NURS 5338 Family Clinical Practice 2 at UTA
NURS 5338 is UTA's second FNP clinical course: 3 credits, 180 clinical hours and 11 weeks online, again in primary care. The catalog lets you take it alongside NURS 5337, so the planning question is whether one preceptor and one site can carry you through both courses.
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NURS 5338NURS 5337
NURS 5338 at a glance
The catalog calls NURS 5338 a "Continued clinical preceptorship" in "selected primary health practice sites." Its credits, hours and online length match NURS 5337. What changes is the prerequisite rule, which allows the two courses to overlap, and the standard you are graded against.
| Item | What UTA publishes |
|---|---|
| Catalog title | Family Clinical Practice 2 |
| Credits | 3 |
| Clinical hours | 180, per UTA's online FNP page |
| Length, accelerated online | 11 weeks |
| Prerequisite | NURS 5337 "or concurrent enrollment" |
| Setting | Selected primary health practice sites |
| Fall 2026 online schedule | Listed for the 9/21/2026 start, the same start as NURS 5337 |
| What follows | NURS 5660, which requires both NURS 5337 and NURS 5338 |
The two Clinical Practice courses together make up 360 of the 720 hours UTA lists for the FNP track. The clinical hours overview compares that with UTA's other tracks.
Running NURS 5338 alongside NURS 5337
The catalog allows concurrent enrollment, and UTA's Fall 2026 online schedule lists both courses at the 9/21/2026 start. Whether you take them together is set by your degree plan, which you can view in the MyMav Student Center.
Together, the two courses ask for 360 clinical hours inside the same 11 weeks. By our arithmetic that is close to 33 hours a week, or about four clinic days, starting in week one. A preceptor who works three days a week, or a clinic that can host a student only on certain days, may not be able to carry both.
Each course has its own place in Exxat. The MyRequest guide UTA hosts shows a separate "Wishlist closes" date for each course, so confirm that both NURS 5337 and NURS 5338 appear and that both requests go in on time. The MyRequest walkthrough covers the screens. Ask your course faculty how they want hours recorded for each course while the two overlap, because the public sources do not say.
Keeping the same preceptor from 5337 into 5338
Staying with one preceptor is the simplest path, and UTA's guidance leans that way. For the first two clinical courses, a September 2024 revision of UTA's FNP guidelines, visible to us only in a search excerpt, reads "1 preceptor preferred, 2 are accepted." The older limit, in syllabi from 2016 through 2018, was a maximum of two preceptors in any one FNP clinical course.
Continuity also helps with the step up in grading. Faculty use UTA's Clinical Evaluation of Student tool in each course, and the target moves from "Moderate Assistance" in Clinical Practice 1 to "Minimal Assistance" in Clinical Practice 2, each on 80% of scored items. A preceptor who has watched you since NURS 5337 already knows where you need less help.
Keeping the preceptor does not skip the paperwork. NURS 5338 has its own course request in Exxat and needs approval from the Clinical Coordinator and/or course faculty; how that approval works is covered separately. UTA's public pages do not say whether a new Preceptor Agreement is needed for each course, so ask, and have your preceptor sign again if the answer is yes.
Does your preceptor's practice cover the whole family?
Before you commit a second course to the same practice, look at who that practice actually sees: ages, visit types, and how many patients you would see yourself on a clinic day.
Population minimums used to be spelled out. UTA's Fall 2016 and Spring 2018 FNP syllabi set a floor of 90 direct-care hours in each of three groups (children, adults and older adults), and the 2016 syllabus added a 500-hour family practice minimum. Current public UTA sources do not restate those minimums, so check the NURS 5338 syllabus in Canvas for today's rule.
One rule does appear in the current handbook: simulation can never replace population-specific hours. If your preceptor sees few children or few older adults, a second approved preceptor in a clinic that does is one fix, and the 2024 guidance above accepts two preceptors in this course. That second person needs UTA's approval and a signed agreement before you work with them.
What to re-check before your first NURS 5338 day
Even with the same preceptor, confirm each of these
NURS 5338shows in Exxat MyRequest, and your request went in before its Wishlist closed.- The preceptor and site show as approved for this course, not only for
NURS 5337. - The Clinical Coordinator has a signed Preceptor Agreement that covers this course, received no later than your first clinical day.
- No compliance item in Exxat is marked Expiring or Expired. UTA expects students to stay compliant for their whole time in the program.
- Your RN license is unencumbered in the state where the site is. If the site is in another state, or you have moved, email NursingSOA@uta.edu before you start.
- Any second preceptor, for example for pediatric hours, is approved and has signed before your first shift with them.
Under UTA's clearance policy, a lapsed compliance item can cost you the placement or pull you out of clinicals mid-course. Check Exxat for expiring items before week one.
If your NURS 5337 preceptor can't continue, and where we help
Tell your course faculty and Clinical Coordinator as soon as you know. The handbook's escalation path for placement problems runs to the Program Director and then the Associate Chair, and the policy UTA posts in Exxat for this situation is titled "Students Experiencing Difficulties with Clinical Placements." Our guide for when a preceptor cancels covers what to do first.
The placement desk can look for a replacement primary care preceptor near you who fits NURS 5338, then help you build the approval packet: a resume or CV, license verification, the signed forms and the site's details. Only UTA can approve the new preceptor, site and agreement, so we make no promise about approval or timing. Use the form below, or read how our process works first.
Questions UTA students ask
Can I take NURS 5338 before NURS 5337?
No. The catalog prerequisite for NURS 5338 is NURS 5337 or concurrent enrollment, so the earliest you can take it is the same term as NURS 5337. The final practicum is stricter: NURS 5660 requires both Clinical Practice courses first, and the catalog gives no concurrent option for it. See the NURS 5660 page for that course.
Can I do NURS 5338 at a different clinic from NURS 5337?
Yes, if the new clinic fits the course and UTA approves it. A new site means a new approval, and UTA requires an affiliation agreement with that clinical agency before you can do hours there. UTA publishes no turnaround time for a new agreement, so raise a site change early. A change can also help if your first clinic saw few children or older adults.
Do I need a new background check or drug screen for NURS 5338?
UTA ties the 30-day window for the background check and drug test to your first clinical course. After that, the clearance policy asks you to remain compliant for the whole program, and an unfavorable result at any time carries the same penalties as noncompliance. Clinical agencies may also add their own requirements, so a new site can ask for more.
Why does my schedule say NURSC 5338 or NURSG 5338?
UTA's online schedule lists certificate sections under a NURSC prefix, headed "Nursing Certificate Courses," and UTA's online RN-to-MSN pages show graduate courses under NURSG. The catalog does not define either prefix. For post-master's FNP students, UTA's online certificate page lists the same three clinical courses and the same 180, 180 and 360 hours.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-23
We check these pages against UTA's own sources. UTA's current handbook and your course faculty have the final word.
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