FNP, AGACNP or PMHNP at Clarkson College: how the clinicals differ
All three Clarkson College nurse practitioner tracks share NRS 830, the Graduate Weekend and a 750-hour clinical total (975 in the BSN to DNP). They split on where you train and who may sign your hours: all-ages primary care for FNP, hospital units with acute-care-certified NPs for AGACNP, and psychiatric prescribers plus a licensed therapist for PMHNP. If you are still choosing, choose with the local preceptor supply in mind.
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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.
What every Clarkson NP track has in common
Everyone opens the clinical phase in the same place. NRS 830, the physical assessment course, carries the on-campus Graduate Weekend and runs 100 hours for master's and certificate students or 125 for doctoral students. After it, each track runs four specialty clinicals at 150, 160, 160 and 180 hours (200, 200, 200 and 250 at DNP level), one course per term, and closes with a two-credit transition-to-practice course (NRS 852, NRS 854 or NRS 860) taken beside the last clinical.
The November 2023 clinical sheets also give all three tracks one shared floor for preceptors: licensure in whichever state hosts the clinical, two or more years in practice, work that fits the course content, and no family connection. A course can use up to two preceptors before faculty must agree in writing to more, and each preceptor needs a new agreement every course and every term. The preceptor requirements guide sets out the full list.
Credits differ slightly. FNP and AGACNP are 49 credits in the MSN, 33 as certificates and 71 in the BSN to DNP; PMHNP is 51, 35 and 73.
The three tracks side by side
| FNP | AGACNP | PMHNP | |
|---|---|---|---|
Clinicals after NRS 830 | NRS 832, NRS 840, NRS 842, NRS 844 | NRS 861, NRS 862, NRS 863, NRS 864 | NRS 856, NRS 857, NRS 858, NRS 859 |
| Order | NRS 840 and NRS 842 in either order after NRS 832 | A straight line, 861 to 864 | A straight line, 856 to 859 |
| Preceptors | MD, DO, PA or NP | MD, DO, PA or an acute-care-certified NP; FNPs excluded | Psychiatrist or PMHNP; PAs only in NRS 830 |
| Settings | Outpatient primary care or rural health clinics seeing all ages | Sub-acute and short-stay units, then med-surg, step-down or urgent care, then ICU or ER | Inpatient and outpatient psychiatry, crisis units, counseling and community health centers |
| Hour rules inside the courses | 110 pediatric hours in NRS 840; 120 women's health hours in NRS 842 | Specialty caps of 40, 50, 40 and 56 hours | 50 therapist hours in NRS 856; population minimums across the track |
| Telehealth | Ask course faculty | Ask course faculty | Up to 300 hours, never in NRS 830 |
The course guides go deeper: FNP sites, AGACNP sites and PMHNP sites.
FNP: breadth at one site
The FNP search is wide rather than deep. Plenty of clinicians are eligible, from physicians to PAs to NPs, but the office has to care for children, adults and older adults alike, and inpatient hospitalist time is excluded outright. An adults-only internal medicine office will not carry you through the program.
The course to line up first is usually NRS 842 Primary Care of Women. Three-quarters of its 160 hours (120, to be exact) belong with a women's health specialist, and the 2023 sheet narrows who counts: obstetrician-gynecologists, certified nurse midwives for whom gynecology is half or more of the practice, FNPs focused on women's health, and on instructor approval a PA in the field. The same course sets minimum numbers of pelvic and breast exams. NRS 840 is close behind, with 110 hours owed to a pediatric primary care provider.
Rural FNP students have one advantage: Clarkson names rural health clinics as acceptable FNP sites. The MSN FNP guide covers the program as a whole.
AGACNP: the preceptor's certification is the filter
The acute care sheet draws a hard line around nurse practitioner preceptors: each must hold acute care certification, which leaves family NPs off the list for the four acute care courses. Physicians remain eligible, and so do PAs everywhere except Arizona, Florida, Maryland and Oklahoma. Only NRS 830 takes AGACNP students into family or internal medicine offices.
From there the settings climb in acuity: hospitalist sub-acute or short-stay units for NRS 861, medical-surgical floors for NRS 862, and step-down units, urgent care, ICUs or emergency departments for NRS 863 and NRS 864. If you already work as a hospital RN, the rule that clinical time happens outside your own department will shape your options more here than in either of the other tracks.
The course to start on first is NRS 864 Advanced Acute Care Concepts: 180 hours (250 at DNP level) in an ICU, emergency or trauma department, with a certified acute care provider willing to take a student at that level.
PMHNP: the right providers and the right patient mix
Once NRS 830 is behind you, every PMHNP preceptor must be a psychiatrist or a psychiatric NP. The opening course is different: family practice physicians and NPs qualify, a PA is acceptable for that course only, and every hour must be in person. From NRS 856 onward, as many as 300 hours can come from telehealth visits, with you sitting in alongside the clinician.
NRS 856 is the course that needs the earliest start, because it takes two kinds of preceptor: a third of its 150 hours (50) go to counseling time with a licensed therapist holding at least a master's, such as a licensed social worker or a psychologist. The track also enforces an age mix over the full sequence: no fewer than 100 hours with adults under 60, and 50 apiece with minors and with patients 60 and up.
PMHNP is also the one Clarkson NP track that appears on Children's Nebraska's own list of APRN student programs it supports; FNP and AGACNP do not. Requests there go through myClinicalExchange by that system's deadlines.
Choosing with the preceptor search in mind
Before you commit, look honestly at what exists within driving distance. An FNP student in a small town may find a rural health clinic that sees every age. An AGACNP student needs a hospital with acute-care-certified NPs on staff. A PMHNP student in a thin market can lean on telehealth for part of the hours. Clarkson publishes no track-switching rule, so ask your Graduate Nursing advisor before you change course midway.
Whichever track you pick, we search for it. For FNP students we find all-ages practices plus the pediatric and women's health providers; for AGACNP students, certified acute care NPs and physicians unit by unit; for PMHNP students, psychiatric prescribers and a therapist for NRS 856. Each candidate is checked against the track's rules before it reaches you, and we plan all five courses together. Use the form below to start.
Questions Clarkson students ask
Which Clarkson NP track has the most credits?
Psychiatric-Mental Health. The 2026-27 catalog lists the PMHNP option at 51 credits in the MSN, 35 as a post-graduate certificate and 73 in the BSN to DNP, two more than FNP and AGACNP in each program. The clinical hours are the same across the three tracks: 750 in the MSN and certificate, 975 in the BSN to DNP.
Can an FNP precept a Clarkson AGACNP student?
Only in the first course. For NRS 830, the AGACNP sheet lists physicians, NPs and PAs working in family or internal medicine, with no certification condition, so a family NP fits there. From NRS 861 on, any NP precepting you must be certified in acute care, which excludes family NPs. Physicians and PAs stay eligible, subject to the four-state PA limit.
Do FNP, AGACNP and PMHNP students attend the same Graduate Weekend?
Yes. The weekend belongs to NRS 830, the course all three tracks share, and the catalog calendar schedules one each fall, spring and summer, so classmates from all three tracks are on campus together. The Graduate Weekend guide has the dates through 2028 and the check-off rules.
Can Clarkson PMHNP students do clinical hours by telehealth?
Partly. Under the November 2023 PMHNP sheet, the four psychiatric courses can draw as many as 300 hours from virtual visits, with you present alongside the prescriber for each visit. Telehealth is optional, and NRS 830 excludes it. Confirm the current limit with your course faculty before you plan around it.
Which Clarkson NP track is hardest to find preceptors for?
It depends on where you live. AGACNP students need acute-care-certified NPs or physicians on hospital units, PMHNP students need psychiatric prescribers plus a therapist, and FNP students need practices that see every age plus two specialty providers. Map what exists near you, course by course, before you choose.
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 2026-27 Academic Catalog: Master of Science in Nursing
- Clarkson College FNP Clinical Rotation Information, November 2023 (archived)
- Clarkson College AGACNP Clinical Rotation Information, November 2023 (archived)
- Clarkson College PMHNP Clinical Rotation Information, November 2023 (archived)
- Children's Nebraska: Advanced Practice Provider students
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
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