Behind on clinical hours partway through an SAU practicum

01Size the gap before you panic

Take the hours your practicum course requires this semester, subtract the hours logged and confirmed, and divide what is left by the weeks remaining. That weekly figure tells you whether you have a scheduling problem or a placement problem.

SAU publishes hour totals by track rather than per semester. The 2023-24 catalog sets a ratio for NUR 680 of 2 credit hours to 125 clinical hours, but it does not publish each semester's split, so check the requirement in your course in Brightspace or with your clinical faculty. Clinical hours has every track's total, and course numbers may have changed since that catalog.

Do this math early in the semester and again at its midpoint. A gap of a few hours spotted in week three is easy to close; the same gap found in the last two weeks may not be.

02Make sure you're counting what SAU counts

The 2023-24 catalog defines clinical practice hours as actual time spent caring for or working with a patient, and says that is typically one patient an hour. Time at the site that isn't patient care may not count the way you expect.

If you are unsure whether something counts, such as charting time, a staff meeting or a video visit, ask faculty before you log it. Removing hours later is worse than asking a question now. Some students have reported audits late in the program that required extra hours, which is one more reason to keep a clean log from the first day. Clinical hour logs covers the logging side.

03Talk to your clinical faculty early

SAU grades clinical and practicum courses Satisfactory or Unsatisfactory, and the 2023-24 catalog allows each to be repeated once. A second unsatisfactory grade in the program leads to dismissal. That makes an early conversation worth far more than a late one.

Bring numbers: hours required, hours logged, weeks left and your plan. Ask what options exist, whether that is more days with your current preceptor, an added site, or an arrangement faculty can suggest. Faculty can only help with a problem they know about. Copy your Student Success Coach so someone is tracking the follow-up, and see clinical evaluations for how faculty oversee the rotation.

04Option one: more time with your current preceptor

The simplest fix is extra shifts with the preceptor you already have, if they can take you. Ask about an added day, longer days, or a different clinic session each week. Offer to fit around their busiest times.

Some students report being allowed to pick up extra hours within a semester, and others that requests to add hours were refused while a preceptor was still awaiting approval. Neither is published policy. Ask faculty whether a heavier weekly load is allowed for your course before you commit your preceptor to it.

Be realistic about your own week, too. A schedule that leaves no room for the seven-week course running alongside the practicum can create a second problem while you fix the first.

05Option two: add a second approved preceptor

If your current preceptor has no more room, a second preceptor can carry part of the remaining hours. Faculty approve the preceptor and site for every rotation, so this means new paperwork and a fresh approval, which takes time you may not have late in the semester.

For PMHNP students this is already expected: the 2023-24 catalog tells them to plan on several placements. For other tracks, check with faculty that a second site fits your course objectives before you look. We search for a second preceptor who fits your track and gather the site's paperwork while you keep working with the first.

06If the hours can't be finished this semester

Ask faculty what happens next before the semester ends, not after. We have not found a published SAU rule on finishing practicum hours once a semester closes, so get the answer from faculty by email and file it alongside your hour log. Ask, too, whether hours already completed would stand if the course had to be taken again.

If a course has to be repeated, the effect on your plan depends on your track and sequence. Delayed graduation explains how a repeated practicum semester can move your finish date and what to ask your advisor. Use any gap to secure a preceptor for the repeat early, so the second attempt starts on time.