NURS 62500 and NURS 62700: Lewis's acute care practicums

Where the acute care practicums sit

Lewis's AGACNP track has three practicums, and each one shares a 16-week semester with its management course. You begin with NURS 61800, the adult/gerontology and adolescent practicum shared with the FNP and AGPCNP tracks (it has its own guide), then move into two acute care courses built around hospital-level adult care. The MSN is 46 credits with a catalog minimum of 540 clinical hours; the certificate carries the same clinical courses in 28 credits, and the BSN to DNP AGACNP track places them inside 73.

These pairs follow the MSN core and the four NP specialty courses (NURS 58800, NURS 60400, NURS 60500, NURS 60700). The second acute care pair adds subspecialty care and acute care devices and technology, so a NURS 62700 site where specialty consults and device management are routine fits it best, in our reading.

Raise one catalog quirk early: the NURS 61800 prerequisite line names two primary care courses, NURS 61000 and NURS 61100, that appear nowhere in the AGACNP MSN, certificate or BSN to DNP plans. Your track coordinator can confirm the sequence your plan of study actually follows.

What Lewis looks for in an acute care preceptor

Lewis publishes no credential list for AGACNP preceptors. What it does publish is the approval step: each preceptor and site needs sign-off from Lewis's Clinical Coordinators and/or track lead faculty, judged against the course. The contract legend adds two screens that matter in hospitals, since a request can be turned down over a preceptor's IDFPR discipline record or over conduct concerns at the preceptor or agency level.

In practice the match is to the course, not the building. Both acute care practicums center on adult and older adult patients, so the preceptor's daily work should be inpatient or high-acuity adult care. Hospitals also set their own rules: Advocate's student page says a physician or APRN may precept NP students, while Riverside's says its NP students usually work alongside a CNP or CCNS. Confirm with your track coordinator which provider types Lewis accepts before you ask anyone.

Have these ready for each acute care preceptor

• The preceptor's credentials and the state license they practice under, so Lewis's IDFPR screen has what it needs
• The unit or service and the patient population it treats
• The agency's legal name, so the Clinical Placement Office can check for a current affiliation agreement
• The semester you need, because Lewis's approval names the site, the preceptor(s) and the term
• The hospital's own student request route and deadline, where it has one

A timeline that respects both queues

Lewis publishes no submission deadline. It wants planning to start when you are admitted, and the contract legend budgets two weeks at minimum for processing, longer when a new agreement has to go out. Hospital intake runs on its own clock, so the schedule below is our planning suggestion for an acute care semester, not a Lewis rule.

1. Two semesters aheadChoose the hospitals and services that fit NURS 62500, read each system's student page for its dates, and settle the hour question with your track coordinator.
2. Before the hospital's cutoffGet the preceptor's yes and file the hospital's own request where one exists, such as Endeavor's March 1 date for fall/winter rotations.
3. As soon as the preceptor agreesSubmit the Lewis contract request with every required field complete, so review starts and any new agreement reaches the agency early. The contract portal guide covers each status.
4. Before day oneFinish the hospital's onboarding and any Student Action items, sending copies to the agency and to the Clinical Placement Office. Start only when the portal shows Approved.
5. While you are in NURS 62500Line up NURS 62700. Staying at a hospital that already has a current agreement with Lewis, and whose services fit the subspecialty and device focus, can make the second review simpler.