UTA PNP clinical courses: primary care and acute care
Each of UTA's two pediatric NP tracks runs three clinical courses: two 3-credit clinical practice courses, then a 6-credit advanced practicum, for patients from birth to 21. UTA's 2020-21 course lists put each track at 720 clinical hours, but no current UTA page splits those hours by course.
Plan your pediatric clinical sites
Tell us your PNP track, the course number you start next and your county. A placement advisor replies with what a fitting pediatric site looks like.
The six pediatric clinical courses
Both PNP tracks follow one shape: Clinical Practice 1, Clinical Practice 2, then an advanced practicum. The titles, credits and prerequisites below are from UTA's 2026-27 catalog; the lengths are from UTA's accelerated online (AO) program pages.
| Course | Catalog title | Credits | Online length | Prerequisites |
|---|---|---|---|---|
NURS 5371 | Pediatric Primary Care Clinical Practice 1 | 3 | 11 weeks | NURS 5465 |
NURS 5372 | Pediatric Primary Care Clinical Practice 2 | 3 | 11 weeks | NURS 5371 or concurrent enrollment |
NURS 5685 | Pediatric Primary Care NP Advanced Practicum | 6 | 13 weeks | NURS 5371 and NURS 5372 |
NURS 5373 | Pediatric Acute Care Clinical Practice 1 | 3 | 11 weeks | NURS 5467 and NURS 5466 (or concurrent) |
NURS 5374 | Pediatric Acute Care Clinical Practice 2 | 3 | 11 weeks | NURS 5466; NURS 5373 or concurrent |
NURS 5680 | Pediatric Acute Care NP Advanced Practicum | 6 | 13 weeks | NURS 5373 and NURS 5374 |
Before any of these come the MSN core, the NP courses all tracks share (NURS 5350, NURS 5315, NURS 5334, NURS 5220 and NURS 5130) and the pediatric didactics. Both tracks take NURS 5465 Primary Pediatric Care and NURS 5467 Pediatric Complex Care; acute care adds NURS 5466 Pediatric Acute Care. Each is 4 credits and 8 weeks online.
Hours: 720 per track, with no per-course split
UTA's only published hour totals for the pediatric tracks come from its 2020-21 course lists: 720 clinical hours for PNP-PC and 720 for PNP-AC. Current UTA program pages still link those lists, but the lists also name MSN core courses UTA has since replaced, so treat 720 as the best published figure, not a freshly confirmed one.
No current UTA page assigns hours to NURS 5371, NURS 5372, NURS 5685, NURS 5373, NURS 5374 or NURS 5680 one by one. For the 6-credit practicums, the catalog's single line on the subject sets credit and clinical hours at 1:4, without saying how that becomes clock hours.
UTA's FNP track does publish a 180/180/360 split for its matching 3, 3 and 6-credit courses. It is tempting to assume pediatrics works the same way, but UTA has not said so. The per-course target for your section lives in your syllabus in Canvas or with your clinical coordinator. Every track's totals sit side by side on UTA clinical hours by track.
Do not promise a preceptor a schedule built on a per-course hour count you have not seen in your own syllabus.
Primary care: NURS 5371, NURS 5372 and NURS 5685
The primary care courses take place in what the catalog calls “selected primary health practice sites.” NURS 5371 is the “initial clinical preceptorship,” where you start working in the pediatric NP role. NURS 5372 continues that preceptorship, and the catalog lets you take it alongside NURS 5371 rather than after it.
NURS 5685 is the 6-credit advanced practicum in pediatric primary care, and you need both earlier courses first. In the online format the two practice courses run 11 weeks each and the practicum runs 13, so the final course asks the most of a preceptor's calendar.
UTA defines the PNP population as “birth to 21 years of age.” That points you toward outpatient settings that see infants, children and adolescents, such as general pediatric offices and pediatric clinics. If your best option is a mixed-age practice, confirm with course faculty that its pediatric volume fits the course before you commit a preceptor.
Acute care: NURS 5373, NURS 5374 and NURS 5680
The acute care courses move into “acute and chronic care health practice sites,” in the catalog's words. On UTA's PNP-AC page the settings are hospitals, emergency departments, specialty clinics and long term care facilities, again for patients from birth to 21.
NURS 5373 is the first acute care preceptorship. The catalog lists NURS 5467 and NURS 5466 as prerequisites, with concurrent enrollment allowed. NURS 5374 follows or runs alongside NURS 5373, and NURS 5680, the 6-credit practicum, needs both. Online lengths match primary care: 11, 11 and 13 weeks.
Because these rotations usually sit inside a hospital or health system, the agency paperwork matters. UTA needs an affiliation agreement in place with the agency, and its clearance policy notes that agencies can layer their own requirements on top. The DFW and Texas hospital onboarding guide covers what large systems tend to ask of students.
Who can precept a pediatric rotation
Every graduate preceptor has to clear two bars on UTA's preceptor page: an active provider license with no encumbrance, and twelve months or more working in the specialty role. After that, UTA's Clinical Coordinator, alone or with course faculty, approves each preceptor and site.
Past those minimums, UTA's online FAQ points to a per-course list of acceptable preceptor categories, kept with the course materials and not published. No current UTA source says whether a pediatrician, a family NP or a PA may precept a PNP course, so read your course's list before you ask anyone. What is and is not published is set out on UTA preceptor requirements.
UTA's online FNP page adds a signed Preceptor Agreement from each preceptor, which the Clinical Coordinator needs in hand by the first clinical day. Check the forms posted in Exxat for your pediatric course, since the public pages describe that step only for FNP.
Dual-track and certificate students
The PNP dual track covers both populations: 54 credits and 1,260 clinical hours on UTA's 2020-21 list. Its 2026-27 degree plan lists NURS 5372, NURS 5373, NURS 5374, NURS 5680 and NURS 5685, and it does not list NURS 5371. UTA lists the dual among its campus-based programs; the dual NP tracks page explains how that sequence runs.
Certificate students follow the MSN's clinical courses exactly: NURS 5371, NURS 5372 and NURS 5685 for primary care, or NURS 5373, NURS 5374 and NURS 5680 for acute care. Everything else in the plan comes from the program director's gap analysis, and neither certificate page gives an hour total. Online certificate sections appear under a NURSC prefix in UTA's schedule.
Credit totals vary by source. The 2026-27 catalog lists the PNP-PC MSN at 41 credits and PNP-AC at 45, while the 2020-21 PNP-PC list said 42.
Lining up each site, and why PNP students choose us
Placement at UTA starts with you: students find their own preceptor and site, and the Department of Graduate Nursing offers help to those who run into difficulty. Each request goes in through Exxat MyRequest, and UTA's online FAQ wants the search under way 12 to 16 weeks out from your first clinical course. Both pediatric tracks enroll students only from Texas plus six more states: Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, New Mexico and Virginia.
This is where pediatric students bring us in. A placement advisor searches close to home for pediatric preceptors and sites that suit the exact course you are entering, primary care or acute care, and keeps the birth-to-21 population in view when a practice sees mixed ages. We gather the documents UTA's clinical team looks at, such as the preceptor's CV and license verification, and a preceptor who drops out mid-course sends us straight back to searching for you. Your Clinical Coordinator makes the approval decision, and we see that it rests on a complete request. How it works lays out each step, and the form below starts the conversation.
Questions UTA students ask
How many clinical hours is NURS 5371 at UTA?
UTA does not publish a figure for NURS 5371 on its own. The only published number is the 720-hour total for the whole PNP-PC track, from UTA's 2020-21 course list. The FNP track's split of 180 hours per 3-credit course has not been confirmed for pediatrics. Check the syllabus for your section or ask your clinical coordinator.
Is UTA's PNP program fully online?
Both pediatric tracks are offered campus-based and in the accelerated online format. UTA describes the online version as 100 percent online coursework with no requirement to attend class on campus, taken one intensive course at a time. The clinical courses are still in person at the site UTA approves for you, and UTA notes that online clinicals depend on your own clinical arrangements.
Can I do PNP clinical hours at the hospital where I work?
Possibly. UTA's online FAQ accepts employer sites that match the course's clinical focus, except for hours in your home department or with your current supervisor precepting. A children's hospital that employs you could still host a rotation in a different department, under a preceptor who does not supervise you. See clinical hours at your employer.
Do simulation hours count toward the PNP 720?
Only in a limited way. Under UTA's MSN handbook, the first 500 hours, the national minimum, have to involve real patients; simulation and observation count only past that point. Simulation can never replace population-specific hours, and UTA does not waive any required clinical hours. Plan on real pediatric patient contact for the bulk of every course.
Can I take NURS 5371 and NURS 5372 in the same term?
The catalog lists NURS 5371 “or concurrent enrollment” as the prerequisite for NURS 5372, so the two can run together. Whether your own degree plan schedules them that way depends on your format and start date, so check your plan in MyMav and with your advisor. Running both at once means lining up enough preceptor time for two courses in the same window.
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.
Hand us the search. Keep your term.
Tell us your UTA track, your county and when your clinical course opens. We look for a preceptor and a site that fit what UTA asks for, and we help you put the approval packet together.
- Matched to your track's population and setting
- Paperwork prepared the way UTA's clinical team expects it
- In person near you, or a virtual option where your course allows it
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