Behind on clinical hours in a Gonzaga practicum
Falling behind usually shows up around midterm, when hours left and weeks left stop adding up. Gonzaga's rules close the obvious shortcuts: no hours in breaks, none past the course end without faculty approval, none with an unapproved preceptor. The fix is more approved preceptor time inside the term, or a planned extension.
Get your placement plan
Tell us your Gonzaga program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with the preceptor and site options that fit your Gonzaga course.
Start with the weekly pace
Divide the hours you still need by the weeks left before the course end date. Fall and spring practicums run the full 16-week semester and summer runs 12 weeks, so a slow first month shows up quickly. The table uses catalog minimums for common FNP courses.
| Course | Catalog minimum | Pace over 16 weeks | Pace over the last 10 weeks |
|---|---|---|---|
NURS 601 | 60 hours | about 4 a week | 6 a week |
NURS 662P | 120 hours | 7.5 a week | 12 a week |
NURS 663P | 180 hours | about 11 a week | 18 a week |
NURS 664P | 120 hours | 7.5 a week | 12 a week |
Your own target depends on the credits you registered for. Gonzaga's figures work out to about 60 hours per practicum credit, and course faculty check that logged hours line up with registered credits. PMHNP ranges vary by course; see clinical hours by program.
Rules that limit a catch-up plan
Before you plan extra days, check them against Gonzaga's accrual rules. Each one removes a shortcut students sometimes reach for.
- No hours before the semester starts, during a university break or between semesters.
- No hours past the course end date unless course faculty grant an extension.
- Hours only with an approved preceptor, and no more than two preceptors in the semester.
- Hours follow the preceptor's availability. Gonzaga tells students not to ask preceptors to fit a schedule built around personal or work needs.
- PMHNP students may spend at most 15% of practicum time in observation.
Gonzaga also recommends working no more than 20 hours a week once clinicals begin, which is often the real constraint. The hour accrual rules page covers the fine print.
Ways to add approved hours this term
Ask your current preceptor first. An extra clinic day each week or a longer shift can close a gap without new paperwork, as long as you stay inside the approval you already hold. If the preceptor also works at another location, ask course faculty before you follow them there, since approval covers a site as well as a person.
Add a second approved preceptor if you still have a slot. Two part-time preceptors can carry a heavy course, but the second needs faculty approval before any hour counts, so start that request now rather than in the last month.
Count everything Gonzaga counts. For FNP, that includes face-to-face patient time, documentation, consultation with your preceptor and preparation in the clinic before a visit. PMHNP hours cover assessment, diagnosis, care planning, psychopharmacology and psychotherapy, presentation and documentation. See what counts as an hour.
When the term will end short
Talk to course faculty before the end date, not after it. Gonzaga's clinical packet allows an extension past the course end date with course faculty approval, and the catalog lets an instructor assign an Incomplete for a legitimate reason. An Incomplete can remain for up to a year before it becomes an F. Bring your log, your hours to date and a realistic weekly pace to that conversation, so faculty see a plan and not only a problem.
For larger gaps, Gonzaga's extension courses carry practicum hours into a later term: NURS 683P for FNP and NURS 683M for PMHNP, taken in semesters without a specialty didactic course and repeatable for credit. Each still needs an approved preceptor. See practicum extension courses and grades and progression.
How we help you catch up
Most catch-up plans come down to one missing piece: a second approved preceptor with room in their schedule. Finding that person is our specialty. We search your licensed state for a provider who fits the course and has open days now, confirm the credentials Gonzaga reviews, and prepare the request so approval moves while the term still has weeks left.
If the hours will spill into an extension term, we find that preceptor now, so the next term opens with a confirmed placement instead of a fresh search. If we already placed you, that second search starts the day you ask. Your placement advisor keeps the whole picture in view: hours logged, hours left, preceptor slots used and the courses still ahead.
Keep the log clean while you catch up
A rushed catch-up is where logs slip. Gonzaga asks for Typhon entries every week, with each day's encounters entered on the day you see the patients, or the CORE equivalent if your cohort has moved. If you are unsure how an encounter should be logged, ask course faculty before the week closes rather than correcting it later.
Faculty also audit whether your encounters cover the age groups and populations the course requires. A burst of hours with one patient group can close the hour gap while opening a coverage gap, so plan the extra days with the course objectives in hand. The Typhon logging page explains the audit.
Break weeks are not catch-up weeks: Gonzaga counts no clinical hours during university breaks or between semesters.
Questions Gonzaga students ask
How many clinical hours does a Gonzaga NP student need in total?
Gonzaga's 2026 program pages give 660 hours for the MSN FNP and PMHNP: 600 in the specialty practicums plus 60 in NURS 601. The 2025-26 catalog and some pages state 600 practicum hours. Both describe the same requirement from different angles; confirm your own target in the course syllabus.
Can I take an Incomplete if my hours run short?
Possibly. Gonzaga's catalog lets an instructor assign an Incomplete for a legitimate reason, and it may stand for one year. If no grade arrives within that year, it becomes an F. Ask course faculty early, since they decide whether an Incomplete or an extension fits your situation.
Can I log hours with my preceptor on weekends?
If your preceptor works weekends at your approved site, yes. Gonzaga ties your hours to the preceptor's availability, not to a weekday pattern. The limits are the semester dates, university breaks and your approved preceptor, so weekend shifts can add hours without cutting further into your work week.
Will falling behind hurt my grade?
Gonzaga expects a B or better in graduate study, and practicum prerequisites are coded at a minimum C. Being behind is not a grade in itself, but a course that ends without its hours cannot be completed as planned. Early contact with course faculty leaves you and them the widest set of options.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-25
We check these pages against Gonzaga's catalog, FAQs, preceptor packets and Department of Nursing pages. Your course, the Graduate Nursing Student Handbook and Gonzaga's Clinical Placement Team have the final word.
Gonzaga asks you to find local preceptors first. Let us run that search.
Tell us your Gonzaga program, your practicum course and where you live and can travel. We find preceptors who fit the course and prepare the license, certification and site details your Practicum Site Placement Request needs, early in the semester before.
- Preceptors matched to the course: primary care across the lifespan for
NURS 661PtoNURS 664P, psychiatric care forNURS 661MtoNURS 663M, an agency liaison for the DNP - Credentials, license, board certification and site contact ready for your site request
- In Spokane, across Washington or wherever in the ten western states you are licensed
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