Graceland's practicum process, one guide at a time

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

Graceland University spreads its practicum rules across a 101-page Graduate Student Handbook, the catalog, program pages and a licensure chart. The guides below take each rule and give it a page of its own: the forms, the contracts, the deadlines, compliance, Typhon, every NURS practicum and the state picture. Where two Graceland sources disagree, the page shows both.

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Graceland's practicum process, one guide at a time. Graceland University spreads its practicum rules across a 101-page Graduate Student Handbook, the catalog, program pages and a licensure chart. The guides below — Every Graceland practicum guide in one place: Appendix A and B, affiliation agreements, deadlines, Castle Branch, Typhon, NURS practicums and states.

Where Graceland writes its rules down

The Graduate Student Handbook does most of the work. Section 9 covers practicum guidelines, the paperwork, Castle Branch and preceptor qualifications, and the track sections set out the hours and settings for FNP, AGACNP and PMHNP. The catalog fixes courses and credits, the program pages speak to delivery and focus sessions, and the June 2020 licensure chart covers states.

Some details sit behind your login, on the myGraceland SON Resources page, including completion plans and syllabi. Where Graceland's public documents stop, our guides flag the gap and name who to ask: the contract coordinators or your track coordinator.

Why these guides come first

Every practicum at Graceland is a timing puzzle: the trimester ahead, the paperwork date that lands roughly ten weeks before it, the months a new affiliation agreement may need, and the requirement to use two different preceptors over your three practicums. Our placement desk lays that timeline out for each student before the first call to a clinic.

With the timeline set, the search becomes our job. Share your track, your city and the practicum you take next in the form on this page, and our team starts reaching clinicians who fit that course, collecting the Appendix A and Appendix B details along the way.

Preceptors and approval

The clinical placement processHow a Graceland University NP practicum gets approved, in the handbook's order: Castle Branch, preceptor, Appendix A and B, contract, approval email, Typhon.Finding your own preceptorWhat “arranged by the student (with the assistance of GU)” means for Graceland NP students today, how the rule changed since 2017 and how to search well.The NPHub optionGraceland's optional NPHub route as the 2026 handbook describes it: tracks, Minnesota, option form dates, 120 hours, 90 minutes and the Spring 2027 steps.Appendix A site requestAppendix A is the myGraceland form you file online for every term, site and address so Graceland can approve your preceptor and start the site contract.Appendix B preceptor formAppendix B is the online form your preceptor completes each term for Graceland: what it asks, the student details they need and the Typhon account it creates.Affiliation agreementsGraceland needs a signed affiliation agreement for every practicum site before clinical work begins: how contracts start, what networks need, why to plan early.Practicum approval emailGraceland's practicum approval email and the seven conditions before hours count: one email per preceptor and site, shown to your instructor on day one.Contract coordinators and rolesWho handles what in a Graceland practicum: contract coordinators, the Graduate Practicums Coordinator, lead faculty, track coordinators and Program Advising.Preceptor requirementsWho can precept a Graceland University NP student: NP and physician credentials, years in practice, a license where the site is, and each track's own rules.Who cannot precept youGraceland rules out physician assistants, relatives and partners, supervisors and subordinates, and your own unit as preceptors. Here is where each line falls.Practicum at your workplaceCan a Graceland University practicum happen at your own employer? Yes, in a separate clinical area of a large system. What coordinators check, and how it works.Two-preceptor ruleGraceland needs two or more different preceptors across three NP practicums, no more than two per practicum and none for all three terms. How to plan it well.Changing or adding a preceptorA substitute may cover 40 hours at your primary site; more needs Appendix B. How Graceland handles second preceptors, the two-week cutoff and preceptor changes.Sites with their own request systemsWhen a hospital runs its own student request process, Graceland asks you to tell the contract coordinator. Windows and rules from Kansas City and Des Moines.

Deadlines, compliance and tracking

Practicum deadlinesGraceland's practicum paperwork deadlines by term, the NPHub option form dates and their conflict, early submissions, the two-week notice and year-ahead plans.Castle Branch (GD23 and GF47)How Graceland nursing students use Castle Branch: the GD23 portal, the GF47dt, GF47im, GF47bgmo and GF47os packages, when each is due and what renews.Drug screen (GF47dt)Graceland's graduate drug screen: an 11-panel test through Castle Branch, taken 4 to 6 weeks before your first practicum. Timing, dilute results and positives.Background checkGraceland's graduate background check: finish it in Castle Branch by the end of your first term, choose GF47bgmo or GF47os, and attest to new charges each term.Immunizations and health itemsEvery Castle Branch health item Graceland NP students need: MMR, varicella, hepatitis B, TB, Tdap, flu, COVID, CPR, ACLS, insurance, confidentiality, photo ID.RN license for practicumsA Graceland practicum needs an unencumbered RN license at home and in each practicum state, verified by the board. The compact, PMHNP telehealth, past actions.Badge, lab coat and insuranceWhat Graceland nursing students wear and carry at a practicum: the mailed photo badge, the white School of Nursing lab coat, and the two insurance rules.TyphonHow Graceland uses Typhon: your site and preceptor listing, case logs, the preceptor's account from Appendix B, evaluations, and saving records before deletion.Evaluations and site visitsHow Graceland checks each practicum: preceptor-validated time logs, midterm and final evaluations in Typhon, random midterm site visits, and late evaluations.

Hours and practicum courses

Clinical hours by programPracticum hours for every Graceland University nursing program: 750 in each NP track, the older 600 and 540 totals, DNP practice hours and where sources differ.The 750-hour ruleWho is on Graceland University's 750 practicum hours and who stays on 600 or 540, what returning students face after Fall 2026, and how to plan preceptors.What counts as practicum hoursWhich hours Graceland University counts toward NP practicums: direct patient care only, the observation start, patient targets, weekly pace and week 14.NURS6740 Pediatrics practicumGraceland University's NURS6740 FNP Practicum: Pediatrics: 225 hours (the catalog still says 180), primary care only, and preceptors who see enough children.NURS6760 Adult practicumGraceland University's NURS6760 FNP Practicum: Adult: 225 hours in family practice or non-specialty internal medicine, primary care only, and who can precept.NURS6830 Family practicumGraceland University's NURS6830 FNP Practicum: Family: 300 hours, always the last practicum, at least half primary care and up to 150 specialty hours.FNP specialty hoursGraceland University FNP specialty hours: allowed only in NURS6830 and capped at 150, which sites are not primary care, specialist preceptors and telehealth.NURS5450 Chronic Care practicumGraceland's NURS5450 AGACNP Practicum: Chronic Care: 225 hours, 150 or more with an internist or hospitalist, 75 or more with a pulmonologist, set up right.NURS5460 Acute Care practicumGraceland's NURS5460 AGACNP Practicum: Acute Care: 225 ICU hours, up to 75 in one specialty, about 100 patients, and how to secure an ICU preceptor early.NURS5470 Final practicumGraceland's NURS5470 AGACNP Practicum: Final: 300 hours with an intensivist or emergency department clinician, ideally outside the specialty you work in.NURS5430 Behavioral Therapy ConceptsGraceland's NURS5430 Behavioral Therapy Concepts: the clinical component in your own community and the hour and credit figures that differ by source.NURS6841 PMHNP Practicum: INURS6841 PMHNP Practicum: I at Graceland: 225 hours with a psychiatrist or certified PMHNP, the locked practicum order, and how to secure your first site.NURS6842 PMHNP Practicum: IINURS6842 PMHNP Practicum: II at Graceland: the middle 225 hours, the pediatrics prerequisite, the age-mix midpoint and whether to keep your preceptor.NURS6843 PMHNP Practicum: FINALNURS6843 PMHNP Practicum: FINAL at Graceland: 300 hours as your last practicum, closing the 100/100/100 patient mix and the APRN time for certification.PMHNP telehealth hoursGraceland PMHNP students may count up to two terms or 450 hours of telehealth. How the license rule works when your patients sit in another state.DNP practice hoursGraceland DNP practice hours: 636 inside the program by course, 1,000 post-BSN to graduate, NURS8950 if you arrive short, and the practice mentor and site.

Calendar, focus sessions and progress

Focus sessionsGraceland focus sessions for NURS5194, NURS5195 and NURS5196: Zoom for FNP and PMHNP, Independence for AGACNP, where the sources disagree, and how to plan.Trimester calendar 2026-27Graceland's 16-week trimesters and 8-week halves in 2026-27: term dates, add, drop and withdrawal deadlines, the 13% vs 20% rule, one practicum a term.Incompletes and delaysHow Graceland handles an incomplete practicum, the 12-month practicum rule, stop-outs, sitting out a term and completion plans with Program Advising.myGraceland, Canvas and emailThe Graceland systems nursing students use: myGraceland and SON Resources, Canvas, the Sting email account, the my.graceland.edu forms and the Grabske Library.

Where you live

State licensure disclosuresWhat Graceland's June 2020 licensure chart says for your state: 32 meets, 5 does not, 13 unknown, why the DNP and RN-BSN rows differ, and how to confirm.Relocating mid-programMoving states during a Graceland nursing program? Check approval, your RN license and the licensure chart first, then rebuild practicum sites and paperwork.Accreditation and approvalsCCNE, the Iowa Board of Nursing, Missouri approval, HLC and NC-SARA: what each Graceland credential covers and what it means for practicums and certification.

Questions Graceland students ask

Where is Graceland's Graduate Student Handbook?

The School of Nursing links it from its main page as the Graduate Handbook PDF. The current edition is dated August 1, 2026, with updates from September 10, 2026. Our placement process guide follows its practicum flowchart step by step.

Why do Graceland's hour figures sometimes differ?

The handbook, catalog and program pages are revised on different schedules. The FNP pediatric practicum is the clearest case: 225 hours in the handbook, 180 in the catalog. Our clinical hours guide shows each version, and your track coordinator settles which applies to you.

Which Graceland guide should I open first?

Begin with the placement process, then the practicum deadlines, then the page for your next NURS practicum. Opening them in that sequence keeps you ahead of the contract work a new site needs before any hours count.

Is every Graceland nursing program covered?

Every program with practicum or practice hours is: the three MSN nurse practitioner tracks, the matching post-graduate certificates, both doctoral routes (BSN-to-DNP and post-master's DNP), the RN-BSN and the RN-to-MSN. The programs hub lists them all.

Last checked 2026-09-25

We check these pages against Graceland's own catalog, program pages and Graduate Student Handbook. Your handbook, your track coordinator and the contract coordinators have the final word.

Graceland's practicums are arranged by you, with Graceland's help. We do the searching.

Tell us your Graceland track, your city and your next practicum. We find preceptors who fit the course, line up what Appendix A and Appendix B ask for, and aim everything at Graceland's paperwork deadline for your term.

Preceptors matched to the course: primary care for FNP, hospital and ICU clinicians for AGACNP, psychiatrists and PMHNPs for PMHNP
Site address, contract contact and preceptor details ready before the June 15, October 15 or February 15 deadline
Close to home in your approved state, with a second preceptor planned for Graceland's two-preceptor rule

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