Sacred Heart University clinical hours, program by program
Sacred Heart University's online MSN FNP and MSN PMHNP each require 540 clinical hours, and both DNP programs set a 1,000-hour floor. The CNL, Nursing Education, NMEL and RN-BSN tracks ask for far fewer, and several programs carry two or three different figures depending on which Sacred Heart source you read. Every figure is below, with the rules that decide whether a logged hour counts.
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Tell us your Sacred Heart program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with the preceptor and site options that fit your course.
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Your clinical courses and hours, who can precept you, where, and when to start looking. From Sacred Heart's own catalog and program pages.
- Who precepts
- An MD, DO, PA or APRN licensed where they practice, board certified, with a year of primary care experience
- Where
- Primary care of adults, women and children close to home, in any approved state except New York
- Start looking
- By the end of week 10 of NU 552, then week 10 of each clinical course for the next one
- Who precepts
- A PMHNP or a psychiatry board-certified physician, with a year of psychiatric experience
- Where
- Psychiatric care across the lifespan, including at least 100 hours with patients under 18 in NU 572
- Start looking
- By the deadline the Clinical Placement Team publishes for each course
- Who precepts
- The same approved preceptors as the matching MSN track
- Where
- FNP primary care or PMHNP psychiatric settings close to home
- Start looking
- Compliance by week 10 of NU 550 (FNP) or NU 509 (PMHNP), before the first clinical course
- Who precepts
- You arrange the NU 552 observation; later courses run through the FNP/DNP Clinical Placement Coordinator
- Where
- Connecticut, New Jersey or neighboring states, never New York
- Start looking
- Before each course starts; hours stay inside the semester dates
- Who precepts
- A practice mentor who is an expert in your project area, not necessarily DNP-prepared
- Where
- An organization where your DNP project can run, often in your own community
- Start looking
- Start during NU 821; the CRF is due before the end of NU 823 and new contracts take 6-8 months
- Who precepts
- A preceptor your advisor approves from their CV and RN license
- Where
- In person on site, in 8-week clinical courses
- Start looking
- By the Clinical Placement Team's published deadline; compliance two weeks before the course
- Who precepts
- A nurse educator or a nurse leader your advisor approves
- Where
- Teaching settings for Nursing Education; leadership roles in your community for NMEL
- Start looking
- By the published deadline; a new site's agreement can take up to nine months
- Who precepts
- A preceptor you identify and your advisor approves
- Where
- Your employer's institution is allowed, just not your own unit
- Start looking
- Nine months before the first clinical practice course
Every program's hours in one table
Find your row first. Guide means your program's 2026-27 student guide, catalog means the 2026-2027 Sacred Heart catalog, and web means the program pages and SHU Online FAQ. One figure with no note means the sources agree.
| Program | Hours | Where Sacred Heart's sources differ | Courses with hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Online MSN FNP | 540 clinical, plus residency lab hours | Guide: 15 lab hours. Catalog: 10 lab hours, completed during residency 1. FAQ: 540 spread over three semesters | NU 561, NU 606, NU 607, NU 621 |
| Post-master's FNP certificate | 540 clinical | Catalog, guide and web agree on 540; the guide's 15 lab hours apply here too | NU 561, NU 606, NU 607, NU 621 |
| Online MSN PMHNP | 540 clinical | Catalog adds 10 lab hours in residency 1; guide and web give 540 | NU 571, NU 572, NU 573 |
| Post-master's PMHNP certificate | 540 clinical | Catalog, guide and web agree; NU 509 comes first | NU 571, NU 572, NU 573 |
| Hybrid BSN-to-DNP (FNP) | 1,000 clinical and practice hours after the bachelor's (guide) | Guide table: 615 clinical and 450 practice. Guide policy: at least 500 of each. Catalog: a minimum of 435 practice hours | NU 552 through NU 832, plus doctoral courses |
| Post-master's DNP | 1,000 practice hours in total (guide) | Courses carry 435; documented MSN hours count toward the rest; the catalog states no total | NU 810, NU 820, NU 821 to NU 824 and others |
| Online MSN CNL | 420 (web) | Catalog: 400, or 500 if admitted on or after January 1, 2024, across 6 courses. Guide: 348 before 2024 and 420 from 2024, across 4 courses | NU 611, NU 612, NU 680, NU 681 |
| Online MSN Nursing Education | 180 | Sources agree; the Nursing Education advanced certificate also carries 180 | NU 619, NU 690, NU 691 |
| Online MSN NMEL | 120 | Sources agree; the NMEL advanced certificate requires none | NU 672, NU 673 |
| Online RN-BSN | 72 (web) | The catalog gives no total, and no per-course split is published | NU 376, NU 387 |
| RN-BSN-MSN | 72 in the BSN portion, then the MSN track's hours | FAQ: CNL 420, FNP 540, NE 180, NMEL 120, PMHNP 540 | NU 376, NU 387, then the track's courses |
Campus BSN, second-degree accelerated BSN and ASN clinicals are scheduled by Sacred Heart and sit outside this page, which covers the programs where the preceptor search is largely yours.
Which figure to plan around
Plan around the higher figure, then confirm it. Where the guide and catalog disagree, the student guide for your admission year and your academic advisor settle it, and a schedule built for the larger number still works if the smaller one applies.
Three disagreements matter most. FNP lab hours read 15 in the MSN guide and 10 in the catalog, which places them in residency 1, and both sources list lab hours on top of the 540 clinical hours rather than inside them. CNL hours turn on your admission date: the guide's four courses total 348 for earlier cohorts and 420 for anyone admitted on or after January 1, 2024, while the catalog says 400 or 500 across six courses. The CNL program page sorts that out.
The third is the BSN-to-DNP, where the catalog's project description cites a minimum of 435 practice hours but the FNP/DNP guide's course table adds up to 615 clinical and 450 practice hours inside a 1,000-hour minimum.
How hours are logged in E*Value
E*Value is the only hour-tracking system Sacred Heart's guides name, and it holds far more than time sheets. MSN and certificate students keep clinical and practicum logs there, plus case logs for FNP and the post-master's certificates, preceptor letters of agreement, the agreement signed by student and preceptor, and every evaluation. The hybrid FNP/DNP adds practice hour logs, SOAP notes and site visit records, and project implementation hours go into E*Value for post-master's DNP students.
Timeliness is graded, not just tracked. The MSN guide says required E*Value documents submitted late mean a failing grade in clinical, so enter hours as you work them instead of rebuilding a term's worth in the final week. Setup and evaluation timing are on the E*Value page.
Hours that count and hours that get erased
A logged hour counts only if three things were true on the day you worked it: Sacred Heart had approved the preceptor, an affiliation agreement covered the site, and your Cleared for Clinical email had arrived. Hours from an unapproved site, with an unapproved preceptor or while you were out of compliance are deleted from E*Value, and the MSN guide adds a program warning.
The full count is also a passing condition. The MSN guide ties a clinical pass to an 80 course grade, every clinical competency and a complete hour count, so strong exam scores cannot make up for a short log. A mid-course change of site or preceptor pauses the count until an updated clearance arrives.
The slip that hurts most is logging a first shadow day before the Cleared for Clinical email lands. Those hours are erased however long the day was, so wait for the email before you start the clock.
Semester dates, course length and telehealth
Hours live inside the course dates. NP clinical courses run 16 weeks (the certificate catalog pages say so, and the online curriculum page gives 15 to 16), while CNL, Nursing Education, NMEL and RN-BSN clinical courses run eight weeks like every other module.
The FNP/DNP guide is explicit that hours may not start before the semester start date and must be done by its end date; online students confirm each course's window in their student guide or with course faculty. An MSN/FNP student who needs more time can hold a place through the zero-credit NU 600 Continuous Enrollment while finishing clinical hours.
On telehealth, the catalog describes MSN FNP and PMHNP hours as "in person, or occasionally via telehealth as directed by the preceptor." The FNP/DNP guide adds that attending a Zoom class never counts as clinical time, and the CNL, NE and NMEL tracks are in person on site. The course calendar page has the full term structure.
Hour pages for each program
Each page below works through one program or course hour by hour.
- FNP clinical hours: the 540 split across
NU 561,NU 606,NU 607andNU 621, plus residency lab hours. - PMHNP clinical hours: 180 in each of
NU 571,NU 572andNU 573, with a 100-hour floor for patients under 18 in the middle course. - The DNP 1,000-hour rule: how both doctoral programs reach it, MSN hours counted, and the catalog's 435.
- NU 552 Advanced Health Assessment: observation hours in the hybrid program and the week-10 checkpoints online.
- FNP/DNP clinical courses: six hybrid courses and how the Clinical Placement Coordinator matches sites.
CNL, Nursing Education, NMEL and RN-BSN hours are fewer, but an eight-week course leaves little room for a late start, so get the site approved well before the module opens.
How Sacred Heart students use us to reach their hours
Hour totals are really a scheduling question, and that is where Sacred Heart students bring us in. We look for preceptors whose clinic weeks can hold your course's hours inside its dates: a 180-hour, 16-week NU 561 asks far more of a preceptor than a 60-hour, eight-week NU 672, and we check that fit before a name reaches your advisor.
We gather what Sacred Heart reviews, the preceptor's CV, license and board certification plus the site's contract contact, so your Contract Request Form goes in complete and the affiliation agreement can start early. We track the week-10 checkpoints alongside you, and if a preceptor leaves mid-course we begin a replacement search right away. Every preceptor and site passes through Sacred Heart's own approval; our part is making sure the file it opens is whole. Share your program and term in the form below.
Questions Sacred Heart students ask
Do the FNP residency lab hours count toward the 540?
They sit alongside it. The MSN guide pairs its 540-clinical-hour minimum with 15 lab hours, and the catalog pairs the same 540 with 10 lab hours completed during residency 1. Plan preceptor time around the full 540 and treat residency lab hours as a separate on-campus requirement.
Which Sacred Heart nursing programs have no clinical hours?
The online Advanced Graduate Certificate in Nursing Management & Executive Leadership states that it requires no practicum or clinical hours and encourages students to select a mentor. The online Certificate in Home Healthcare Management for RNs lists no clinical or practicum hours either. Every MSN track, both NP certificates, the Nursing Education certificate, the RN-BSN and both DNPs carry hours.
Can hours at my current job count as clinical hours?
Clinical hours are student hours under a Sacred Heart-approved preceptor, not your paid shifts. Many online students train at their employer, and the CRF itself carries employment questions about the site and the preceptor. The DNP guides require a clear line between current employment and practice hours, and RN-BSN students may not train on the unit where they work.
What if I have not finished my hours when the course ends?
The MSN guide makes the full hour count a condition of passing the clinical part of a course, so an unfinished log puts the grade at risk. MSN/FNP students can register for NU 600 Continuous Enrollment, a zero-credit course for finishing clinical hours. Raise it with course faculty and your academic advisor before the end date.
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 MSN and Post-MSN Certificate Online Student Guide, 2026-2027
- Sacred Heart University FNP/DNP Hybrid Nursing Program Student Guide, 2026-2027
- Sacred Heart University 2026-2027 Graduate Catalog: Master of Science in Nursing
- Sacred Heart University PM/DNP Hybrid Nursing Program Student Guide, 2026-2027
- SHU Online: Frequently asked questions
Sacred Heart asks you to secure your clinical placement. We make that the easy part.
Tell us your Sacred Heart program, your city and your next clinical course. We find preceptors who fit the course and prepare what your advisor, the NP clinical coordinator and the Contract Request Form ask for, early enough for the affiliation agreement.
- Preceptors matched to the course: primary care of adults, women and children for FNP, psychiatric care across the lifespan for PMHNP
- Preceptor CV, license, board certification and the site's contract contact ready before your week-10 deadline
- Close to home in any state where Sacred Heart's program meets licensure requirements, with New York's rule planned around
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