Gonzaga's practicum extension courses
NURS 683P and NURS 683M are Gonzaga's practicum extension courses, for FNP and PMHNP students who still need clinical hours once their specialty courses are behind them. Both can be repeated for credit and are taken in semesters without an NP didactic course, and both follow the same placement rules as any other practicum. The DNP has its own version, NURS 704.
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.
What the extension courses are for
Gonzaga's catalog lists NURS 683P (Primary Care Practicum Extension) and NURS 683M (Psych-Mental Health Practicum Extension) as "if needed" courses in the MSN. They are meant for semesters when a student is not enrolled in NP specialty didactic courses, and each "May be repeated for credit." Put simply, they let you keep earning precepted hours after the paired theory and practicum courses are finished.
They matter because the MSN is not a cohort program. Your progression plan can slow down as long as the degree is done within five years, and the extension courses are how the practicum side keeps pace with a plan that has shifted, a preceptor who left mid-term, or a course that closed short of its hours.
An extension course versus a course-end extension
Gonzaga uses the word extension for two different things. The first is a course-end extension: the faculty packet says hours cannot run past a course's end date, but "an extension may be granted with course faculty approval." That keeps you inside the same course for a short time to close a small gap.
The second is enrolling in NURS 683P or NURS 683M in a later semester, as a registered course with its own credits and hours. That route suits a larger shortfall or a deliberately spread-out plan. Which one fits is a conversation with course faculty and your faculty advisor, and any change that takes you off your progression plan must be cleared with staff and your advisor first.
An extension changes the calendar, not the rules: every extension hour still depends on a faculty-approved preceptor, a current affiliation agreement, CPNW compliance and the semester's dates.
NURS 683P for FNP students
NURS 683P is one credit, repeatable, with variable hours, and it follows NURS 654P and NURS 664P. Its setting is primary care and other settings, the same wider scope NURS 664P has. The preceptor follows the FNP rule: a nurse practitioner, physician or physician assistant, unless your state requires an MD or NP. Across your whole FNP program, at least half the hours still have to be with a nurse practitioner.
The course is also part of the arithmetic. The catalog builds its ten practicum credits, and 600 hours, from NURS 661P through NURS 664P plus NURS 683P. The four main FNP practicums carry credit ranges, and at their lowest values they total eight credits, which leaves room for NURS 683P to carry the rest. Your progression plan sets the actual split.
The catalog also lists NURS 671 Care of Frail Elder, a three-credit course with a clinical application in an internal medicine clinic or long-term care setting, taken with NURS 683P. It is not on the required list, so ask your advisor before adding it.
NURS 683M for PMHNP students
NURS 683M runs one to three credits, repeatable, and Gonzaga's PMHNP materials put it at 60 to 180 hours. Like the other PMHNP practicums, it carries a course fee shown in ZagWeb. The 2026 PMHNP course objectives page notes one real difference from the main sequence: there are no site visits in NURS 683M.
Gonzaga's sources describe the preceptor for this course in different ways. The catalog's NURS 683M entry names a psychiatric nurse practitioner or psychiatrist, other Gonzaga wording allows an NP, physician or PA, and the PMHNP guides accept a range of qualified mental health professionals. The 15% observation cap still applies. Confirm the preceptor type with course faculty before you commit to one, and see the PMHNP practicum courses page for the full sequence.
The DNP and leadership versions
Post-Master's DNP students have NURS 704 DNP Practicum Extension, one to three credits and repeatable, for extra practicum time on the way to 1,000 post-baccalaureate hours. Those hours come from project work alongside your agency liaison, and the DNP practicum courses page covers where NURS 704 fits.
Current Nursing Leadership in Healthcare students have NURS 683A, the leadership practicum extension, at 60 to 120 hours alongside NURS 634A, with an approved expert clinical preceptor in a pre-approved setting.
Planning an extension semester
- Measure the gapCompare your logged hours with the 600-hour block and your credits, and put the shortfall in hours and credits.
- Talk to faculty earlyAsk course faculty and your faculty advisor whether a course-end extension or an extension course fits, and update the progression plan.
- Line up a preceptorFind a preceptor whose schedule can carry the remaining hours in one term, and submit the site request for faculty approval.
- Clear the siteConfirm the affiliation agreement, CPNW compliance and site approval before the first hour.
- Log and closeLog weekly and arrange the preceptor's end-of-term evaluation.
If the gap came from a lost preceptor, the preceptor dropped out guide helps, and behind on clinical hours covers catching up more broadly.
How we help you finish on schedule
An extension term is usually short on time, so the search has to move quickly. We find a preceptor and site in your licensed state able to carry the hours you still owe in a single semester, check the fit against the FNP or PMHNP preceptor rules, and assemble the preceptor's license, certification and site information so faculty can review it quickly.
We keep the larger plan in view too. If an extension pushes a graduation date, the delayed graduation page lays out the options, and your placement advisor stays on call until your final hour is logged. Tell us your course and the hours remaining with the form below.
Questions Gonzaga students ask
Can I take NURS 683P more than once at Gonzaga?
Yes. The catalog lists NURS 683P as repeatable for credit, one credit each time, so FNP students can add hours across more than one extension semester when the progression plan calls for it. Each enrollment still needs an approved preceptor, an active agreement and CPNW compliance.
Is there a faculty site visit in NURS 683M?
No. Gonzaga's 2026 PMHNP course objectives page says there are no site visits in NURS 683M, unlike the three main PMHNP practicums, which each include one. The other PMHNP rules, including the 15% observation cap and faculty approval of your preceptor, still apply.
When do Gonzaga students take a practicum extension?
In a semester without an NP specialty didactic course, usually after the paired theory and practicum courses are finished. For FNP students that means after NURS 654P and NURS 664P. Your faculty advisor and your progression plan set the exact term.
Do NURS 683P hours count toward the 600 practicum hours?
Yes. Gonzaga's catalog builds the ten-credit, 600-hour practicum block from NURS 661P, NURS 662P, NURS 663P, NURS 664P and NURS 683P. Extension hours sit inside that block rather than beyond it, so plan them with course faculty as part of your total.
Does the Gonzaga DNP have an extension course?
Yes, NURS 704 DNP Practicum Extension. It runs one to three credits, can be repeated, and gives Post-Master's DNP students more practicum time to reach 1,000 post-baccalaureate hours, MSN hours included. They are indirect hours tied to your DNP project.
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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