NU 552 Advanced Health Assessment for NP at Sacred Heart University
NU 552 Advanced Health Assessment for NP is a 3-credit course with a laboratory component, and at Sacred Heart University it opens the nurse practitioner sequence. What it asks of you depends on the program: online MSN FNP and PMHNP students meet residency 1 and firm week-10 checkpoints inside it, while hybrid BSN-to-DNP students arrange their own 8 to 10 observation hours. Find your row below.
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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.
What NU 552 means in each program
The same course number does a different job in each program. Read across your row.
| Program | What happens in NU 552 | Placement checkpoint | Compliance due |
|---|---|---|---|
| Online MSN FNP | Laboratory component; residency 1 on campus in Fairfield | Site and preceptor for NU 561 settled by the end of week 10 | Week 10 of NU 552 |
| Online MSN PMHNP | Laboratory component; the catalog places 10 lab hours in residency 1 | The Clinical Placement Team's published deadline | Week 10 of NU 552 |
| Hybrid BSN-to-DNP (FNP) | 8 to 10 observation hours the student arranges | The observation site needs an active affiliation agreement | 30 days before the first day of NU 552, then yearly |
| Post-master's FNP or PMHNP certificate | Not in the certificate plan; advanced health assessment is an admission prerequisite | Set before the first clinical course | Week 10 of NU 550 (FNP) or NU 509 (PMHNP) |
NU 552 is also on the MSN guide's list of NP courses where the weighted exam average must reach 75; below that, the exam average alone becomes the course grade. Every program's hours sit side by side on the clinical hours overview.
Online FNP and PMHNP: residency 1
For online NP students, NU 552 is where Fairfield enters the picture. Writing about the MSN-FNP, the SHU Online FAQ describes a virtual orientation in week two of the first semester and a one-to-two-day clinical competencies residency on campus during NU 552, with the second at the end of the program in NU 621. The catalog lists 10 lab hours completed during residency 1 for both the FNP and PMHNP tracks, and PMHNP students confirm where residency 1 falls in their plan with course faculty.
The MSN guide gives FNP students 15 lab hours instead, so the figure depends on the source; either way, lab hours sit apart from the 540 clinical hours. Residency performance is pass or fail, and failing a clinical residency means failing any clinical course. Dates are not published, so ask course faculty early and clear the time with your employer. The residencies page covers every program.
Online FNP: the week-10 placement checkpoint
For FNP students the MSN guide sets the checkpoint in its own words: "By the end of Week 10 of NU 552 & in week 10 of all clinical courses". By that date your placement for NU 561 must have moved through these steps:
- Site and preceptor identifiedA site and preceptor that fit the adult primary care focus of
NU 561. - Academic advisor approvalYour advisor approves the proposed site and preceptor.
- Preceptor documents sentThe MSN Online NP Programs Clinical Coordinator receives the preceptor's current resume, license and board certification for final approval, after any partnering health system signs off.
- Contract Request FormWhen the coordinator emails approval, you file the CRF, which starts or confirms the affiliation agreement.
NU 561 registration waits for approval of both site and preceptor. For PMHNP students the timing comes from the Clinical Placement Team's published deadline instead of week 10. The week-10 deadline page covers the full cycle.
Week 10 is the finish line, not the starting gun. A site with no Sacred Heart affiliation agreement can need up to nine months to contract, so the NU 561 search belongs well before NU 552 begins.
Online FNP and PMHNP: compliance by week 10
Both MSN NP tracks share one compliance date. The MSN guide requires students to be fully clinically compliant with all Student Practice Requirements by week 10 of NU 552 and to remain compliant from then on, however long their clinical hours take.
That means the Health Account is complete by then: the physical exam, TB test, CPR or BLS, RN licensure in your clinical state, liability insurance and the remaining items, with the flu vaccine due by November 1. Students training in Connecticut also need the CHA Health & Safety Test at 85 or better. Missing a published compliance date removes you from the clinical course, so treat week 10 as firm. The Health Account page lists every item.
Hybrid FNP/DNP: your 8 to 10 observation hours
In the hybrid BSN-to-DNP, NU 552 falls in the second-year fall of the full-time plan and holds the only clinical hours you arrange entirely yourself. The guide calls for an observational experience, observing a nurse practitioner, a physician or a physician assistant during physical assessment, and says the eight to ten hours are arranged by the student. Its course table lists 15 clinical hours for the course, so confirm the target with course faculty.
- Find an observation hostAn NP, physician or physician assistant whose visits give you real physical assessment to watch.
- Check the agreementThe site must have an active affiliation agreement on file with the college; if it has none, submit the FNP/DNP Hybrid Contract Request Form early.
- Get approvalIndependent placements need Program Director and course faculty approval and a contract executed before you start.
- Finish complianceFinish the Health Account no later than 30 days ahead of day one of
NU 552, and renew it every year after. - Wait for clearanceLog nothing until the Cleared for Clinical/Observation email arrives.
After NU 552, the remaining hybrid clinical courses are arranged with the FNP/DNP Clinical Placement Coordinator, as the FNP/DNP clinical courses page explains.
How we help with NU 552
For hybrid students, we find an NP, physician or physician assistant who will host focused physical assessment observation, ideally at a site that already holds an agreement with Sacred Heart so the hours start on time. Where a new agreement is needed, we hand you the site's contracting details early, so the CRF can go in weeks ahead of the course.
For online FNP students, NU 552 is when the NU 561 search should already be well underway. We source adult primary care preceptors who fit Sacred Heart's profile, assemble the CV, license and board certification for the MSN Online NP Programs Clinical Coordinator, and track week 10 with you. PMHNP students get the same head start on NU 571. Sacred Heart approves every placement, and each file we prepare reaches it complete. Send your program and start term through the form below.
Questions Sacred Heart students ask
Does NU 552 carry clinical hours in the online FNP?
No clinical hours are assigned to it in the online FNP's hour count. The 540 clinical hours sit in NU 561, NU 606, NU 607 and NU 621, while NU 552 carries a laboratory component with lab hours completed at residency 1: 10 in the catalog, 15 in the MSN guide. Its placement role is the week-10 checkpoint for NU 561.
What happens if my NU 561 placement is not approved by week 10?
The MSN guide allows registration for clinical courses only after the site and preceptor are approved and the documentation is complete, so a missed checkpoint puts your NU 561 start at risk. Tell your academic advisor early if the search is stalling, and keep compliance on schedule either way, since that date stands on its own.
When is the NU 552 residency held?
Residency dates are not posted publicly. The SHU Online FAQ places the first competency residency on campus in Fairfield during NU 552, lasting one to two days. Course faculty and the student guide give the actual dates, so ask as soon as the course opens and arrange time away from work and any other commitments.
Can the FNP/DNP observation hours be done where I work?
The FNP/DNP guide expects full compliance even when clinical hours happen at your place of employment, and the CRF has questions about whether you are employed there and how you know the preceptor. The public sources contain no rule barring a workplace observation; the Program Director and course faculty approve it like any other independent placement.
Who can I observe for NU 552 in the hybrid program?
A nurse practitioner, a physician or a physician assistant, with the observation centered on physical assessment. Every Contract Request Form also asks you to confirm that the preceptor is neither a relative nor a close friend, so choose someone outside your personal circle even for these few hours.
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 2026-2027 Graduate Catalog: NU 552
- 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
- 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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