Clinical hours in every Troy University nursing program
Troy University's 2026-27 orientation manuals set 780 clinical clock hours for the MSN Family Nurse Practitioner track, 480 for Healthcare Informatics and Nursing Leadership, 180 for the Nursing Education certificate, 1,000 for the DNP and 120 for the RN to BSN. A few of Troy's own documents print different numbers, so this page sets them side by side and shows which question to take to your faculty advisor.
Plan the preceptors behind your hours
Tell us your Troy program and the semester your next clinical course starts.
Pick your Troy program
Your practicum courses and hours, who can precept you, where, and when to start looking. From Troy's own catalog, handbooks and program pages.
- Who precepts
- Graduate-prepared preceptors: NPs licensed in their state with a year of NP experience, physicians, nurse midwives or physician assistants; never a relative, and two preceptors for NSG 6666
- Where
- Outpatient settings in your own area until NSG 6680, the first course that allows hospital hours; never your own work area, and no preceptor or site more than twice
- Start looking
- NSG 6619 in your first Fall; forms go to your faculty advisor by the course's deadline, and clinical courses run every semester except summer
- Who precepts
- An MSN in informatics or leadership, an MS in computer technology or administration in active practice, a BSN with three years or a BS with five years in the area
- Where
- Any setting that fits informatics or leadership work, except your own work area
- Start looking
- Three practicums across the program; the DNP Nurse Leader track starts them in the spring of the first year
- Who precepts
- An external agency or setting that approves your DNP Synthesis Project, plus the FNP or Nurse Leader preceptors for post-BSN students' 6000-level clinical courses
- Where
- The organization where your project is carried out, with an RN license in that state
- Start looking
- Agency approval comes in NSG 8820; NSG 8880 adds 60 clinical hours per credit when you need more to reach 1,000
- Who precepts
- Qualified preceptors you identify and contact in approved clinical settings, approved by lead faculty through the Preceptor Information and Acknowledgement Form
- Where
- A preceptorship location you choose, in the state where you hold your RN license
- Start looking
- NSG 3310 in the second 9-week term of the fall-admit plan, then NSG 4411 and NSG 4431
Clinical hours by Troy program
Each figure below comes from Troy's 2026-27 orientation manuals, the MSN program page or the 2025-26 RN to BSN degree map. Every hour belongs to a specific course, not to the program as a loose total.
For one track in depth, open the MSN FNP guide, the HINL practicums or the DNP overview.
| Program | Credits | Clinical hours | Courses that carry the hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| MSN, Family Nurse Practitioner (online) | 47 SH | 780 | NSG 6619 120, NSG 6666 180, NSG 6668 180, NSG 6680 300 |
| MSN, Healthcare Informatics and Nursing Leadership | 37 SH | 480 | NSG 6630 120, NSG 6636 180, NSG 6637 180 |
| Post-master's certificate, FNP | 33 SH | 780 | The same four FNP courses, taken alongside MSN students |
| Post-master's certificate, HINL | 23 SH | 480 | The same three HINL practicums |
| Post-master's certificate, Nursing Education | 15 SH, five courses | 180 | NSG 6676 Nursing Education Preceptorship |
| DNP, post-BSN FNP track | See your DNP degree map | 1,000 | 780 in the four FNP courses, then hours documented in NSG 8810 to NSG 8840, with NSG 8880 if you are short |
| DNP, post-BSN Nurse Leader track | See your DNP degree map | 1,000 | 540 Nurse Leader hours in NSG 6630, NSG 6636, NSG 6637 and NSG 8880, plus synthesis-course hours |
| DNP, post-master's | See your DNP degree map | 1,000 | Verified post-baccalaureate hours, then NSG 8810 to NSG 8840; NSG 8880 adds 60 hours per credit, up to 180 |
| RN to BSN (online) | 24 SH nursing, 124 SH total | 120 | NSG 3310, NSG 4411, NSG 4431 |
| Accelerated MSN (Dothan) | 63 SH | Per-course hours not listed | Preceptor courses NSG 5549 and NSG 6698 |
| BSN and ASN | 124 SH and 70 SH | Per-course hours not listed | Ten BSN and eight ASN practicum courses, listed by credits |
Where Troy's hour figures disagree
Troy publishes four hour-related figures that disagree. Put each one to your faculty advisor, or to the DNP Coordinator for doctoral questions, and file the written reply.
| Topic | One Troy source | Another Troy source |
|---|---|---|
| First three FNP courses | MSN manual, and the DNP manual's course list: 120, 180 and 180 hours | DNP manual, Post BSN-DNP Progression section and item 11: 135 hours each |
| MSN FNP total | 2026-27 manuals: 780 hours | 2021-22 Graduate Catalog: 705 hours |
| Nurse Leader's final 60 hours | DNP manual: from NSG 8830, NSG 8840 or NSG 8880 | Same manual: Nurse Leader students take NSG 8880 in a summer semester |
| When DNP FNP clinicals run | DNP manual: every term except the first fall semester | Same manual: every semester except summer |
The history behind the 135 and 705 figures, and a sensible way to plan while you wait for an answer, is on the 780-hour FNP page. Doctoral students will find what counts from earlier study on the 1,000-hour rule.
When an hour counts toward your Troy total
A shift becomes a countable Troy hour only when several conditions line up. The MSN manual ties them to the course you are registered for, so a quiet week between semesters is no chance to get ahead.
- Faculty have approved the preceptor and setting and cleared you to begin; the steps are on faculty approval and clearance.
- The shift sits between the first and last day of the course you are registered in; break weeks between semesters never count.
- It matches the clinical schedule form you filed, and any change reached faculty right away.
- It happens away from the unit or site that employs you.
- For FNP students, it is outside a hospital setting until
NSG 6680, the internship.
The employer rule and the limit on reusing a preceptor or site are explained on work setting and reuse rules.
Hours completed before faculty clear you are not counted toward any Troy total, however many you log.
How hours are documented at Troy
Troy's manuals name no separate hour-tracking product for the MSN or RN to BSN. Your course faculty tell you how each course wants hours recorded, and the schedule form you file at the start is the baseline your hours are checked against.
Doctoral work comes with more structure. Each synthesis course from NSG 8810 to NSG 8840 asks for documented clinical hours, with reflection pages on those hours inside the portfolio. For post-master's students, earlier hours are credited once the DNP Program Coordinator receives your Verification of Post-Baccalaureate Clinical Hours.
Accuracy carries real weight. Under Troy's Standards of Conduct, misreporting clinical hours can mean failing the course and, in serious cases, suspension or expulsion. Keep a personal, dated log of each shift as well.
What 60 hours per credit means for your week
Divide hours by credits and a pattern shows. NSG 6630 (2 SH, 120 hours), the 3-credit courses carrying 180 hours and NSG 6680 (5 SH, 300 hours) all work out to 60 clock hours per semester hour, the same rate the DNP manual states outright for NSG 8880. NSG 6619 is the one exception, at 120 hours for 3 credits.
What matters in practice is the weekly load after clearance. Troy's Help Desk describes semester courses as 16 weeks long. The table is plain division, not a Troy schedule, and it shows how quickly the load climbs when clearance arrives late in the semester.
| Course hours | Over 16 weeks | Over 12 weeks | Over 10 weeks |
|---|---|---|---|
| 120 | 7.5 a week | 10 a week | 12 a week |
| 180 | about 11 a week | 15 a week | 18 a week |
| 300 | about 19 a week | 25 a week | 30 a week |
A preceptor who can offer one short clinic day a week may not carry a 180-hour course on their own. If you are already short, read behind on clinical hours.
A likely FNP hour timeline from a Fall start
Three lines in the MSN manual shape the order: each FNP-specific course comes around once a year in a set order, there are clinical courses in every semester but summer, and NSG 6619 belongs to Fall. Add the five-semester minimum and the full-time order below follows. Troy does not print it as a planner; the semester planners for your cohort sit in Canvas, so check yours there.
| Semester | Practicum | Hours | Running total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fall, year one | NSG 6619 | 120 | 120 |
| Spring, year one | NSG 6666 | 180 | 300 |
| Summer | No clinical course | 0 | 300 |
| Fall, year two | NSG 6668 | 180 | 480 |
| Spring, year two | NSG 6680 | 300 | 780 |
A Spring or Summer start takes longer than five semesters, because each FNP course waits for its once-a-year slot. Conditionally admitted FNP students study part time, and the MSN manual says they can finish in eight semesters.
Preceptors with the hours to match each course
The hard part of any Troy hour total is rarely the arithmetic. It is finding a preceptor with enough open clinic days, in a setting the course allows, approved early enough that clearance leaves you most of the semester. That is the work Troy students hand to us.
For each course we look in your own area for preceptors whose schedules can carry the hours: two for NSG 6666, adult and older-adult practices for NSG 6668, and hospital time where it helps in NSG 6680. Each candidate is checked against Troy's rules, and the biosketch and license copy are ready before your form is due. Troy faculty keep the final say on each preceptor and site; our part is handing them a file that is complete and inside Troy's rules on the first pass.
Share your program and start semester with us in the form below.
Questions Troy students ask
Do extra clinical hours carry over to the next Troy course?
Plan as though they do not. Troy's MSN manual links every clinical hour to the course it was earned in and rules out break-week clinicals, so each course's total stands on its own. If you reach a course's hours early, ask your course faculty what they expect for the rest of the semester before you stop going to the site.
Can hours from my nursing job count toward a Troy program?
Not as clinical hours in current courses: the MSN, DNP and AMSN manuals keep clinical time out of your own employer's unit or site. Post-master's DNP students are the exception: hours from earlier post-baccalaureate clinical work may count once documented on Troy's verification form for that purpose, and whether they qualify is the DNP Program Coordinator's decision.
How many clinical hours are in Troy's RN to BSN?
120 clinical clock hours, spread over three preceptorships on 9-week terms: the health assessment practicum (NSG 3310), then the population health and leadership preceptorships (NSG 4411, NSG 4431). They sit inside 24 semester hours of nursing coursework. The manual's Flexible Option centers on an 8-hour shadow experience in both of the later two courses.
What clinical hours does Troy's Nursing Education certificate carry?
The five-course, 15-credit certificate places all 180 of its hours in NSG 6676, a 3-credit preceptorship. Troy wants a nurse educator in academia for that role: MSN or doctorally prepared, five or more years in nursing education, and holding an active RN license with no encumbrance. Item 13 of Troy's MSN manual sets that standard.
Are clinical hours listed for Troy's Accelerated MSN, BSN or ASN?
Not course by course. The AMSN runs 63 semester hours over four semesters, with NSG 5549 and NSG 6698 as its preceptor courses; the BSN has ten practicum courses and the ASN eight, listed by credits rather than clock hours. Your course faculty set the expectation for each practicum.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-27
We check these pages against Troy's own 2026-27 MSN, DNP, AMSN and RN to BSN orientation manuals, program pages, degree maps and state authorization pages. Your faculty advisor, your course faculty and the School of Nursing have the final word.
Troy asks you to recruit your preceptor. We make that the easy part.
Tell us your Troy program, where you live and which semester your next clinical course starts. We find preceptors who meet Troy's rules for the course, check the setting against Troy's limits, and prepare everything the Preceptor Information Form and biosketch ask for, well ahead of the form deadline.
- Preceptors matched to the course: a graduate-prepared NP or physician for
NSG 6619, pediatrics and women's health forNSG 6666, adults and older adults forNSG 6668 - Preceptor Information Form details, a biosketch and a copy of the preceptor's license, ready for your faculty advisor
- In your own area, in Alabama or a state where Troy can offer clinicals, never in your own work setting
Start your placement plan
Program, city and semester is all we need to begin.