Sacred Heart University campus BSN clinicals: how placements are scheduled
In Sacred Heart University's campus nursing programs (the traditional BSN, the 15-month Second Degree Accelerated BSN and the part-time ASN) the school schedules every clinical placement, and students may not arrange their own. This page explains what that means for your rotations, hours and attendance, and where a placement service fits later, once you enter a Sacred Heart program that asks you to find your own preceptor.
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Three campus programs, one placement rule
Sacred Heart runs three pre-licensure programs, each approved by the Connecticut State Board of Examiners for Nursing: the First Professional Degree (FPD) BSN, the Second Degree Accelerated (SDA) BSN and the Associate of Science in Nursing (ASN). All three are campus programs, and all three keep clinical placement in the school's hands.
The FPD/SDA student guide says clinical faculty and placement coordinators schedule students according to which sites are available, and it adds: "Students may not arrange their own clinical experiences." The ASN guide is just as firm, leaving placement to the clinical placement coordinator and the chair or program director and stating that placement requests are not recognized.
For these students, then, the work is different. The job is not finding a preceptor; it is being ready for sites you did not pick, travel you did not plan and attendance rules with very little slack.
The traditional BSN (First Professional Degree)
The FPD is a four-year BSN of 120 to 122 credits, 55 of them in the nursing major. Students are admitted directly as freshmen and begin nursing courses in sophomore year after meeting a 2.8 GPA and a C+ in science and math; the program accepts no internal or external transfers.
| Course | Clinical focus |
|---|---|
NU 300 Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing | Mental health agencies |
NU 330 Care of the Childbearing Family | Women, newborns and families |
NU 340 Introduction to Adult Nursing | Acute and subacute care settings |
NU 360 Adult Nursing II | High acuity acute care settings |
NU 374 | Laboratory simulation |
NU 381 Public Health Nursing | Community agencies and vulnerable populations; the guide calls it a preceptor-based clinical experience |
NU 395 Transitions into Professional Nursing Practice | A clinically based immersion the guide calls a preceptorship |
Sacred Heart's BSN page names extended care facilities, acute care hospitals, day care centers, visiting nurses associations and local community clinics among its clinical settings. It also says the Nursing Leadership immersion in Dingle, Ireland offers clinical hours in the Irish health system, and that trips to Jamaica and Guatemala count toward required clinical hours.
The Second Degree Accelerated BSN
The SDA packs the nursing major into 15 months, from a May start to August of the following year. It totals 120 credits: 55 in nursing, a 3-credit CIT course and 62 transfer credits (34 in prerequisites, 28 in electives). Staying in good standing takes a 2.8 cumulative GPA and a C+ or better in each nursing course.
Its clinical courses parallel the FPD's and carry an AC label: NU 301 psychiatric mental health nursing, NU 333 the childbearing family, NU 341 introduction to adult nursing, NU 361 adult nursing II in high acuity settings, NU 373 child health with laboratory simulation, NU 380 public health with a preceptor-based experience, and NU 394 as the closing preceptorship.
The terms run back to back, from Summer I through the fall and spring AHEAD terms, a May intensive and a final summer. Sacred Heart's SDA page names St. Vincent's Medical Center, Yale New Haven Hospital and Connecticut Children's among its clinical sites.
The ASN: hours by course
The ASN is a part-time, commuter-only associate degree of at least 72 credits, usually completed in two to three years and accredited by ACEN. It is the one campus program where the catalog prints clinical hours course by course.
| Term | Course | Clinical hours |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | NUR 101 Introduction to Nursing Practice | 135 |
| 2 | NUR 123 Family Concepts in Nursing | 42 |
| 2 | NUR 125 Adult Nursing I | 126 |
| 3 | NUR 230 Concepts in Mental Health and Psychiatric Nursing Practice | 84 |
| 3 | NUR 235 Adult Nursing II | 126 |
| 4 | NUR 245 Adult Nursing III | 126 |
| 4 | NUR 270 Transition to Nursing Practice | 42 |
Those courses add up to 681 hours, while Sacred Heart's ASN page rounds to 700. LPNs entering through NUR 122 LPN Transition complete 21 clinical hours in that course. The ASN page names St. Vincent's Medical Center, Stamford Hospital and St. Mary's Hospital as clinical sites.
What school-scheduled placement asks of you
A scheduled placement still asks a lot. The FPD/SDA guide allows placements up to an hour and 15 minutes' drive from campus, so reliable transportation matters from the first rotation. In the preceptorship courses, a family member or close friend may not serve as your preceptor.
Attendance is the pressure point. The guide treats missing more than 25% of a course's clinical hours as failure: more than 11 hours in NU 300/NU 301, NU 330/NU 333 and NU 373/NU 374, more than 21 in NU 340/NU 341, and more than 32 in NU 360/NU 361. The guide also counts simulation as a form of clinical experience, so treat simulation days like any other clinical day.
Grades carry the same weight as hours. FPD students need a C+ (77) in each nursing course, and failing a clinical, simulation or skills-lab component means an F and dismissal.
Asking for a particular hospital will not change your placement: the ASN guide does not recognize placement requests, and the FPD/SDA guide bars students from arranging their own clinicals.
Where a placement service fits later
For campus students, our part comes after graduation. Sacred Heart's online graduate programs reverse the rule you know from the BSN: in the MSN FNP, PMHNP, CNL, Nursing Education and NMEL tracks, the site and preceptor search belongs to the student, and the academic advisor approves the result. The hybrid BSN-to-DNP starts with an observation you arrange yourself before a Clinical Placement Coordinator works with you on later courses.
ASN graduates who become licensed and continue in the online RN-to-BSN meet that shift sooner: 72 practicum hours with preceptors they select, identified nine months ahead. When you reach any of those programs, your placement advisor finds preceptors and sites that fit the course and prepares the file Sacred Heart reviews.
The programs hub compares every Sacred Heart option, registration and modules shows how the online calendar works, and the contact page is open for questions about your next step.
Questions Sacred Heart students ask
Can Sacred Heart BSN students choose their own clinical site?
No. The FPD/SDA student guide says clinical faculty and placement coordinators schedule students based on site availability, and students may not arrange their own clinical experiences. The ASN guide goes further and states that placement requests are not recognized. Your part is staying compliant, arriving on time and preparing for whichever site you are assigned.
How far will I travel for Sacred Heart BSN clinicals?
The FPD/SDA guide says placements can be up to an hour and 15 minutes' drive from campus. Sites named on Sacred Heart's pages include St. Vincent's Medical Center, Yale New Haven Hospital and Connecticut Children's for the SDA, and St. Vincent's, Stamford Hospital and St. Mary's Hospital for the ASN. Plan your transportation before the first rotation begins.
Does Sacred Heart publish clinical hours for the accelerated BSN?
Research found no published per-course hour total for the SDA or the traditional BSN. The student guide gives only the missed-hour thresholds that trigger failure, such as more than 11 hours in the psychiatric, childbearing and child health courses. For exact figures, check each course syllabus or ask your clinical faculty at the start of the term.
Do study-abroad trips count as BSN clinical hours?
Sacred Heart's BSN page says the Nursing Leadership immersion in Dingle, Ireland offers clinical hours in the Irish health system, and that trips to Jamaica and Guatemala count toward required clinical hours. Confirm with the program which course the hours apply to and how many count before you commit to a trip.
Will I need to find my own preceptor after I graduate?
If you continue with Sacred Heart online, yes. Every online MSN track (FNP, PMHNP, CNL, Nursing Education and NMEL) puts the search for a site and preceptor on you, with advisor approval, and so does the online RN-to-BSN. The hybrid BSN-to-DNP is mixed: you arrange the first observation, then work with a Clinical Placement Coordinator. That is where our placement service comes in.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-25
We check these pages against Sacred Heart's own catalog, program pages and 2026-27 student guides. Your student guide, your academic advisor and your course faculty have the final word.
- Sacred Heart University FPD and SDA Student Guide, 2026-27
- Sacred Heart University 2026-27 Undergraduate Catalog: First Professional Nursing Degree
- Sacred Heart University: Second Degree Accelerated BSN
- Sacred Heart University ASN Student Guide, 2026-27
- Sacred Heart University 2026-27 Undergraduate Catalog: Associate of Science in Nursing
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