NRS 864: ICU and emergency hours to finish the Clarkson College AGACNP
NRS 864 Advanced Acute Care Concepts closes Clarkson College's AGACNP clinical sequence in intensive care units, emergency departments and trauma settings. It is also the heaviest course in the track: 180 hours for MSN and certificate students and 250 on the BSN to DNP plan. Because no clinical course follows it, a late or lost preceptor here moves your finish date directly.
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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.
Critical care and emergency settings
The 2026-27 catalog sets NRS 864 in ICUs and in emergency and trauma departments, the top of a ladder that began with short-stay units in NRS 861. Clarkson's November 2023 AGACNP sheet files this course and NRS 863 under one shared settings list, so step-down and urgent care technically appear against NRS 864 as well. If you are considering either one for NRS 864, check with course faculty first, since the catalog aims the course squarely at critical care and emergency work.
NRS 864 requires NRS 863. Clarkson's Fall 2025 BSN to DNP AGACNP degree plan lists NRS 854 with the acute courses; it is one of the two-credit transition-to-practice courses that carry no clinical hours and run alongside a track's last clinical course. Budget study time for it when you set your weekly clinical schedule.
The heaviest hour load in the track
NRS 864 asks for more hours than any other AGACNP course, inside the same 15-week or 12-week term. Applying the 2021-22 handbook's even pacing and half-by-midterm rule to the catalog totals gives these loads (our arithmetic, not Clarkson's):
| Plan | Total hours | Fall or spring (15 weeks) | Summer (12 weeks) | Done by midterm |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MSN or certificate | 180 | 12 a week | 15 a week | 90 |
| BSN to DNP | 250 | About 16.7 a week | About 20.8 a week | 125 |
A 250-hour summer on top of RN work is a steep climb, which is a good reason to aim NRS 864 at a fall or spring term when your sequence allows it.
The November 2023 sheet permits up to 56 specialty hours here, the largest cap in the acute sequence, with course faculty approval, plus up to 10 optional observation hours with no hands-on care.
Who precepts ICU and emergency hours
The credential list matches the rest of the acute sequence: MD, DO, NP or PA, with every NP holding acute care certification. In an ICU that points to intensivists and acute care NPs; in an emergency department, to emergency physicians and PAs, subject to the sheet's bar on PAs in Florida, Oklahoma, Arizona and Maryland.
Emergency departments that staff family NPs deserve a careful look. However experienced, a family-certified NP cannot sign for your acute care hours, so confirm certification before you ask anyone to commit.
Rotating ICU and emergency rosters also revive the preceptor-count problem. Clarkson's sheets stop at two preceptors per course without faculty approval in writing, and each clinician whose patients you share needs an agreement. Plan to follow one or two clinicians through their shifts, or obtain written approval before hours begin.
Licensure in the clinical state and two years of experience apply to every one of them. Every rule is spelled out on preceptor requirements.
The course that sets your finish date
With clinical courses taken singly, NRS 864 is the last one in line. The 2026-27 terms end on Dec. 9, 2026, Apr. 28, 2027 and Aug. 4, 2027, each also a degree conferral date, and commencement for the year is Aug. 7, 2027.
If a preceptor falls through late, Policy AA-10 gives course faculty and the program director discretion to award an incomplete when you are passing but short on clinical hours. Finish by the deadline faculty choose, or the incomplete converts to an F. An incomplete keeps the course alive, but your finish date moves with it.
The delayed graduation and preceptor dropped out pages cover those situations in full. The stronger plan is a preceptor committed for the whole term and lined up two terms early.
Planning NRS 864 two terms ahead
The NRS 864 agreement is due while NRS 863 is running, and ICU and emergency services may be sites Clarkson's Compliance office has not contracted with before. Working backward from a Fall 2027 finish:
- Apr. 1 to May 1, 2027Nebraska Medicine's own fall window for nurse practitioner applications; its page says the process takes at least one month.
- Jun. 1, 2027Fall paperwork deadline in the dated handbook and 2023 rotation sheets.
- Aug. 19, 2027Fall 2027 begins and
NRS 864opens, with the agreement due to be finished in week one. - Dec. 8, 2027Fall 2027 ends, per Clarkson's published 2027-28 calendar.
Where a hospital needs a new affiliation agreement, Clarkson's paperwork can take up to two months, which moves the real start of a Fall 2027 search into early spring. Your Graduate Nursing advisor can confirm whether those dates still hold.
How our desk lines up NRS 864
Clarkson students trust us with the final course because we start it early and keep a second option in view. Your placement advisor searches ICUs, emergency departments and trauma services near you, confirms acute care certification for every NP and state eligibility for every PA, and asks the service which one or two clinicians you will follow.
We gather what the DocuSign agreement needs, tell you early when the hospital will need its own affiliation agreement, and stay on call through the term so a roster change does not strand your hours. If you are a BSN to DNP student, we plan around the 250-hour load and your DNP project work at the same time. When NRS 864 is signed off, your clinical sequence is complete. Tell us your target term through the contact form.
Questions Clarkson students ask
Is NRS 864 the last clinical course in Clarkson's AGACNP?
Yes. After NRS 830, the acute sequence runs NRS 861, NRS 862, NRS 863 and then NRS 864, each requiring the one before it. Clarkson's Fall 2025 BSN to DNP AGACNP degree plan also lists NRS 854, a two-credit transition-to-practice course with no clinical hours that runs alongside the final clinical course.
How many hours a week does NRS 864 take?
Our arithmetic: 180 MSN hours spread across 15 weeks of fall or spring comes to 12 a week, or 15 in the 12-week summer. The BSN to DNP's 250 hours comes to about 16.7 a week in fall or spring and about 20.8 in summer. Clarkson's 2021-22 handbook asks for half by midterm: 90 or 125 hours.
Can I do NRS 864 in an emergency department?
Yes. The 2026-27 catalog sets NRS 864 in intensive care units and in emergency and trauma departments. In an emergency department, physicians, DOs, PAs and acute care NPs can all precept you. Family NPs working in the department cannot sign, and PAs are barred as preceptors in Florida, Oklahoma, Arizona and Maryland.
What if I cannot finish my NRS 864 hours by the end of the term?
Raise it with course faculty while the term is still running. Under Policy AA-10, a student who is passing but still owes clinical hours may receive an incomplete if faculty and the program director agree. Missing the completion date faculty set turns it into an F, and either way your finish date moves back.
Can my NRS 863 preceptor continue into NRS 864?
Possibly, if that clinician works in the ICU, emergency or trauma setting the catalog names for NRS 864 and meets the acute care rules. A step-down or urgent care preceptor may not fit the new setting. Either way, Clarkson's sheets require a new agreement for every course and every semester.
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: NRS 864 Advanced Acute Care Concepts
- Clarkson College catalog 2026-27: Policy AA-10, Incomplete Grades
- Clarkson College catalog: 2027-28 academic calendar
- 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.