Behind on clinical hours in a USI semester

Q: Can I work more than 40 clinical hours a week to catch up?

Not in NRSG 647, where USI allows 30 or more hours a week but never more than 40. The later AGACNP courses allow up to 36 hours a week. Other courses print no weekly cap, so ask faculty before planning very long weeks, and send them the schedule before you attend.

Q: Do i-Human simulation hours count toward my direct clinical hours?

No. USI treats i-Human work in NRSG 623 and the specialty courses as indirect clinical hours. They matter for your program, but they do not reduce the 200, 250 or 300 direct hours your specialty course requires with an approved preceptor.

Updated September 25, 2026 · Reviewed by the Southern Indiana Preceptor placement team

Tell course faculty now, work out the weekly pace you need for the weeks that remain, and add hours only in ways the University of Southern Indiana accepts: more days with your approved preceptor up to the weekly cap, an approved additional preceptor, a second approved site, or telehealth within the FNP and PMHNP limits. Holidays, breaks, observation and simulation will not close the gap.

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Week 3latest week a USI clinical course's hours can begin

40most clinical hours USI allows in a week of NRSG 647

Numbered steps. Four ways to add hours inside USI's rules: 1 More days with your preceptor; 2 An additional preceptor at the same site; 3 A second approved site; 4 Telehealth, for FNP and PMHNP only. — Four ways to add hours inside USI's rules: 1 More days with your preceptor; 2 An additional preceptor at the same site; 3 A second approved site; 4 Telehealth, for FNP and PMHNP only.

Find your real weekly pace

Start with arithmetic. USI's fall and spring semesters run 16 weeks, clinical must begin by week 3, and the hours have to fit inside the term. Starting in week 3 and working through week 16 gives about 14 weeks; take out any week lost to a holiday or illness, then divide the hours you still owe by the weeks you have left.

For a course that began on time, the steady pace looks like this. Every week of delay raises the number, and the handbook's weekly caps limit how far it can rise.

Steady weekly pace from week 3, and USI's stated weekly caps (handbook hours, 2026-27)
Semester and course	Direct hours	About per week	USI weekly cap
Fall: `NRSG 643`, `NRSG 633`, `NRSG 653`	200	14 to 15 over 14 weeks	None stated
Spring: `NRSG 645`, `NRSG 655`	250	About 18 over 14 weeks	None stated
Spring: `NRSG 635`	250 minimum	About 18 over 14 weeks	Up to 36
Summer: `NRSG 647`	300	Depends on summer term length	30 or more allowed, 40 at most
Summer: `NRSG 637`	300 minimum	Depends on summer term length	Up to 36
Summer: `NRSG 657`	300	Depends on summer term length	None stated

USI does not publish which part of term its graduate courses follow, and the fall and spring figures above assume the full 16 weeks. Confirm the weeks available with course faculty, especially before you plan a summer catch-up. The clinical hours page has the full hour picture by program.

Time that will not close the gap

Before you plan extra days, rule out the time USI will not credit toward direct hours:

University holidays and any stretch when courses are out of session. On the 2026-27 calendar that includes Thanksgiving recess (November 25 to 29) and Spring Recess (March 8 to 13); the semester calendar page lists the rest.
Anything before USI's approval email for that preceptor and site.
Observation, including time spent watching clinicians who have no agreement with USI.
i-Human simulation work, which USI counts as indirect hours.
Telephone-only or asynchronous telehealth, and any telehealth in the AGACNP track.
Time that is really job orientation at your workplace.

Clearing these out of your plan early prevents the worst surprise: a total that looked complete until faculty reviewed what counts.

Talk to faculty before midterm

Faculty evaluate you formally at midterm and at the end of the course, and your preceptor completes a feedback form at each point. A shortfall faculty first learn about from a midterm form is harder to fix than one you raised in week 5 with a plan attached.

USI's handbook gives faculty room to help: course faculty can approve rescheduled clinical time within the semester when something unforeseen gets in the way, and any rescheduled clinical needs their sign-off. Bring your numbers, the cause of the gap and the schedule you propose, and send the revised schedule to clinical faculty before you go.

Keep your Typhon log current and co-signed as you go, so the total faculty see matches the total you describe.

Four ways to add hours inside USI's rules

More days with your preceptorAsk for extra shifts in regular weeks, up to the course cap: up to 36 a week in the later AGACNP courses and up to 40 in NRSG 647. Send the new schedule to faculty first.
An additional preceptor at the same siteAnother licensed practitioner in your preceptor's office or facility can precept you once USI approves their additional Preceptor Agreement, which opens days when your preceptor is away.
A second approved siteA different location needs its own Preceptor Packet and, if USI has none with that organization, a Clinical Education Agreement. It takes longer to set up, but it can add clinic days your first site cannot offer.
Telehealth, for FNP and PMHNP onlyLive video visits count when you sit beside your preceptor at the approved site while the patient connects from elsewhere, up to 75 hours in total for FNP and 150 for PMHNP, if the course coordinator accepts them. You must be licensed where the patient is.

The additional preceptors page and the telehealth page cover the fine print for the second and fourth options.

If the gap will not close this term

Sometimes the honest math says the hours cannot fit. Clinical is graded Pass/Fail, and a course without a Pass becomes an F, so decide with faculty before the term ends rather than at the end. An incomplete is possible only for passing work with a small amount unfinished, at the instructor's discretion, and must be cleared within a year.

Withdrawal is limited, and in USI's Fall, Spring, Summer sequence a repeated course can move graduation back by a year. Weigh those paths with course faculty and your advisor, and bring the hour math with you; delayed graduation sets out the trade-offs, including what a withdrawal does to the next two courses.

Why students behind on hours come to us

Falling behind is usually a preceptor problem: too few days, a cancelled block, a clinician who left. We fix the supply side. The placement desk finds an additional preceptor or a second site that fits your course and can take you on the days you need, then gathers every detail the packet and the agreement request ask for, so approval moves without back-and-forth.

We also look at the whole semester with you, so the new schedule sits under the weekly cap and inside the term, with room for the midterm and final touchpoints. If your preceptor has left entirely, see preceptor dropped out. Otherwise, tell us your course and your hours so far in the form below.

Questions USI students ask

Can I do USI clinical hours over Thanksgiving or spring break?

No. USI rules out clinical hours on university holidays and whenever classes are out of session. Thanksgiving recess and Spring Recess are on the academic calendar, so plan extra days in regular weeks instead. Rescheduled hours need course faculty approval and must stay within the clinical semester.

Can I work more than 40 clinical hours a week to catch up?

Not in NRSG 647, where USI allows 30 or more hours a week but never more than 40. The later AGACNP courses allow up to 36 hours a week. Other courses print no weekly cap, so ask faculty before planning very long weeks, and send them the schedule before you attend.

Do i-Human simulation hours count toward my direct clinical hours?

No. USI treats i-Human work in NRSG 623 and the specialty courses as indirect clinical hours. They matter for your program, but they do not reduce the 200, 250 or 300 direct hours your specialty course requires with an approved preceptor.

Can telehealth help me catch up on clinical hours?

In FNP and PMHNP, within limits. Telehealth counts only if it is live and your preceptor is in the same room with you at the approved site while the patient joins from a distance. FNP students may count up to 75 hours in total and PMHNP students up to 150, and acceptance is the course coordinator's call. AGACNP hours cannot use telehealth.

What happens if I finish the semester short on hours?

Without a Pass in the clinical component, the course grade is an F, even with a B or better in the didactic part. Before the term ends, ask course faculty about an incomplete, which the instructor may grant for passing work with a small amount left. Raising the problem early keeps more options open.

HoursClinical hours by programClinical and practice hours for every University of Southern Indiana nursing program in 2026-27, course by course, plus the totals USI's own pages disagree on.ObservationAdditional preceptors and observationHow USI handles a second preceptor, observers, the 8 suggested observation hours and rescheduled clinical time, and the form each change needs first.HoursTelehealth clinical hoursHow USI FNP and PMHNP students count telehealth clinical hours: the 75- and 150-hour caps, the same-room rule, licensure where the patient is, and who approves.Placement helpDelayed graduationWhy one missed USI clinical course can move graduation by a year: the Fall-Spring-Summer sequence, the week-3 rule, incompletes and withdrawal limits.Placement helpPreceptor dropped outYour preceptor quit during a USI clinical course. What to do on day one, how a replacement gets approved, and how to protect the hours you already logged.Calendar2026-27 semester calendarUSI's 2026-27 semester dates, breaks, add/drop and withdrawal deadlines, and how the Fall, Spring, Summer NP clinical sequence lines up with them.

Last checked 2026-09-25

We check these pages against USI's own bulletin, program pages and Graduate Nursing Handbook. Your handbook, course faculty and the Nursing Clinical Coordinator have the final word.

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Tell us your USI track, your city and your next clinical semester. We find preceptors who fit the NRSG course and fill the Preceptor Packet and Clinical Education Agreement request with typed, complete details, well before USI's 6-week window.

Preceptors matched to the course: family primary care for FNP, acute care teams for AGACNP, PMHNPs and psychiatrists for PMHNP
Preceptor license, certification, years of practice and the site's agreement signer ready for the packet
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