NRSE 5012: Nurse Practitioner I Practicum for young and middle adults

NRSE 5012 in ETSU's plan of study

The 2023 FNP plans give NRSE 5012 Nurse Practitioner I Practicum 3 credits and 120 clock hours, the first of four 120-hour NP rotations that take the FNP to 540. BSN-DNP FNP students meet it at the same point. ETSU's longer 2026-27 write-up of the course was not readable, which leaves the syllabus as your guide to anything past hours and credits.

What the catalog does show is its partner. NRSE 5011 is a required corequisite, and its subject is preventing, diagnosing and treating common and acute problems across the lifespan in primary care. The catalog lists NRSE 5000, NRSE 5009, NRSE 5010, NRSE 5016 and NRSE 5018 as its prerequisites, with instructor permission as the fallback.

So the catalog points the practicum toward primary care, and the Intent Form label points it toward young and middle adults. Taken together, they suggest a primary care preceptor with a large adult panel. Confirm that reading with course faculty before you commit to a site.

Matching a site to young and middle adults

Faculty size up a site through the form's patient table: what percent of visits, and how many patients a day, fall into each group. For NRSE 5012, the adult row decides the case. A clinic whose panel is mostly children or mostly older patients is a weaker fit here, however good the preceptor, and may serve a later practicum better.

No ETSU source defines where young adulthood ends or middle age begins for this course, and ETSU posts no approved-setting list. Ask course faculty where they draw those lines and whether a specialty clinic's hours count. Our guide to the patient-mix screen shows how to read the table before you submit it.

The form also records the agency's name and address. If a practice group runs several offices, name the one where you will actually see patients, since that office's panel is the one your figures should describe.

What the NRSE 5012 syllabus should settle

Since the full description is unavailable, a handful of syllabus answers protects your summer:

• The share of the 120 hours you should reach before the mid-term evaluation.
• Whether urgent care, occupational health or other specialty clinics count, or primary care alone.
• Whether the site you use for NRSE 5022 can also supply NRSE 5012 hours.
• How mid-term and final preceptor evaluations get scheduled; ProjectConcert handles them through Schedule User Evaluation.
• Whether a letter grade is given; ETSU's catalog names no grading mode for NP practicums.

Either way, the College's rule of a B minimum in graduate nursing courses applies, with a single repeat allowed after a lower grade. Knowing the expectations in May beats discovering them in July.

How we set up your first NP practicum

Your first 120-hour practicum is where a well-matched preceptor pays off most. Our placement desk looks in your own area for a primary care clinician with a strong adult panel, confirms they can host your summer hours, and builds the Intent Form record: the preceptor's degrees and credential letters, each license and board certification number with its expiration, the adult-heavy patient figures and your hour target.

For full-time students we plan both summer placements at once so NRSE 5012 and NRSE 5022 stay out of each other's weeks, and we flag any new agency's contract immediately. Faculty make the approval and the Office of Student Services reviews credentials; we hand them a complete, rule-ready request on the first submission. Send us your plan and start term.