NRSE 5024: the Children and Adolescents Practicum
NRSE 5024 Children and Adolescents Practicum is the pediatric rotation for FNP students at East Tennessee State University (ETSU), with 120 clock hours for 3 credits in the plan of study and a spring term in every plan. It is the last practicum in three of ETSU's four FNP plans, so the preceptor you secure for it often decides whether you graduate on schedule.
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Tell us your spring term and home area.
NRSE 5024 in the catalog and the plan
In the 2026-27 catalog, the course is taught through nursing faculty plus clinical preceptors, in settings the catalog calls rural, urban and underserved. ETSU's 2023 FNP plans pair it with NRSE 5023 in the same spring, and the Preceptor Intent Form labels it Children & Adolescents Practicum. Everything else sits in the syllabus, since the full catalog description was out of reach.
| Plan | Term | Is it the last practicum? |
|---|---|---|
| MSN FNP, full-time, fall start | Spring 5 | Yes, in the final semester |
| MSN FNP, full-time, spring start | Spring 4 | Yes; Summer 5 holds only didactic courses |
| MSN FNP, part-time, fall start | Spring 8 | Yes, in the final semester |
| MSN FNP, part-time, spring start | Spring 7 | No; NRSE 5022 follows in Summer 8 |
| BSN-DNP FNP, part-time | Spring 8 | Last 120-hour NP practicum; residencies begin in Summer 12 |
Because the course sits so close to the finish in most plans, make the pediatric search a priority as soon as your older adult rotation is arranged.
Children and adolescents on the Intent Form
Young patients take up two rows of the form's patient table, one for children and one for adolescents, each with a share of visits and a count per day. A pediatric practice fills both rows naturally; a family practice may qualify if young patients make up a meaningful part of its day.
ETSU publishes no age cutoffs for these two groups, so ask course faculty how the site should count patients before you fill in the table. The patient-mix screen explains how faculty read it.
If a family practice runs a dedicated pediatric clinic day, ask faculty whether you may build your schedule around that day and whether the table should reflect it or the practice as a whole.
Pediatric preceptors and Tennessee's license rule
The credential line on the form gives three examples: FNP, ANP, MD. A family nurse practitioner with a busy pediatric panel, or a pediatrician, fits those directly. For a pediatric nurse practitioner, the Tennessee test from Rule 1000-01 applies: an unencumbered license that equals or outranks the one you are preparing for, valid where they practice, with competencies suited to the course. ETSU clinical faculty make the final call for NRSE 5024.
Keep this course separate from the joint DNP's pediatric sequence. NRSE 5312 and NRSE 5317 are precepted pediatric primary care practicums in the ETSU-TTU Pediatric NP-Primary Care concentration, a different program; see the joint DNP PNP practicums.
School-based and rural options in Northeast Tennessee
The College of Nursing's clinic network includes two school-based health centers in Sneedville, one serving the elementary school and one the middle/high school of Hancock County. HRSA gives Hancock County a high-needs geographic primary care shortage designation, and ARC classifies Hancock and Johnson counties as distressed for fiscal 2027.
Spring rotation requests to the Office of Practice open October 1, and earlier ones are not reviewed. Accepted students meet the Office of Practice's document list, much of which is already in ProjectConcert, and the Office of Practice reviews each accepted student's ProjectConcert file and reports anything missing. Whether a school-based center suits NRSE 5024 is for course faculty to confirm, and ETSU's nurse-led clinics page covers the request.
Spring timing and the finish line
The spring 2027 semester opens January 19, pauses for spring break March 15 to 21, ends classes April 29 and holds finals May 1 through 6, with commencement on May 8 and grades due by May 10. The graduation application for a spring finish is due September 1, before the rotation begins.
For full-time fall starters, NRSE 5024 shares the last semester with NRSE 6400, a primary care mental health course, the IPE 672E seminar and the MSN's comprehensive exam or culminating experience. A slow start on hours leaves no later term to absorb it, and ETSU confers no degree over an open Incomplete. If that risk looks real, read delayed graduation early.
What to confirm in the NRSE 5024 syllabus
The unread description leaves practical points open. Settle them with course faculty in the fall before your spring rotation:
- The age ranges faculty assign to children and to adolescents.
- Whether well-child visits, school-based care or adolescent clinics count.
- Whether sports physicals and other school-year visits may be included.
- Whether a family practice and a pediatric site may each carry part of the 120 hours.
- The hour count faculty want logged by mid-term, and what each child or adolescent entry in the patient journal should record.
- The grading mode, which the catalog does not state for NP practicums.
Share the answers with your preceptor so the spring starts on agreed expectations rather than assumptions.
How we help with the pediatric rotation
Because NRSE 5024 usually closes out the program, the search deserves an early start. Our placement desk looks in your community for a pediatric or family practice with a strong share of young patients, confirms spring availability, and prepares the Intent Form in full: both young-patient rows, the preceptor's degrees, and each license and certification with its expiration, plus your planned hours.
We flag any new-agency contract at the outset, and your placement advisor stays on call through April. The decision on your preceptor stays with ETSU faculty and the credential check with the College; we deliver a request they can review in one pass. Start your request.
Questions ETSU students ask
Can a pediatrician precept NRSE 5024?
The form lists MD among its sample credentials, and a pediatrician's license clears Tennessee's requirement that a preceptor hold a license at least equal to the one you seek. Clinical faculty at ETSU still approve each preceptor for this particular course, so their judgment on fit is final.
Is NRSE 5024 my last FNP practicum?
In three of ETSU's four FNP plans, yes: Spring 5 for full-time fall starters, Spring 4 for full-time spring starters and Spring 8 for part-time fall starters. Part-time spring starters take it in Spring 7 and finish with NRSE 5022 in Summer 8.
Can I use ETSU's school-based health centers for NRSE 5024?
A rotation request goes to the Office of Practice, which runs the Hancock County school-based centers, and spring requests open October 1. The Office of Practice decides acceptance and course faculty confirm fit, so keep a community option moving alongside it.
What if I fall behind on NRSE 5024 hours before graduation?
Speak with course faculty right away. ETSU grants an Incomplete only when three quarters of the work is finished and the cause was beyond you, it becomes an F after a year if unfinished, and it holds up graduation. Behind on clinical hours sets out options for the final weeks.
Is NRSE 5024 the same as the joint DNP pediatric practicums?
No. NRSE 5024 belongs to ETSU's FNP plan. The ETSU-TTU joint DNP's Pediatric NP-Primary Care concentration uses its own precepted courses, NRSE 5312 and NRSE 5317, plus NRSE 5314 Preceptorship and Certification Prep. That concentration's full-time BSN-DNP path also runs 12 semesters rather than the usual 9.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-25
We check these pages against ETSU's own catalog, College of Nursing pages, plans of study and ProjectConcert guides. Your plan of study, your syllabus, your course faculty and the graduate clinical coordinator have the final word.
ETSU asks you to lead the preceptor search. We make it the fastest part of your program.
Tell us your ETSU concentration, where you live and which semester your next practicum starts. We find preceptors who fit the course's patient population and prepare everything your Preceptor Intent Form and ProjectConcert entry need.
- Preceptors matched to the course: young and middle adults for
NRSE 5012, older adults forNRSE 5014, women forNRSE 5022, children forNRSE 5024, psychiatric care forNRSE 5405 - Credentials, license numbers, certification dates and the site's patient mix ready for faculty approval
- In your own community, in Northeast Tennessee or wherever ETSU approves your clinicals
Start your placement plan
Program, city and semester is all we need to begin.