Sacred Heart University's post-master's FNP certificate
Sacred Heart University's online post-master's FNP certificate is a 24-credit route to family nurse practitioner practice for nurses who already hold an MSN. It keeps the full 540 clinical hours but skips the courses you completed in your master's, so your first clinical course follows your first course, and compliance is due by week 10 of NU 550. We line up your preceptors before that date arrives.
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Tell us your start term and the state where you practice.
Who the certificate is for
The certificate is built for master's-prepared nurses. Admission asks for an MSN with a 3.0 GPA, an unencumbered RN license in your state of residence, any APRN license or certification you already hold, and completed courses in advanced pathophysiology, advanced health assessment and advanced pharmacology. Sacred Heart's programs-offered page describes it as for RNs with an MSN and two years of experience; the catalog's admission list sets no experience minimum, so confirm with admissions.
If you already practice as an APRN in another population, that license and certification go in with your application. The clinical rules stay exactly the same for you: every hour needs an approved preceptor, a signed affiliation agreement and clearance, and all 540 hours are completed with a preceptor inside the certificate's clinical courses.
How it differs from the online MSN FNP
Both routes lead to the same family population and share the same four clinical courses. Almost everything around those courses is compressed. The online MSN FNP page covers the longer route.
| Feature | Post-master's FNP certificate | Online MSN FNP |
|---|---|---|
| Credits | 24 | 42 |
| Courses | NU 550, NU 561, NU 606, NU 607, NU 621 | Eleven, including the core and NU 551, NU 552, NU 566 |
| Clinical hours | 540 | 540 |
| Compliance due | Week 10 of NU 550 | Week 10 of NU 552 |
| Residencies (SHU Online FAQ) | One in-person residency per year | Two, during NU 552 and NU 621 |
| Length | 15 months or 1.5 years (certificate page); four semesters (programs-offered page) | 2.5 years |
| Start | Fall only | One start per year, in the fall |
| Contract Request Form | PM FNP Online Certificate CRF | MSN/FNP Online CRF |
The catalog gives the certificate's credits as NU 550 3, NU 561 6, NU 606 4, NU 607 4 and NU 621 7, and it sets every course at 16 weeks.
Four placements in 540 hours
Four of your five courses are clinical, and the catalog requires 540 practicum hours with a preceptor across them. The student guide splits the total 180, 90, 90 and 180.
| Course | Hours | Patients | What to line up |
|---|---|---|---|
NU 550 Family & Community Context for Health Care | None | No clinical component; its week 10 is your compliance deadline | Your NU 561 preceptor and site |
NU 561 Primary Care I | 180 | Well adults, prevention and common primary care problems | Adult or family primary care |
NU 606 Primary Care of Children | 90 | Newborns through adolescents | Pediatric office or family practice seeing children |
NU 607 Primary Care for Women | 90 | Well-woman, contraceptive and prenatal visits, adolescence to the menopause transition | Women's health or family practice |
NU 621 Primary Care II | 180 | Complex adult families and the NP leadership role | Adult or family primary care with complex visits |
The student guide pairs the 540 hours with 15 lab hours for both the MSN FNP and this certificate, while the certificate's catalog page mentions only the 540. Ask your academic advisor when lab hours apply to you.
Compliance comes earlier than in the MSN
Certificate students reach Sacred Heart's compliance line sooner. The guide requires full compliance by week 10 of the course taken before your first clinical course, and for this certificate that course is NU 550, the first one you take.
The guide's FNP placement rule is written around week 10 of NU 552, a course outside the certificate plan, plus week 10 of every clinical course. Our advice is to treat week 10 of NU 550 as the working date for your first site and preceptor too, and to confirm the exact date with your academic advisor in week one. The week-10 deadline page explains the rule. By that week, have these done:
- Health Account completePhysical exam, TB test, CPR verification, the RN license for your clinical state and the rest of the list on the compliance page. The flu vaccine is due by November 1.
- NP student liability insuranceThe guide asks certificate students for Nurse Practitioner Student Liability Insurance before the first clinical course, even if you already practice.
- First preceptor approvedAdvisor sign-off comes first; the MSN Online NP Programs Clinical Coordinator then reviews the preceptor's resume, license and board certification.
- PM FNP Online Certificate CRF filedSent in once the coordinator approves by email; a site new to Sacred Heart may need up to nine months for its agreement.
The certificate trap: treating NU 550 as a warm-up term. A new site's contract can take up to nine months, so the search for your NU 561 preceptor belongs before NU 550 begins.
Preceptors when you are already a clinician
Certificate preceptors meet the same FNP standard as MSN preceptors: a licensed physician, PA or APRN in the state of practice, board-certified if a physician or APRN, with a year or more in adult, women's or pediatric primary care. Relatives and close friends are ruled out.
Working clinicians often know a practice willing to host them. Expect the Contract Request Form to ask about your employment at the site and your working ties to the preceptor, and be ready to show how the student role stays separate from your job. The guides contain no written NP rule on training at your own workplace; your academic advisor decides, and our workplace clinicals page covers how to ask.
Location rules match the MSN FNP. New York is off the table for NP clinical hours (New York clinical rule), and the certificate carries the MSN FNP's "No" list of five states, the District of Columbia and the territories (disclosure table).
One residency a year, and new CCNE accreditation
The SHU Online FAQ says the certificate requires one in-person residency per year, and the certificate's web page mentions in-person residencies. The catalog's certificate page says all coursework can be completed online and names no residency. Residency is graded pass or fail wherever it applies, so confirm the count and dates with your advisor and keep those days clear of clinic shifts.
The certificate's accreditation is recent. The CCNE directory lists Sacred Heart's post-graduate APRN certificate with initial accreditation on November 5, 2025, running to June 30, 2031. Sacred Heart's College of Nursing page reports an on-site CCNE evaluation on November 5 to 7, 2025, and notification of full accreditation on May 15, 2026, for both the FNP and PMHNP certificate tracks. The accreditation page lists every program's dates.
Why certificate students choose us
Certificate students come to us because the short program leaves little slack, and our search is built for that clock.
- The search starts before or during
NU 550, so yourNU 561preceptor can be approved by week 10. - All four placements are planned together, with sites that can cover more than one population where the course allows it.
- Every preceptor is screened against Sacred Heart's FNP credential list before anything reaches your advisor.
- Contract contacts and site populations are ready for the PM FNP Online Certificate CRF.
- Clinic schedules fit a working clinician's week and finish inside each 16-week course.
- If a preceptor withdraws, a replacement search starts right away.
Sacred Heart keeps every approval and signs every agreement; we hand it a complete, correct packet on the first pass. Send your start term through the form below.
Questions Sacred Heart students ask
Do FNP certificate students keep case logs in E*Value?
Yes. The student guide lists case logs in E*Value for MSN FNP and post-master's certificate students, alongside clinical logs, the student-preceptor agreement, preceptor letters of agreement and evaluations. Late E*Value documents mean an F in clinical, so build a weekly logging habit from your first clinic day. The E*Value page covers each item.
What grades do post-master's certificate students need?
The minimum passing grade in each nursing course is a B- (80), with a 3.0 cumulative GPA. In NU 561, NU 606, NU 607 and NU 621, the weighted exam average must reach 75, or the course grade becomes the exam average alone. The clinical practicum must also be passed on its own terms.
Where are the certificate's clinical forms kept?
The student guide sends post-master's FNP certificate students, along with MSN FNP students, to the FNP Online Clinical Requirements organization in Blackboard. It walks through the placement process in detail and holds the forms for each step. Open it before each placement request so you work from the current version.
Can I do certificate clinicals in a state other than where I live?
You need an active, unencumbered RN license in every state where you train, and New York is excluded. Sacred Heart notes limited primary care openings for Connecticut residents, who may seek FNP placements in other states. If you plan to move, check the new state's status first; Sacred Heart warns that relocating can leave you unable to obtain placements there.
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 2026-27 Graduate Catalog, Post-Master's Certificate: FNP Online
- Sacred Heart University Online, FNP Certificate program page
- Sacred Heart University, MSN and Post-MSN Certificate Online Student Guide 2026-27
- Sacred Heart University, Davis & Henley College of Nursing
- CCNE directory of accredited programs, Connecticut
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
Start your placement plan
Program, city and clinical start is all we need to begin.