NURS 5660 Family NP Advanced Practicum at UTA
NURS 5660 is the last and largest clinical course in UTA's FNP track: 6 credits, 360 clinical hours and 13 weeks in the accelerated online format. Half of your 720 program hours sit in this one course, so the preceptor schedule, and a backup, should be settled before the term starts.
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NURS 5660
NURS 5660 at a glance
UTA's catalog describes "Clinical preceptorships in selected health practice sites" in "Family Primary Care Advanced Nursing Practice." The word is plural, and the final practicum is where UTA's recent FNP guidance allows the most preceptors (more on that below). Hours and length come from UTA's online FNP page; the rest is from the 2026-27 catalog.
| Item | What UTA publishes |
|---|---|
| Catalog title | Family NP Advanced Practicum |
| Credits | 6 |
| Clinical hours | 360 (UTA's online FNP page) |
| Length, accelerated online | 13 weeks |
| Prerequisites | NURS 5337 and NURS 5338 |
| Credit-to-clinical ratio in the catalog | "1:4" |
| Setting | Selected health practice sites in family primary care |
| Fall 2026 online schedule | Listed for the 8/24/2026 start |
The catalog does not explain how its 1:4 ratio converts to clock hours. For this course, UTA's online FNP page settles it at 360. The clinical hours overview sets the FNP total beside UTA's other tracks.
The pace: 360 hours in 13 weeks
Spread evenly, 360 hours over 13 weeks is almost 28 hours a week, about three and a half clinic days, from the first week to the last. Lose two weeks to late paperwork and the remaining 11 weeks need close to 33 hours each. Those figures are our arithmetic, not UTA's.
Every hour has to be one UTA will count. Direct patient care is what satisfies the minimum; the handbook allows simulation and observation only toward hours above it. Students "are unable to graduate without completing all program required clinical hours," and UTA does not waive any.
Log timesheets and patient logbooks in Exxat as you go, not in a batch at the end. Earlier UTA syllabi set a 7-day logging limit, and a practicum this size leaves little room to rebuild lost entries. The guide to clinical hour logs explains what counts.
Planning for more than one preceptor
Unless your preceptor works full time and can host you on most clinic days, one preceptor will not cover 360 hours in 13 weeks. Plan the whole course as a schedule, not a single name.
How many preceptors UTA allows is not on a public page today. UTA's FNP guidelines revised 9/4/24, which we have seen only as a search-result snippet, allow up to three in the third clinical course ("CP3"), compared with one preferred and two accepted in each Clinical Practice course. Earlier UTA syllabi (2016 to 2018) capped every FNP course at two. Check the current preceptor guidelines in Exxat's Resources area before you build a plan around a third.
- An anchor preceptorOne family practice preceptor carries most of the 360 hours and sets the rhythm of your weeks.
- A second preceptor for the gapsA second clinic fills the days the first cannot, or covers ages the first rarely sees.
- Each one approved firstEvery preceptor needs approval from the Clinical Coordinator and/or course faculty and a signed Preceptor Agreement before your first day with them, and each agency needs an affiliation agreement with UTA.
- A named backupIf the current guidelines allow a third preceptor, get that person approved early rather than searching in week eight.
Adding a preceptor inside a health system takes longer
If your second or third preceptor works in a health-system clinic, expect that system's student rules on top of UTA's. Some published examples in Texas:
- Texas Health Resources: the process "begins with the student securing a preceptor," who then confirms that an agreement covering your program exists. For students who are not THR employees, new agreement requests need a business case signed by the entity president or CNO (from an archived copy of THR's page).
- Baylor Scott & White: students complete its Nursing, Physician Assistant and Allied Health orientation within 90 days before the rotation starts, and that applies at its ambulatory clinics too.
- CHRISTUS Trinity Mother Frances (Tyler): students need an active affiliation agreement, a resume and a secured preceptor, with request deadlines of March 1, July 1 and November 1.
- University Health (San Antonio): it lists UTA's College of Nursing as an education partner and wants requests from the school coordinator 30 to 45 days before the start.
The common thread: you bring the preceptor, and the system still wants its own paperwork and lead time. The DFW hospital onboarding guide goes system by system.
Finishing on time
The practicum ends when the term ends, so protect the calendar early. These habits keep a 360-hour course on track.
- Submit the
NURS 5660request in Exxat as soon as it appears. UTA's Exxat page says a course does not show while it is more than 12 months from its start date. - Put every preceptor's clinic days on one calendar before week one and total the hours. If the total is short of 360, fix it before the term, not during it.
- Keep clearance current. Under UTA's clearance policy, noncompliance can lead to removal from the clinical setting or course failure.
- Tell your course faculty the week you fall behind. The handbook routes placement problems to the Program Director and then the Associate Chair.
If hours are slipping, read behind on clinical hours. If a preceptor cancels, start with what to do when a preceptor drops out.
UTA waives no clinical hours. Have your second preceptor approved before the term starts, not after the first one cancels.
Why FNP students choose us for NURS 5660
The final practicum leaves little slack, and that is where our search earns its place: a second or third family practice preceptor near you to cover the hours your first preceptor cannot, and a replacement search the moment one cancels. For each new preceptor, the CV, license check, agreement forms and site information are ready for the Clinical Coordinator. If you already have one preceptor, send us their clinic days so the search targets a schedule that fills your gaps instead of overlapping them.
UTA decides each approval, and every request we help prepare reaches that review complete. How it works explains our part, or use the form below with your NURS 5660 start date and county.
Questions UTA students ask
Can I take NURS 5660 in the same term as NURS 5338?
The catalog does not offer that. NURS 5660 lists both NURS 5337 and NURS 5338 as prerequisites and, unlike NURS 5338, gives no concurrent enrollment option. If your degree plan in MyMav seems to show otherwise, ask MSNadvising@uta.edu before you register, because a plan error can also stop the course from appearing in Exxat.
Can I keep my NURS 5337 and 5338 preceptor for NURS 5660?
No public UTA source rules it out, and a preceptor who knows your work saves setup time. The catch is volume: close to 28 hours a week for 13 weeks is a much heavier load than either Clinical Practice course alone. Confirm approval and the Preceptor Agreement for this course, and add a second preceptor if their schedule falls short.
Is NURS 5660 the same for post-master's FNP certificate students?
The clinical courses are. UTA's online post-master's FNP page lists NURS 5337, NURS 5338 and NURS 5660 with 180, 180 and 360 hours, and certificate sections carry a NURSC prefix in UTA's online schedule. Your other courses are set by a gap analysis. See post-master's NP certificates for how that works.
Can simulation or telehealth hours count toward NURS 5660?
UTA's handbook lets simulation and observation count only toward hours above the national minimum, and says simulation can never replace population-specific hours. No UTA source we found addresses telehealth at all. Before you plan any non-traditional hours into the 360, get confirmation in writing from your course faculty.
What if I haven't finished the 360 hours when the term ends?
UTA's public pages do not describe what happens to an unfinished practicum. The handbook is clear that you cannot graduate without every required clinical hour and that no hours are waived. Talk to your course faculty as soon as the gap appears, well before the final weeks, and ask what the course allows.
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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