NURS6740 FNP Practicum: Pediatrics
NURS6740 is Graceland University's pediatric practicum for FNP students: 225 hours with patients from birth to 18, in a primary care clinic, with no specialty hours allowed. The catalog still prints the older 180-hour figure. The hard part is usually volume, because a family practice preceptor has to see enough children every day to carry you to the patient count.
Find a pediatric preceptor
Tell us your term and city. Your placement advisor looks for pediatric primary care preceptors who fit this course.
The course at a glance
The pediatric practicum sits in the FNP specialty of the MSN and in the FNP tracks of the post-graduate certificate and the BSN-to-DNP. It is one of three FNP practicums, and the Family practicum, NURS6830, always comes after it.
| Item | What Graceland says |
|---|---|
| Credits | 4 semester hours |
| Hours | 225 on the 750-hour plan (catalog: 180); 180 for students who matriculated before July 31, 2023 |
| Patients | Birth to 18; the FNP patient count equals the hours |
| Setting | Primary care clinic only; a pediatric office preferred |
| Preceptor | Pediatrician, pediatric nurse practitioner (PNP) or family nurse practitioner (FNP) |
| Specialty hours | None allowed |
| Course links | NURS5200 Primary Care of Families: Pediatrics as prerequisite or corequisite; NURS5194 and NURS6800 as prerequisites |
| Order | First or second practicum; NURS6760 can come before or after it |
225 hours or 180? The catalog and the handbook disagree
Three Graceland publications, the web catalog, its 2025-26 PDF edition and the FNP program page, carry identical wording for this course: “This course requires 180 clinical hours and a minimum of 180 pediatric patients.” That sentence dates from the 600-hour FNP curriculum.
The 2026 Graduate Student Handbook gives the course 225 hours when your Graceland start date is August 1, 2023 or later, and 180 when it is earlier. Because the handbook also sets the FNP patient count equal to the hours, a student on the 750-hour plan should aim for 225 pediatric patients, not 180.
If the gap matters to your plan, put the question to the FNP track coordinator by email and save the reply. The 750-hour rule page explains who is on which total.
Where you can do the hours
Primary care, and only primary care. The handbook limits both the pediatric and adult practicums to a primary care clinic and allows no specialty time in this course. Urgent care, emergency departments, minute clinics, hospitalist services and diagnostic specialty clinics do not qualify as primary care in Graceland's rules.
The best fit is a pediatric office, precepted by a pediatrician, a PNP or an FNP. A family practice can work, but the handbook sets a floor: in a family practice setting the preceptor must see at least 6 to 10 pediatric patients a day. A busy family clinic whose schedule is mostly adults will not carry this course.
Telehealth needs your instructor's approval, since the FNP track allows no telehealth hours by default. If your site is anything other than a standard pediatric or family practice office, check it with the course's lead faculty before Appendix A goes in.
Why pediatric volume decides this practicum
In this course, patient volume is the constraint to plan around, and the reason is arithmetic. At the handbook's pace of one to two patients an hour, 225 hours should produce at least 225 pediatric visits. In a family practice where the preceptor sees six children a day, 28 eight-hour days yields about 170 pediatric patients, short of the mark; at ten a day you clear it.
That is why a pediatric office is the safer choice when you can get one. Every patient there fits the course, while adults on a family practice schedule add nothing to NURS6740.
Pediatric primary care preceptors are also scarce in some markets. One large Kansas City employer, The University of Kansas Health System, notes on its own student placement page that it has only limited preceptors in pediatrics, among other areas. Start this search before the other two, and see Kansas City NP preceptors if you live in that metro.
Before Appendix A goes in for a family practice, ask the preceptor how many children they see on an average day. Fewer than six does not meet Graceland's rule.
Preceptor rules that apply here
The handbook names three kinds of preceptor for this course: a pediatrician, a PNP or an FNP. Physicians need board certification or eligibility. Nurse practitioners need a master's degree and a year or more in practice, though the handbook's review checklist asks about one to three years as an APRN. No physician assistant may precept a Graceland practicum.
Think about the whole track while you choose. Your three practicums need two or more different preceptors, no single practicum may have more than two, and nobody may precept you in all three terms. Graceland also advises spending 120 hours or more with an APRN or NP somewhere in the sequence for ANCC or AANP eligibility; choose a pediatrician here and that time has to come in Adult or Family.
Relatives, partners, supervisors, anyone you supervise and your own unit are all excluded; see who cannot precept you.
Timeline for a pediatric practicum
- A year outThe handbook allows that some students need a full year or longer of lead time before a first practicum. Begin the pediatric search first, since it tends to take longest.
- Before the paperwork deadlineAppendix A (one per site and address), your preceptor's Appendix B and a current Castle Branch record must be in by your term's date: June 15 (Fall), October 15 (Spring) or February 15 (Summer). Still without a site two weeks out? Email the contract coordinators then, not after the date passes.
- Four to six weeks before the termIf this is your first practicum, complete the Castle Branch drug screen in this window.
- First day of classBring every approval email to class on day one; your instructors ask to see one for each preceptor and site. By the end of week one the contract coordinator has your pairing entered in Typhon.
- Weeks 1 to 14Two full clinic days a week keeps you on pace for 225 hours by week 14, provided the children keep coming.
Every date is covered on the practicum deadlines page.
How we find your pediatric preceptor
Graceland students choose us for this course because we search where the children are: pediatric offices first, then family practices whose preceptors meet Graceland's six-to-ten-a-day floor, close to home in a state where your program can place you. We confirm daily pediatric volume before we bring you a name.
We pull together what both appendices want, from the clinic's address and contract contact to the preceptor's credentials, time it all to your paperwork date, and plan the preceptor for your next practicum at the same time. If a preceptor drops, we start the replacement search right away. Tell us your term and city.
Questions Graceland students ask
Can I do NURS6740 in urgent care?
No. Graceland limits the pediatric practicum to a primary care clinic and puts urgent care, emergency departments and minute clinics on its list of non-primary-care settings. Those settings can supply only specialty hours in the Family practicum, NURS6830, and the pediatric course allows no specialty hours at all.
Can a family nurse practitioner precept my pediatric practicum?
Yes. The handbook names a pediatrician, a pediatric nurse practitioner or a family nurse practitioner. If the FNP works in family practice rather than a pediatric office, they must see at least 6 to 10 pediatric patients a day, and the usual NP standard applies: a master's degree and a year or more in practice.
Should I take Pediatrics or Adult first?
Either order works. Graceland lets the Pediatrics and Adult practicums swap places; only the Family practicum is fixed as the last. Since a confirmed site is worth more than an ideal sequence, schedule first whichever practicum has a preceptor ready, and keep all three within 12 months of each other.
How many pediatric patients do I need in NURS6740?
The catalog's older text asks for at least 180 pediatric patients over 180 hours. The 2026 handbook sets FNP patient counts equal to hours, which means 225 patients for students on the 750-hour plan. Patients outside the course's birth-to-18 population do not count, so look for pediatric volume that clears 225 comfortably.
Can I do NURS6740 at a clinic run by my employer?
Possibly, if it is not the unit where you work and the preceptor is not your supervisor, someone you supervise or a relative. A different department within a large employer can host a practicum, and the contract coordinators review it like any other site. See practicum at your workplace.
Related pages
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
Start your placement plan
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