Resources for Nursing Students- MSN

FNP Practicum and Preceptor Policies and Procedures

• FNP Practicum and Preceptor Policies and Procedures

  WHAT ARE PRIMARY CARE SITES FOR PRACTICUM?
  

  Marian University’s MSN/FNP program prepares students for the role of the Family Nurse Practitioner in the primary care setting. FNP competencies include caring for patients across the lifespan with a wide variety of presentations, and as such, all direct patient care practicum hours must be within a primary care outpatient setting.  These settings including the primary care practices of family medicine, pediatrics and internal medicine or adult/gerontology. Primary care includes the aspects of health promotion, disease prevention, health maintenance, counseling, patient education, and diagnosis and ongoing treatment of acute and chronic illnesses in the outpatient setting.

  Practices such as employer health, occupational health, urgent care, home-based care or retail clinic settings may provide a portion of primary care as their focus may be narrower, depending on their policies (i.e. only see certain patient presentations or have limited management capabilities).

  Other outpatient settings are considered specialty practices as they focus on one particular problem origin, organ system or diagnosis. These would include the practices of cardiology, endocrinology, dermatology, etc. While these practices may support an aspect of primary care competencies, they are considered consultative or referral from primary care to address specific needs.

  Inpatient and/or acute care settings require a set of different competencies and skills than primary care FNP competencies in order to deliver safe and competent patient care. Caring for patients in the acute care setting is not the focus of the Marian University MSN/FNP program. These settings cannot be used for the required direct patient care hours for any practicum course. If students wish to observe the role of the provider in the acute care setting, they my request this placement and will be required to submit the necessary health forms/background checks etc. for placement. However, those hours will not count toward their required minimum clinical hours. All surgical practices, dialysis, anesthesia, etc. would be considered acute care. Emergency room settings may be considered within the practicum placement policy. 

  PRECEPTOR AND SITE SELECTION POLICIES
  

  When selecting potential preceptors and sites, FNP I students should focus on finding a practitioner in Family or Internal Medicine. FNP II and III students should review their skills within the Typhon database and ensure adequate experiences and achieve competencies across the lifespan and across a variety of health promotion/maintenance and common acute and chronic patient presentations.

  Clinical instructors, the Graduate Program Director and the Clinical Placement Coordinator can assist you at any time.

  All requests for placements within a specialty practice will be reviewed by the Graduate Program Director for approval.  If there is concern regarding how how this placement will support the attainment of the FNP competencies the student will be expected to submit rational for the specialty placement in writing. If approved, a maximum of 90 hours over the course of study may be spent within a specialty practice. 

  Inpatient and/or acute care settings require a set of different competencies and skills than primary care FNP competencies in order to deliver safe and competent patient care. Caring for patients in the acute care setting is not the focus of the Marian University MSN/FNP program. These settings (i.e hospitalists) cannot be used for the required direct patient care hours for any practicum course. If students wish to observe the role of the provider in the acute care setting, they may request this placement and will be required to submit the necessary health forms/background checks etc. for placement. However, those hours will not count toward their required minimum clinical hours. All surgical practices, dialysis, anesthesia, etc. would be considered acute care. Emergency room settings may be considered within the practicum placement policy. 

  PRECEPTOR ELIGIBILITY

  The course faculty or the Graduate Program Director approves the use of any clinical preceptor. The following criteria are utilized in selecting clinical preceptors specific to the emphasis of the student:

  1. Current licensure to practice in Wisconsin.
     
  2. Master’s in Nursing or Doctor of Nursing Practice degree with clinical preparation as an advanced practice registered nurse or an advanced degree in the appropriate field, or a physician. Physician Assistants may be considered with approval of supervising physician. Certification in appropriate area is strongly preferred.
     
  3. At least two years of experience in the clinician role in germane settings.
     
  4. Interest in assuming the responsibilities of the preceptor role.
     
  5. Preceptors may only be used for one practicum.  Graduate Program Director approval required for unique situations requiring the same preceptor to be used twice.

  PRACTICUM GUIDELINES
  

  NUR 623 Practicum I 
  

  • Family or Internal Medicine: full hours
  • Internal medicine/pediatric combined practice: full hours
  • Retail clinic: max 60 hours (with approval from Graduate Program Director)
  • Employer health: max 60 hours (with approval from Graduate Program Director)

   NUR 632 Practicum II

  • Family or Internal Medicine: full hours
  • Internal medicine/pediatric combined practice (1 provider that practices in both IM and Peds): full hours
  • All placements within primary care practices that focus on a restricted age group (Geriatrics/Nursing Home, Pediatrics, Women’s Health, Internal Medicine) require a plan to assure adequate experiences all age groups (with approval from Graduate Program Director).
  • Urgent care/*Emergency Department: max 90 hours
  • Retail clinical: max 60 hours
  • Specialty placement (with approval by Graduate Program Director): max 90 hours (Endocrinology, Cardiology, Dermatology, Orthopedics)

  NUR 643 Practicum III

  • Family or Internal Medicine: full hours
  • Internal medicine/pediatric combined practice (1 provider that practices in both IM and Peds): full hours
  • All placements within primary care practices that focus on a restricted age group (Geriatrics/Nursing Home, Pediatrics, Women’s Health, Internal Medicine) require a plan to assure adequate experiences all age groups (with approval from Graduate Program Director).
  • Urgent care/*Emergency Department: max 90 hours

  * Student requesting placement with an Emergency Department setting must adhere to the following restrictions:

  1. Students may not actively participate in the care of highly acute patients (e.g. acute coronary syndrome, CVA, resuscitation, trauma, etc.). Observation only is permitted.
  2. Students are to focus on the types of ED presentations that are commonly seen in primary care (e.g. headache, orthopedic complaints, fever) that represent commonly seen and treated acute presentations in primary care.
  3. Students may engage in various procedures that are within their MSN program training and competency area.  Prior RN ED work experience cannot be used to determine advanced practice competency.

  
  

  	Practicum FNP I	Practicum FNP II	Practicum FNP III
  Family Medicine	234	234	234
  Internal Medicine	234	234	234
  Internal Med/Peds Combo	234	234	234
  Pediatric	90	90	90
  Employer Health	60*	0	0
  Women's Health	0	90*	90*
  Urgent Care	0	90*	90*
  Emergency Medicine	0	90*	90*
  Retail Clinic	60*	60*	0
  Palliative/Geriatrics	0	90*	90*
  Endocrinology	0	90*	90*
  Cardiology	0	90*	90*
  Dermatology	0	90*	90*
  Orthopedics	0	90*	90*

  
  

  * Requires Graduate Program Director Approval- CONSIDERED A SPECIALTY ROTATION

  You may only have one 90 hour specialty rotation throughout your practicums.  You cannot have a specialty rotation each semester.

  Pediatric rotation is strongly encouraged.  This would not count as a specialty rotation.

  If completing 60 or 90 hours in specialty, the remaining hours must be in Family or Internal Medicine

   
  PRACTICUM APPROVAL PROCESS
  

  • Review "Important Dates & Deadlines" on right hand column of MO2 home page.  If an agency is not listed check the agency's website and submit the Preceptor Request Form (PRF) at least 15 days before the deadline.   
  • Review the "Clinical Placement Information" section of MO2 for details on the request process for the most commonly used health care systems and agencies.  Do not reach out to a health care system or possible preceptor before reviewing this information.  Some health care systems only accept employees or they may not want students reaching out directly to preceptors.  You will find guidelines for each agency in their link on this page.
  • Submit the Preceptor Request Form for all clinical placements.  Your preceptor request will be reviewed and submitted to the requested agency by the Clinical Placement Coordinator.  Do not submit any requests on your own.  All formal requests must be submitted by the Clinical Placement Coordinator following each agency's process.  If a student does need to submit a request, the Clinical Placement coordinator will work with that student to ensure the request is proper and complete.
  • A placement is not approved until a student receives a confirmation email from the Clinical Placement Coordinator.  If an agency reaches out directly to the student, the student is expected to forward the confirmation email to the Clinical Placement Coordinator at clinicalpaperwork@marianuniversity.edu
  • Once placement is approved, complete all university and agency-specific compliance modules and forms for orientation and onboarding.  This will be sent to you from the Clinical Placement Coordinator, an agency staff member, or a third party program such as MyClinicalExchange.  
  • Four weeks prior to the start of practicum, your preceptor will receive a letter welcoming them as your preceptor and providing them with program and course information.
  • Two weeks before the start of practicum, your preceptor will receive a Typhon username and password via email. 
  • Students may begin practicum at the start of the semester of the practicum course and only after confirmed schedule approval from preceptor.  

  DELAYED APPROVAL

  Failure to adhere to the due dates, timely submission of Preceptor Request Form, health and safety documentation and agency specific requirements will result in the delay of the approval process and may delay the start of student practicum experiences.  It is important that all deadlines are met and if issues occur, communication is prompt.

  FAQs
  

  • 234/250 hours – the total hours completed in the clinical setting is 234 per semester. In addition to the 16 hours spent in practicum course this will equal 250 hours of clinical time per semester.  
  • Clinical instructors may be requested as preceptors
  • Maximum of 2 preceptors/practicum (unless approved by Graduate Program Director)
  • If your preceptor has vacation or is unavailable for a time during the semester, you may ask another provider WITHIN THAT CLINIC, if they would accept precepting you for a limited time (typically, this is only for 2-3 clinic days – anymore requires approval)
  • All practicum hours are to be distributed evenly across the entire semester. Students are expected to have practicum hours weeks 1-15. Student may complete hours early with approval of their Clinical Instructor
  • Use of current employment site is acceptable
  • Use of immediate family members as preceptors is not allowed
  • Students should consider the pros and cons of using a personal friend as a preceptor.

  
  

  • Select activity FNP Preceptor Request Form

    

    FNP Preceptor Request Form Page

    Link to the Preceptor Request Form https://forms.office.com/r/L264jBPrCV
    

  • Select activity FNP 1 Student Expectations and Development

    

    FNP 1 Student Expectations and Development File
  • Select activity FNP 2 Student Expectations and Development

    

    FNP 2 Student Expectations and Development File
  • Select activity FNP 3 Student Expectations and Development

    

    FNP 3 Student Expectations and Development File