NSU's AGACNP postgraduate certificate: acute-care hours, Florida RN and ACLS
The AGACNP postgraduate certificate adds adult-gerontology acute care to an MSN you already hold, through NSG 5620, NSG 5630, NSG 5650 and the NSG 5660 capstone. NSU's pages disagree on the capstone, so the clinical total is 765 or 735 hours, and the summer plan in the 2026-27 catalog runs to 855. Whatever the version, Florida RN licensure and an up-to-date ACLS certification come first, and each course needs an acute-care preceptor.
Find your acute-care preceptors
Share your certificate start term and home ZIP area. We look for AGACNP-fit preceptors near you for each course.
Four acute-care courses, and a capstone with two hour counts
In the fall and winter version, each certificate course is a 6-credit block that holds both the classroom content and the clinical hours. In this version the first three acute-care courses carry 170 clinical hours apiece, and no source disputes that figure. The NSG 5660 capstone is where the sources split: 225 hours on NSU's certificates page, but 255 on the AGACNP program page and in the 2025-26 and 2026-27 catalogs.
| Course | Title | Credits | Clinical hours |
|---|---|---|---|
NSG 5620 | Adult-Gerontology Acute Care I | 6 | 170 |
NSG 5630 | Adult-Gerontology Acute Care II | 6 | 170 |
NSG 5650 | Adult-Gerontology Acute Care III | 6 | 170 |
NSG 5660 | Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Capstone | 6 | 225 (certificates page) or 255 (program page and catalogs) |
| Total | 24 | 735 or 765 (our sums) |
Thirty hours is real time in your last semester, at the one site you most need to hold onto. Ask your program director which figure is on your plan of study before your capstone preceptor agrees to a schedule. Our certificate gap analysis page compares the disputed figures across all three certificate tracks and explains how waivers are decided.
The summer AGACNP plan: separate clinical courses at 190 and 285
The 2026-27 graduate catalog also prints a summer certificate plan, and it follows the master's track's structure rather than the 6-credit blocks. Each acute-care course becomes a 4-credit didactic course plus a 2-credit clinical course worth 190 hours, and the capstone splits into 3 didactic credits and a 3-credit, 285-hour clinical. Credits stay at 24, yet the hours climb.
| Course content | Fall and winter | Summer plan |
|---|---|---|
| Acute Care I | NSG 5620: 170 hours | NSG 5620 with NSG 5629: 190 hours |
| Acute Care II | NSG 5630: 170 hours | NSG 5630 with NSG 5639: 190 hours |
| Acute Care III | NSG 5650: 170 hours | NSG 5650 with NSG 5659: 190 hours |
| Capstone | NSG 5660: 225 or 255 hours | NSG 5660 with NSG 5669: 285 hours |
| Total | 735 or 765 hours | 855 hours (our sum) |
A summer starter therefore asks each preceptor for 20 more hours in each of the first three courses, and 30 to 60 more in the capstone, than the fall and winter tables suggest. The same course numbers with the 9 ending are the clinicals of the master's AGACNP track, which our AGACNP clinical courses guide walks through setting by setting.
Florida RN, ACLS and the rest of the admission list
For AGACNP, the license question has one answer. Every NSU source, from the certificates page and the 2025-26 handbook to the 2026-27 catalog and the admissions page, asks for a current Florida RN license, maintained for as long as you are in the program. State law lines up with that. Florida's rule on qualified preceptors, 64B9-4.001(13), covers every student at a Florida site: the student holds Florida RN licensure, and the preceptor is an APRN, physician or dentist with a Florida license. Florida's preceptor rule has the full text.
ACLS is the second fixed item: NSU requires AGACNP applicants to hold current Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support certification. Once you are placed, a hospital can add to that, and the handbook names BLS, ALS and PALS among the extras a graduate clinical site might want; see BLS, ACLS and PALS for NSU students.
The rest of the list matches the other two certificates: a 3.0 master's GPA, an accredited MSN, a CV, a year of independent practice, and graduate pathophysiology, pharmacology and health assessment completed before you start. One item is unsettled. The certificates page asks you to live within 225 miles of the program campus, yet the newest catalog has no distance rule anywhere, so confirm which applies to your start.
What acute-care facilities ask before your first shift
Hospitals and other acute-care facilities can add their own entry requirements to NSU's, and the handbook and NSU's health and safety page name the usual ones. Start each item as soon as a site is named rather than in the week before the course.
Build the facility list into your placement timeline from the start. The handbook is plain: requirements still unmet when the placement is due to begin mean the placement is canceled, and a student found short after starting is asked to leave. Background details are on NSU background checks.
Items to have ready for an acute-care site
- Fingerprinting for a level 2 background check (FDLE and VECHS) if the facility asks for one, at a fee the handbook lists.
- Life support cards beyond ACLS where the site asks: BLS, ALS or PALS.
- Every vaccination on NSU's list plus any extra the site requires, with annual TB testing and flu shots kept current.
- Uploads to more than one portal: the handbook warns that facilities may run their own, alongside DISA CastleBranch.
- Drug screening through NMS Management Services or CastleBranch, under a zero-tolerance policy that includes medical marijuana and CBD.
Palm Beach, the online switch and admit terms
On the certificates page, AGACNP certificate coursework is split between online work and time at the Palm Beach campus. The switch to fully online coursework is dated two ways: from the 2027-2028 academic year on NSU's program pages, and from summer 2027 in the 2026-27 catalog. The certificate's own intensive schedule is not published. For comparison, the master's AGACNP track holds a 4-day intensive in NSG 5620 and a 2-day intensive in NSG 5650, both at Palm Beach.
Admit terms differ by source as well. The AGACNP program page offers winter admission only to applicants who already have the three Ps and fall admission only to those who still need them. The 2025-26 catalog listed winter only. In the 2026-27 catalog, certificate admission happens twice a year, with its own summer plan. Your admit term decides which hour table applies, so settle it with admissions first.
Timing four acute-care preceptors
NSU's placement rule builds in two semesters of lead time. A preceptor and site you have found yourself must reach the clinical coordinator that far ahead of each clinical course; if none does, the coordinator makes the placement, somewhere within 150 miles of your home ZIP code, and it stands as made. Our guide to the two-semester deadline turns that into dates for your term.
For an acute-care certificate, four practical points follow.
- Start with
NSG 5620: it opens the sequence, and its notice date can fall before your certificate does. - Look for continuity. If the coordinator approves the fit, a preceptor or unit that can host more than one course spares you a fresh round of facility onboarding.
- Plan the capstone early, because it carries the most hours in both versions and a change there costs the most time.
- Keep your ACLS expiry date in view and renew it ahead of time, since sites can ask for proof of life support cards at any point.
Why AGACNP certificate students choose us
An AGACNP certificate needs an acute-care preceptor for every course, on a short clock. Your placement advisor maps your plan, whether fall, winter or summer, then sources an acute-care preceptor close to home for each course and has each one named before its two-semester notice date.
We assemble what the clinical coordinator reviews: the preceptor's license and credentials, the unit and facility details, and how the setting fits adult-gerontology acute care. We then track the facility's own list, from fingerprinting to site portals, so nothing is open on day one. If a preceptor leaves mid-sequence, we find the next one. Approval of every preceptor and site stays with NSU, and the file we help you submit is built to answer the coordinator's questions before they are asked. Use the form below to start, or read our process first.
Questions NSU students ask
How many clinical hours is NSU's AGACNP certificate?
It depends on the source and your plan. In the fall and winter version, the three acute-care courses carry 170 hours each and the capstone 225 or 255, for 735 or 765 in total by our sums. The 2026-27 catalog's summer plan splits each course into a didactic and a clinical course and reaches 855. Your gap analysis may also waive hours.
Is ACLS required before the AGACNP certificate starts?
Yes. ACLS certification is on NSU's admission list for every AGACNP applicant. Plan to keep it valid through your clinical courses, since a hospital site may also ask for BLS, ALS or PALS. Check each card's expiry date against your last clinical day before you start.
Can I do AGACNP certificate clinicals outside Florida?
All of NSU's sources call for a Florida RN license for AGACNP students, kept valid for the length of the program. The certificates page also lists residence within 225 miles of the campus, and a coordinator placement stays within 150 miles of your ZIP code. NSU publishes no out-of-state rule for certificates, so ask your program director before planning a site elsewhere.
Does NSU offer a summer start for the AGACNP certificate?
The 2026-27 graduate catalog says certificates admit twice a year and prints a summer plan with separate clinical courses totaling 855 hours. The AGACNP program page instead describes winter admission for applicants with the three Ps and fall admission for those who need them. Confirm the terms open to you with admissions.
What if a hospital site pulls out before my course starts?
Tell your clinical coordinator at once and start on a replacement. NSU's rules still expect weekly hours from the first week of the course, so a gap grows quickly. Our placement fell through page covers the steps, and we can search for a new acute-care preceptor for you.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-24
We check these pages against NSU's own handbook, catalog and program pages. The graduate clinical guide, your course in Canvas, your clinical coordinator and your program director have the final word.
NSU lets you name your own preceptor. We make sure you have one, close to home and in time.
Tell us your NSU program, your home ZIP area and when your next clinical course starts. We find preceptors who fit the course and have everything ready for your clinical coordinator well before the two-semester notice.
- Preceptors matched to the course: primary care for FNP, acute care for AGACNP, psychiatric care for PMHNP, a practice site for DNP project hours
- Named early enough for NSU's two-semester notice, with license, credentials and site details ready for the coordinator
- Close to your home ZIP code, with clinic days we plan around your work schedule
Start your placement plan
Program, ZIP area and start term is all we need to begin.