NRSE 6840: Family Nurse Practitioner Practicum I
NRSE 6840 is the first of three 250-hour practicums in Ohio University's FNP track, and the only FNP practicum the Knowledge Center marks for an on-campus intensive. It runs in fall and spring, opens once NRSE 7230 is complete, and calls for a primary care preceptor whose patients span every age. For a spring start, the clinical packet is due before the assessment course even ends, so the preceptor search belongs in the 7230 semester.
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NRSE 6840 at a glance
The rows below come from Ohio University's 2026-27 Graduate Catalog, the Knowledge Center's tentative course offerings and its important dates page. One detail is easy to miss: the catalog course entry gives contact hours, not clock hours. The 250-hour figure is printed on the FNP program page, which assigns 250 of the track's 750 direct care hours to each practicum.
| Item | What Ohio University lists |
|---|---|
| Catalog title | Family Nurse Practitioner Practicum I |
| Credits and contact hours | 6 credits; 3.5 lecture, 5.0 clinical |
| Requisite | NRSE 7230, Advanced Health Assessment for Advanced Practice Nursing |
| Practicum hours | 250 (FNP program page) |
| Terms offered | Fall and spring (tentative course offerings) |
| On-campus intensive | Required: 09/21/2026 for fall, 02/08/2027 for spring, in Dublin |
| Packet deadlines | Fall 2026: 07/06/2026; spring 2027: 11/09/2026 |
| Catalog repeat line | "May not be retaken" (conflicts with the Knowledge Center) |
What the catalog description asks you to practice
The description gives NRSE 6840 one job: providing comprehensive healthcare for individuals and families "from diverse backgrounds in the primary care setting." The emphasis is advanced assessment, diagnosis and clinical management, applied to developmental, physical and psycho-social health issues across the lifespan.
Those words, "across the lifespan," do the most to shape your site choice. A first rotation in an adults-only practice, or one built around a single complaint, gives you fewer chances to show the range the course describes. Whether your section sets hours by age group is not published on any public Ohio University page, so read the syllabus and the clinical overview sheets before you commit. The School of Nursing's graduatenursing@ohio.edu inbox handles questions about clinical placements and paperwork, including where to find them.
The preceptor and practice that suit a first FNP rotation
Ohio University's MSN FAQ says FNP clinicals usually take place in "primary-care offices or hospital/community-based clinics," with an approved preceptor and an assigned clinical supervisor. For a first course, the strongest fit is a family practice or community clinic with a mix of ages and visit types, and a clinician willing to talk through their reasoning while you build speed.
Who may serve as preceptor is covered on our preceptor requirements page. If your clinic is in Ohio, the state's exemption for APRN students, Ohio Revised Code 4723.32(F), describes the student practicing under the supervision of an APRN serving the program as a faculty member, teaching assistant or preceptor.
Signs a practice suits 6840
- Infants, children, adults and older adults on the schedule in a typical week
- Room to see a patient first and then present your findings
- Clinic days that can absorb 2-3 days a week, the site time the MSN FAQ describes for clinical courses
- A commute you can sustain for the full semester
Two intensive dates, one for each term
NRSE 6840 carries the Knowledge Center's "On-Campus OCI Required In Course" mark. The 2026-27 dates are 09/21/2026 for the fall section and 02/08/2027 for spring, and 9/23/2027 is already listed for fall 2027. Each is held at 6805 Bobcat Way in Dublin, Ohio, the address Ohio University's dated schedule gives for every graduate nursing intensive.
This visit is separate from the pre-clinical intensive tied to NRSE 7230. Raise the 6840 date in your first conversation with a preceptor, because a clinic day spent traveling to Dublin has to be made up elsewhere in the term. Ohio University's pages disagree on the FNP intensive count, three on the courses page and two in the track FAQ; our on-campus intensives page lays out both.
Working back from the packet deadline
Faculty review the clinical packet before your clinical begins; its contents sit in Typhon and on a login-only forms page rather than in public. For NRSE 6840, the dates are 07/06/2026 for fall 2026 and 11/09/2026 for spring 2027, and our packet deadlines page holds every term. A spring 2027 plan runs like this:
- September and October 2026Shortlist primary care practices near home while
NRSE 7230is under way, and flag any inside Cleveland Clinic, Holzer, Mount Carmel or OhioHealth, whose own spring windows close between 8/31/2026 and 11/1/2026. - Late OctoberSecure a yes from one preceptor, with license, credentials and site details gathered for faculty review.
- By 11/09/2026Clinical packet submitted for the spring section.
- 01/11/2027 onwardSpring term opens; the 6840 intensive follows on 02/08/2027.
The mistake here is waiting until NRSE 7230 is finished. For spring 2027, the 6840 packet is due 11/09/2026, more than a month before the fall term that holds 7230 ends on 12/12/2026.
What carries in from 7230 and on into 6841
The catalog lists NRSE 7230 as the only requisite. The advanced health assessment skills from that course, and its pre-clinical intensive, are what you bring to your first primary care patient; our NRSE 7230 page covers it in detail.
Going forward, NRSE 6840 is the requisite for NRSE 6841, which shifts to patients with complex health conditions and runs in spring and summer. On the tentative table, a fall 6840 lines up with a spring 6841 and a spring 6840 with a summer 6841; your program of study sets the actual term.
On repeats, the catalog entry reads "May not be retaken," whereas the Knowledge Center's grading rules let a student repeat a given course one time. Failing or repeating a clinical course explains how the two statements fit.
Why FNP students start 6840 with us
A first practicum shapes the two that follow, so we plan it with care. Your placement advisor searches for a family practice or community clinic near home that sees the whole age range, confirms the preceptor is ready to teach a first-course FNP student, and builds clinic days around your intensive date before anything is signed.
Next comes the review file: your preceptor's license and credentials, a profile of the practice, and each item the clinical packet calls for, checked against Ohio University's rules so it arrives complete. Your faculty make the approval decision. If a preceptor steps away mid-term, we stay on call and bring a replacement forward. Share your term and home area through the form below to get started.
Questions Ohio University students ask
Is NRSE 6840 offered in summer at Ohio University?
Not on the current tentative course offerings table, which lists NRSE 6840 for fall and spring and marks it as an OCI course. The table is labeled tentative, so confirm your term with your School of Nursing academic advisor, who registers graduate nursing students each semester according to their program of study.
Do post-master's FNP certificate students take NRSE 6840?
Yes. The post-master's FNP certificate runs on the identical trio of practicums, NRSE 6840, NRSE 6841 and NRSE 6842, plus NRSE 7818, for 20 credits. A gaps analysis of earlier graduate coursework comes first and can add courses before clinicals. Ohio University's pages disagree on the certificate's entry terms; the FNP certificate page lists them.
How much time does NRSE 6840 take each week?
Ohio University's MSN FAQ puts clinical-course study at about 18-20 hours a week, with 2-3 days on top of that at your clinical site. The FNP track page gives 20-28 hours of schoolwork a week instead. Neither sets a weekly clinic minimum, so agree on a schedule with your preceptor that reaches 250 hours inside the term.
What must be in place before my first clinical day?
Ohio University's catalog sets pre-clinical requirements for every graduate program: health status items such as immunizations and BLS under the Graduate Handbook, background checks at federal and state level, and proof of malpractice insurance. For NP students, the DNP page specifies nurse practitioner coverage that is not supplied by an employer. Our clinical compliance page covers each item.
What if my 6840 preceptor cancels partway through the term?
Tell your course faculty and clinical supervisor right away, because any new preceptor needs faculty approval. No public Ohio University page sets out a lost-preceptor procedure, so your syllabus and handbook are the references. We stay on call through the term and can put a replacement forward quickly; see preceptor dropped out.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-24
We check these pages against Ohio University's own catalog, program pages and Nursing Knowledge Center. Your syllabus, the Graduate Nursing Student Handbook and your faculty have the final word.
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