NSU's 285-hour capstone clinicals: NSG 5599, NSG 5669 and NSG 5799
Every NSU MSN APRN track ends with a 3-credit capstone clinical worth 285 practicum hours: NSG 5599 for FNP, NSG 5669 for AGACNP and NSG 5799 for PMHNP. It is the biggest single block of hours in the program and it sits in your final semester, which is exactly why its preceptor should be the first one you secure rather than the last.
Start your capstone preceptor search
Tell us your track, plan and capstone semester. Your placement advisor works back from the notice date.
The three capstone clinicals at a glance
Each MSN track pairs a 3-credit capstone course with a 3-credit capstone clinical taken in the same semester. NSU's program pages set the rate ("95 practicum hours per credit hour") and the 2026-27 graduate catalog prints the per-course result: 285 hours for each capstone clinical. The didactic partner course carries no practicum hours of its own.
| Track | Capstone course | Capstone clinical | Credits | Hours | Semester: full-time / flex |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FNP | NSG 5590 Family Nurse Practitioner Capstone | NSG 5599 | 3 + 3 | 285 | VI of 6 / VIII of 8 |
| AGACNP | NSG 5660 Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Capstone | NSG 5669 | 3 + 3 | 285 | VI of 6 / VIII of 8 |
| PMHNP | NSG 5790 Psychiatric Care Management Integration Capstone | NSG 5799 | 3 + 3 | 285 | VI of 6 / IX of 9 |
For scale, the capstone is three times the FNP pediatrics clinical (NSG 5589, 95 hours) and half again the size of every 190-hour, 2-credit clinical. The 95-hours-per-credit page shows how each figure is built and where the older 255-hour capstone came from.
Why the capstone preceptor gets planned first
The capstone asks more of one preceptor than any other NSU clinical. Per the handbook, APRN clinical hours begin with the didactic course, happen "on a weekly basis", and cannot be bunched into the opening or closing weeks of the term. So 285 hours cannot be stacked into a few long weeks. It is a steady weekly commitment across a full semester.
NSU does not post a graduate term calendar, so the exact number of clinical weeks is in your course in Canvas. The table uses round semester lengths to show the weekly load. NSU's published undergraduate semesters run about 16 weeks, which would put the capstone near 18 hours a week, half again the load of a 190-hour course.
| Clinical size | 12 weeks | 14 weeks | 16 weeks |
|---|---|---|---|
| 95 hours (1 credit) | about 8 | about 7 | about 6 |
| 190 hours (2 credits) | about 16 | about 14 | about 12 |
| 285 hours (3 credits, capstone) | about 24 | about 20 | about 18 |
A preceptor who comfortably hosted you one day a week for a 190-hour course may have no room for the extra shift the capstone needs. Ask about capstone capacity in the very first conversation, and see NSU's weekly-hours rule before promising a schedule that has to fit around a full-time job.
Your capstone notice date, plan by plan
NSU applies one timing rule to every APRN clinical course: a student who has lined up a preceptor and site reports it to the clinical coordinator two semesters ahead of that course. Counted back from the capstone, that date lands in the middle of your program, while you are still working through an earlier clinical.
| Plan | Capstone semester | Notice due by the start of |
|---|---|---|
| FNP, AGACNP or PMHNP full-time (6 semesters) | VI | Semester IV |
| FNP flex (8 semesters) | VIII | Semester VI |
| AGACNP flex (8 semesters) | VIII | Semester VI |
| PMHNP flex (9 semesters) | IX | Semester VII |
| BSN to DNP, any concentration | VII | Semester V |
In the full-time plan, semester IV is also when your second clinical (NSG 5559, NSG 5639 or NSG 5729) begins, so you are settling in with one preceptor while naming the next-but-one. The two-semester deadline page works through the notice arithmetic for every course, and full-time vs flex plans sets both plans side by side.
The capstone comes last, but its notice date does not: in the full-time plan it arrives at the start of semester IV, before your third clinical has even begun.
What each track's capstone setting involves
NSU's public pages name the capstones but leave the setting detail to the syllabus and the graduate clinical guide. The titles still tell you a lot. The FNP capstone is a primary-care integration course (the FNP page labels the certificate version of NSG 5590 "Primary Care Integration Practicum"). The AGACNP capstone follows three acute-care clinicals, and the PMHNP capstone is Psychiatric Care Management Integration.
At a Florida site, state law adds its own test on top of NSU's: your capstone preceptor needs a Florida license as an APRN, a physician (MD or DO) or a dentist. The details are on Florida's preceptor rule.
Questions to settle with your clinical coordinator before the capstone notice
- Can the capstone preceptor be someone you already trained with in an earlier NSU clinical? NSU publishes no rule either way.
- Can the 285 hours be split between two preceptors or two sites? This is also unpublished.
- Which setting does the capstone syllabus expect on your track, and does the coordinator see your proposed site as a fit?
- What preceptor and site documents does the coordinator want, and by what date?
Certificate capstones: NSG 5590, NSG 5660 and NSG 5790
Postgraduate certificate students take the older 6-credit course format, where the clinical hours sit inside the course instead of in a separate clinical number. NSU's own sources disagree on two of the three certificate capstones, by 30 hours each.
| Certificate | Course | Credits | Hours and source |
|---|---|---|---|
| FNP | NSG 5590 | 6 | 255 (certificates page) |
| AGACNP | NSG 5660 | 6 | 225 (certificates page) vs 255 (AGACNP page, 2025-26 and 2026-27 catalogs) |
| PMHNP | NSG 5790 | 6 | 255 (PMHNP and certificates pages) vs 285 (2026-27 catalog) |
A third figure comes from the summer certificate curricula in the 2026-27 catalog. Those plans pair each didactic course with a separate clinical course, as the MSN does, so the summer capstones (NSG 5599, NSG 5669, NSG 5799) carry 285 hours. Before quoting a number of hours to a preceptor, get your cohort's figure from your program director. The certificate gap analysis page covers certificate hours track by track.
What rides on the final semester
The capstone stands between you and graduation, and NSU's grading rules leave little slack. The MSN passing grade is 80 points (B-) with no rounding, and only one repeated course can count toward the degree. Failing any course puts you on academic probation, sends your case to the Committee on Student Progress (CSP), and can leave you waiting out of sequence until the course is offered again.
A preceptor who steps away mid-semester is the other risk. Every missed day has to be made up and hours cannot be pushed into the last weeks, so a gap of even three or four weeks is hard to recover inside a 285-hour course. Knowing a backup option before the semester starts is part of planning the capstone properly.
For BSN to DNP students the capstone is not the finish line. It falls in semester VII, and NSG 7431 Project I follows with its own 150 practicum hours, so the capstone search and the DNP project site search overlap.
Why NSU students bring us the capstone early
Your placement advisor runs the capstone as its own search, started well before semester IV. We search close to where you live for a preceptor whose practice matches what your track's capstone calls for, and we ask the capacity question on day one: can this preceptor give you steady weekly hours for a full semester. Then we prepare what your clinical coordinator checks (license and credentials, site details, specialty fit) so your notice goes in complete and on time.
Through the capstone semester we remain on call, and if your preceptor has to step away, the replacement search starts right away. Approval of the preceptor and site belongs to NSU's clinical coordinator, and our job is to hand the coordinator a capstone submission with nothing missing. Tell us your track, plan and capstone semester through the placement request form and we will line the search up with your notice date.
Questions NSU students ask
What are the hours for NSU's FNP capstone clinical?
NSG 5599 Family Nurse Practitioner Capstone Clinical is 3 credits and 285 practicum hours in the 2026-27 graduate catalog, taken alongside the 3-credit NSG 5590 course. The certificate version of NSG 5590 is a single 6-credit course listed at 255 hours, and the 2025-26 catalog's older MSN plan also used 255.
Is the AGACNP certificate capstone 225 or 255 hours?
NSU's sources disagree. The postgraduate certificates page lists NSG 5660 at 225 clinical hours. The AGACNP track page gives 255, as do NSU's 2025-26 and 2026-27 catalogs. The 2026-27 summer certificate plan splits the course into NSG 5660 and NSG 5669 at 285. Confirm your cohort's figure with your program director.
Can I use my earlier clinical site for the NSU capstone?
NSU publishes no rule for or against it. Because your clinical coordinator judges each preceptor and site against what the specific course needs, the call is theirs, made with the capstone in mind. If you hope to stay with an earlier preceptor, raise it before the capstone notice date.
Can I front-load the 285 capstone hours?
The handbook rules it out. Clinical time starts with the didactic course, is expected week by week, and cannot be crowded into the first or final weeks. Build a steady schedule across the whole term. Any clinical day you miss is made up later, and the handbook asks for two hours' warning to your preceptor, site and program director.
When do BSN to DNP students take the capstone?
In semester VII for all three concentrations: NSG 5590 and NSG 5599 for FNP, NSG 5660 and NSG 5669 for AGACNP, NSG 5790 and NSG 5799 for PMHNP, alongside doctoral courses. Project I (NSG 7431) comes next, so the capstone notice at the start of semester V and the DNP project site search run close together.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-25
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
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