick our desk because we plan the whole clinical run, not just the next course. Your placement advisor maps NRS 830 and the four acute courses to settings near you, screens every NP for acute care certification and every PA for state eligibility, and vets licensure, experience and family ties up front.
We assemble the facility's legal name and each preceptor's credentials for DocuSign, point out early which hospitals are new to Clarkson's Compliance office, and keep the next course's search moving while the current one runs. If a preceptor pulls out partway through a term, your placement advisor lines up a replacement who fits the course. BSN to DNP students get the same plan built around their higher hour totals. Send your track and next course through the contact form.
Questions Clarkson students ask
How many clinical hours is Clarkson's AGACNP program?
The MSN and certificate total is 750: NRS 830 carries 100, and the acute courses carry 150, 160, 160 and 180 in order. Doctoral students who began in Spring 2024 or later log 975 clinical hours in the same courses, plus 125 DNP hours. Clarkson's Policy AA-55 sets the 750 and 975 minimums.
Is Clarkson's AGACNP program online?
The coursework is online, and Clarkson's program pages describe clinical sites in or near your hometown. The one required campus visit is the NRS 830 Graduate Weekend on the Omaha campus, built around a clinical skills evaluation. Your clinical hours take place at sites you arrange and Clarkson approves.
Does Clarkson find preceptors for AGACNP students?
Clarkson's 2021-22 graduate handbook puts identifying preceptors and sites on each student, and the November 2023 AGACNP sheet has the student start the agreement. Clarkson's advisors, Compliance office and course faculty approve what you bring. Clarkson's marketing cites a large clinical site network, but it stops short of saying who lines up a graduate placement.
Can I take two acute care clinical courses in one semester?
No. Clarkson's program notes limit NP students to a single clinical course per term, and each acute care course requires the one before it. The five clinical courses therefore run across at least five terms, which is why the preceptor search for each course starts during the one before it.
Can an FNP precept me in Clarkson's AGACNP?
Only in NRS 830, where AGACNP preceptors come from family practice or internal medicine. Once the acute courses begin, the November 2023 sheet accepts an NP only with acute care certification, which leaves family NPs out. Physicians, DOs and PAs can precept the acute courses, apart from PAs in four states.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-27
We check these pages against Clarkson College's own catalog, program pages and published nursing documents. Your course faculty and Graduate Nursing advisor have the final word.
- Clarkson College catalog 2026-27: Master of Science in Nursing
- Clarkson College: Master of Science in Nursing
- Clarkson College catalog 2026-27: Policy AA-55, Credit Hour Definition
- Clarkson College AGACNP Clinical Rotation Information, revised November 2023 (archived)
- Clarkson College BSN to DNP AGACNP degree plan, Fall 2025 (archived)
Clarkson asks you to find your preceptor. We make the search the easy part.
Tell us your Clarkson track, your city and your next clinical course. We line up preceptors who fit the NRS course and Clarkson's rules, gather the details the site and preceptor agreement asks for, and flag early whether the site needs a new affiliation agreement.
- Preceptors matched to the course: all-ages primary care for FNP, acute care units for AGACNP, psychiatric providers for PMHNP
- License, experience and site details checked against Clarkson's rules before the agreement is filed
- Every clinical course planned in sequence, close to home in a state where Clarkson's graduate nursing meets requirements
Start your placement plan
Track, city and next clinical course is all we need to begin.