What counts as a clinical hour at Gonzaga

The FNP definition, in Gonzaga's words

Gonzaga's FNP guidance defines a practicum hour as "face to face time with patients, documentation, consult time spent with the preceptor and any preparation work needed in the clinic prior to seeing the patient." That is four activities, each tied to the clinic and to the patients you are seeing there.

Read closely, the definition is generous about the work around a visit and specific about where it happens. Writing up the encounter counts. So does the conversation where you present a patient and talk through the plan, and the chart review you do in clinic before walking into the room. Because the wording centers on the clinic, reading at home the night before is study time rather than practicum time unless your syllabus says otherwise.

FNP hours also have to come from the right settings and people. Every FNP practicum sits in primary care, NURS 664P and NURS 683P add other settings, and the pediatric course expects patients from every age group. At least half your total FNP hours must be with a nurse practitioner, which the NP hours rule page explains.

The 15% observation cap for PMHNP students

The PMHNP Preceptor Guide sets a firm ceiling: "PMH students can spend only 15% of their time, at most, in the clinical setting doing any kind of observation." The words any kind are broad. Sitting in on a therapy session you take no part in, watching an intake from the corner or shadowing medication checks all read as observation.

Do the arithmetic at the start of each course. In a 120-hour practicum, 15% is 18 hours; in a 240-hour practicum it is 36. Orientation days and first-week shadowing can use that allowance fast, so agree with your preceptor early on when you will begin seeing patients with them rather than behind them.

A preceptor who usually hosts students for shadowing needs to hear this rule before the term starts, not in week five. Share it at the first point of contact along with your goals, and track observation time separately in your log so the share is easy to show.

Time that sits outside the count

Time that does not become a practicum hour under Gonzaga's published rules

• Clinic time before the semester's start date, during a university break or between semesters
• Time at a site before CPNW compliance, site approval and an active affiliation agreement are all confirmed
• Time with a provider who is not your approved preceptor
• Paid work: at a workplace practicum, hours must be separate from worked hours and on a different unit
• PMHNP observation beyond 15% of the course's hours
• Clinic days after the course end date, unless course faculty approve an extension

Gonzaga's packet warns that hours outside its rules may not count and can put a student's place in the program at risk. The accrual rules page covers the timing gates in full, and the workplace practicum rules cover hours at your own employer.

Placements where every hour counts

The easiest hour to lose is one logged under the wrong conditions. We match you with preceptors in your own state whose clinic days can carry your course's hours, and we check the fit with Gonzaga's rules before anything is submitted: an NP for at least half of FNP time, a qualified mental health professional for PMHNP time, and a patient flow that lets you do the work rather than watch it.

We gather the preceptor's CV, license and board certification, the details of the site and who signs its agreement, and a schedule built on the preceptor's calendar, so the Practicum Site Placement Request reaches faculty complete. Your placement advisor remains reachable all semester. Send your program and course through the form below, or see how it works first.