Clinical evaluations, faculty oversight and S/U grades

01Who does what during a practicum

Three parties shape a rotation. Your preceptor supervises your patient care. SAU's clinical faculty, in the catalog's words, provide oversight of the preceptor-led experience and keep in regular contact with you. Program faculty approve the preceptor and the site before any of it starts, for every rotation.

The same oversight wording appears in the 2023-24 description of the NP practicum and in the current description of NUR 780B, the Nurse Educator and MSN/MBA practicum. SAU's recruiting notice for NP adjunct faculty says they teach through both online instruction and clinical rotations, and it strongly prefers applicants who have precepted graduate students.

The grade itself belongs to SAU. Your preceptor stays in regular contact with program faculty, so what happens in clinic reaches the people who grade you, but the preceptor doesn't record the grade. How approval works before a rotation begins is covered on preceptor approval.

02What SAU sends your preceptor

According to SAU's clinicals article, faculty give each preceptor two things: the planned clinical progression and the objectives for every rotation. The preceptor then stays in touch with faculty as the rotation runs. The objectives are the yardstick for your performance, so you should know them as well as your preceptor does.

1. Confirm the objectives arrivedBefore day one, ask your clinical faculty whether the objectives went out and to which address. A busy clinician may not have opened them.
2. Read them together in week oneGo through each objective with your preceptor and agree which patients and tasks will cover it.
3. Check progress at the halfway pointDo this on your own initiative even if the course has no formal midpoint review. It leaves time to change course.
4. Close the loop at the endMake sure whatever your course asks the preceptor to complete is done before the preceptor's last day with you.

03Satisfactory, Unsatisfactory and repeats

SAU grades clinical and practicum courses Satisfactory or Unsatisfactory rather than with letter grades. You get one repeat of a clinical course under the 2023-24 catalog, and a second Unsatisfactory anywhere in the program ends in dismissal, which makes the first one a serious warning.

A search-engine summary of the 2024-25 catalog page for NUR 680G, the certificate AGPCNP practicum, describes the course as pass/fail and repeatable, which fits the 2023-24 rule. The current catalogs can't be read publicly, so confirm the repeat and dismissal rules with your advisor or program director. Course numbers here come from those older catalogs; check your current list in Brightspace.

Grades aren't the only way a practicum can stop. The catalog also says a lapse in clinical compliance can hold up your program or end in academic withdrawal. See clinical compliance.

04What SAU has not published

Several details students look for are missing from SAU's public pages. Your practicum syllabus in Brightspace is the first place to check, and your clinical faculty the second.

• Whether faculty visit clinical sites, in person or by video.
• The names of any preceptor evaluation form or student self-evaluation.
• How often evaluations happen, and whether there is a formal midpoint check.
• Whether SAU offers preceptors continuing-education credit or other recognition. Its clinicals article notes that many schools do, but it doesn't say SAU does.

If your preceptor asks what SAU expects of them, our page for clinicians precepting SAU students gathers what SAU does publish. Sending them there early saves a round of emails when the objectives arrive.

05Coursework that travels with your hours

A practicum is not only clinic time. Students report that SAU FNP courses tie clinical hours to SOAP notes, case presentations, module assignments and patient logs. SAU's own adjunct notice says NP teaching uses Zoom and iHuman virtual patient cases. If your course assigns iHuman cases, treat them as rehearsal for the reasoning your preceptor will ask you to say out loud.

Treat the written work as part of the evaluation. Faculty see your notes and presentations, not the visit, so a strong day with your preceptor still has to come through clearly on the page. Write notes the same week, while the details are sharp, and strip out anything that could identify a patient.

How hours are counted and recorded is covered on clinical hour logs.

06When a rotation is going wrong

Problems are easier to fix in week three than in week twelve. If a rotation isn't working, act in this order.

1. Talk to your preceptorName the objective you aren't meeting and ask what would help: different patients, more hands-on time or clearer feedback.
2. Tell your clinical facultyDo it well before the course's final weeks. Faculty oversee the experience and can clarify expectations with the preceptor.
3. Keep your own recordNote dates, hours and what was agreed. It protects you if a grade is ever questioned.
4. Plan a change if you need oneIf the preceptor withdraws or the site can't meet the objectives, a replacement needs SAU approval. See if a preceptor drops out.

A placement advisor searches for a replacement preceptor in your state while you work it through with faculty. SAU's faculty approve every replacement, just as they approved the first.