The University of Southern Indiana clinical process, broken into guides

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

USI keeps its graduate clinical rules in a web-based Graduate Nursing Handbook spread over a dozen pages, a pair of fillable forms and the 2026-27 bulletin. Each guide here lifts one piece out: the packet you hand a preceptor, the agreement a site signs, the 6-week window, compliance, Typhon, every NRSG clinical course and the state table. Where two USI sources say different things, the guide lays both side by side.

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USI systems. USI keeps its graduate clinical rules in a web-based Graduate Nursing Handbook spread over a dozen pages, a pair of fillable forms and the 2026-27 bulletin. Eac — Every USI clinical guide in one place: the Preceptor Packet, the Clinical Education Agreement, deadlines, CastleBranch, Typhon, NRSG courses and states.

How USI's rules are spread out

Most of what a nurse practitioner student needs sits under Clinical Practice Requirements in the handbook: the 10-step Clinical Experience page, the University Clinical Requirements page with its paid-placement note, the Course Requirements page with hours and telehealth caps, and a short FAQ. The Preceptor Packet (Form G) and the Request for USI Clinical Education Agreement are separate PDFs.

The bulletin fixes credits and NRSG course numbers for 2026-27, and the Professional Licensure Disclosure page covers states. When a detail is missing from all of them, the relevant guide says so and names the office to ask, usually the Nursing Clinical Coordinator or your course faculty.

What the placement desk does with them

An NP specialty year at USI runs Fall, Spring and Summer, and every rotation needs its own packet six weeks ahead. Our desk turns those dates into one plan per student, then searches your area for clinicians who fit each NRSG course, so the Fall preceptor is lined up while the Spring and Summer searches are already moving.

Send your track, city and first clinical semester through the form on this page. We gather the license, certification and site details the packet asks for, and we stay with you until each approval email lands.

Preceptors and approval

The 10-step placement processHow a University of Southern Indiana NP student gets a preceptor approved: the handbook's 10 steps, Form G, the agreement request and the green light email.Finding your own preceptorUSI's handbook makes the student responsible for finding preceptors. What that means, how the wording has changed since 2014, and how to search close to home.USI's third-party placement noteWhat USI's Graduate Nursing Handbook says about third-party clinical placement organizations and their fees, when it first appeared, and how to plan around it.Preceptor Packet (Form G)USI's Preceptor Packet (Form G, 07/2026) explained: its five parts, the site survey, the 6-week rule and how to send it typed, as a PDF, to usi1nursing.Clinical Education Agreement (CEA)The Request for USI Clinical Education Agreement (formerly the MOU): who completes it, who signs the contract, existing agreements, why students cannot sign.Orientation Packet and clinical rolesUSI's Preceptor Orientation Packet comes on request only. How to get it, what the preceptor signs, and what USI asks of preceptors, students and faculty.The green light approval emailWhat happens between sending USI your Preceptor Packet and the green light email: license checks, the site agreement, faculty approval and Typhon set-up.Graduate Clinical Liaison and contactsWho approves and who helps at USI: the Graduate Clinical Liaison, the Nursing Clinical Coordinator at usi1nursing@usi.edu, course faculty, the Graduate Chair.Who can precept youWhat it takes to precept a University of Southern Indiana NP student: an unencumbered license, board certification, a year in practice and a signed agreement.PA and physician preceptorsUSI lets physician assistants and physicians precept FNP and AGACNP students, while PMHNP students may learn only from a PMHNP or a licensed psychiatrist.Clinicals where you workCan a USI student do clinical hours at their own job? What the handbook says, what it leaves open, the no-orientation rule and how students make it work.Additional 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.The Alaska preceptor ruleAlaska is USI's exception: the graduate nursing program selects every preceptor, and APRN students register a preceptorship with the Alaska Board of Nursing.

Deadlines, compliance and tracking

Clinical deadlinesUSI's clinical paperwork deadlines compared: Form G's 6 weeks vs the handbook's one month and 4 weeks, the week-3 start rule, holidays and 2026-27 dates.CastleBranch (DISA)What goes into your CastleBranch (now DISA) record at USI, when it is due, why nothing may lapse before the term ends, and what a late record risks.Background check and drug screenUSI's national background check, 10-panel drug screen and yearly Zachary's Law registry check: when each is due, what counts, and how to report new charges.Health requirementsThe immunizations, TB screening, yearly flu shot, medical evaluation, insurance and exposure rules in USI's Infection Control Policy, and how to stay current.RN license for clinicalsUSI requires an unencumbered RN license in every state where you do clinicals. How the nurse compact, telehealth and a move to another state shape your plan.BLS, ACLS, HIPAA and OSHABLS for every USI graduate nursing student, ACLS for AGACNP, yearly HIPAA and OSHA, student malpractice coverage, the clinical name badge and travel rules.TyphonHow USI graduate nursing students use Typhon NP Student Tracking: logging encounters, preceptor co-signing, feedback forms and access after graduation.Clinical evaluationsHow USI graduate faculty evaluate clinicals: midterm and final ratings, preceptor feedback forms, the seven preceptor-faculty touchpoints and Pass/Fail grading.

Hours and clinical courses

Clinical 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.750 hours: the 2026-27 changeWhy University of Southern Indiana NP tracks went from 630 and 675 hours to 750 in 2026-27, how the 200/250/300 split works, and what it means for certificates.Telehealth 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.NRSG 623 Advanced Health AssessmentUSI's NRSG 623 Advanced Health Assessment for the APRN: a Summer course with no direct clinical hours, i-Human indirect hours, and your Fall packet deadline.NRSG 661 Advanced Nursing Core ConceptsNRSG 661 Advanced Nursing Core Concepts carries 40 direct care hours for USI's NEL and HSL tracks (NRSG 761 in the OSL DNP). Settings, supervisors, approval.NRSG 643 Primary Care I (200 hours)USI's NRSG 643: 200 direct hours in family primary care each Fall, who can precept you, prerequisites, the 6-week packet deadline and the twin NRSG 843.NRSG 645 Primary Care II (250 hours)USI's NRSG 645: 250 Spring hours, mostly family primary care with room for pediatrics, obstetrics or dermatology, specialty preceptors, and the twin NRSG 845.NRSG 647 Primary Care III (300 hours)USI's NRSG 647: 300 Summer hours at 30 to 40 a week, specialty sites with faculty approval, the Barkley review, deadlines, and the BSN-to-DNP twin NRSG 847.NRSG 633: Acute Care I, 200 hoursUSI NRSG 633 Adult and Geriatric Acute Care Management I: at least 200 direct Fall hours, who can precept, hospital timelines and when to start planning.NRSG 635: Acute Care II, 250 hoursUSI NRSG 635 Adult and Geriatric Acute Care Management II: a 250-hour Spring minimum, the 36-hour weekly cap, a new Preceptor Packet and early deadlines.NRSG 637: Acute Care III, 300 hoursUSI NRSG 637 Adult and Geriatric Acute Care Management III: 300 minimum Summer hours, critical care or hospitalist preferred, and a 36-hour weekly cap.NRSG 653: PMHNP I, 200 hoursUSI's NRSG 653 is the first PMHNP clinical course: 200 direct outpatient hours in the Fall term, precepted only by a PMHNP or a licensed psychiatrist.NRSG 655: PMHNP II, 250 hoursNRSG 655, USI's second PMHNP clinical course: 250 direct hours, mostly outpatient, in Spring, with a PMHNP or psychiatrist precepting and Barkley review due.NRSG 657: PMHNP III, 300 hoursNRSG 657 closes USI's PMHNP track: 300 direct hours in outpatient mental health settings over the Summer term, the final evaluation and the last of your 750.DNP practice hoursHow USI counts DNP practice hours: the 1,000-hour floor, up to 500 from your MSN, 760 at USI post-MSN, 1,510 and 1,005 for BSN-to-DNP, and where sources differ.DNP project practice partnerHow the USI DNP project works: the faculty mentor USI assigns, the practice partner you find, the Practice Partner form, proposal review and 500 project hours.i-Human and Barkley Board ReviewHow USI uses i-Human simulations (indirect hours in NRSG 623 and Specialty I and II) and the required Barkley Board Review in Specialty II, by NP track.

Calendar, campus and progress

2026-27 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.Campus visits and intensivesWhen a USI online nursing student may be asked to visit campus: competency checks, site visit simulations, video evaluations and the virtual DNP intensives.Grades and progressionHow USI grades graduate clinical courses (a Pass plus B or better), what fails a clinical course, withdrawal limits, incompletes and returning after a break.USI student systemsThe USI systems an online nursing student uses: myUSI, Self Service, Blackboard, Eagles Mail, Zoom, Honorlock, Rice Library, DISA, Typhon and IT help.

Where you live

Licensure disclosure by stateUSI's nursing licensure table read program by program: which residents may not enroll, where the curriculum meets state rules, and its MA, ND and CO conflicts.Relocating during the programMoving mid-program as a USI nursing student: the recognized-states rule, notifying the Program Chair and APRN Director, RN licenses and new clinical paperwork.Accreditation: CCNE, Indiana, NC-SARAUSI nursing accreditation explained: CCNE for the BSN, MSN, DNP and certificates, the Indiana Board for the BSN, NC-SARA, and what each means for clinicals.

Questions USI students ask

Where is USI's Graduate Nursing Handbook?

It is a set of web pages rather than one PDF, under the Graduate Nursing Program section of usi.edu. The clinical rules live under Clinical Practice Requirements. Our placement process guide follows its 10 steps in order.

Why do USI's clinical hour figures sometimes differ?

USI rebuilt its graduate curriculum for 2026-27, so older pages still show the 2025-26 totals and NURS course numbers. The handbook now sets 750 direct hours for each NP track. The clinical hours guide shows each version side by side.

Which USI guide should I start with?

Open the placement process first, then the clinical deadlines, then the page for the NRSG course you take next. That order keeps the 6-week packet window in view from the start.

Does this cover every USI nursing program?

Every program with clinical or practice hours is covered: the three MSN nurse practitioner tracks and their post-master's certificates, both BSN-to-DNP routes, the post-MSN DNP, the two leadership MSNs and the online RN-to-BSN. The programs hub lists 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.

USI makes the search your job. We make it the easy part.

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
Fall, Spring and Summer planned together, close to home in a state USI enrolls

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