Lewis University MSN Family Nurse Practitioner: courses, hours and practicum plan
Lewis's MSN Family Nurse Practitioner track is 48 credits with at least 630 clinical hours, offered at Lewis University at Oak Brook or online. It includes four 16-week practicums, and for each one Lewis expects you to help find the preceptor. Below is every course in the curriculum, the order the practicums follow, and when each preceptor search should start.
Plan your four FNP preceptors
Tell us where you live and which FNP practicum comes next.
The Lewis FNP track at a glance
Family Nurse Practitioner is one of four NP concentrations inside Lewis's MSN; the catalog codes it MSN-NRSM-5, concentration NPFA. The 2026-27 catalog puts the track at 48 credits and sets its clinical floor at 630 hours, more than any other Lewis NP track. Lewis's three other NP concentrations each set their floor at 540.
Lewis teaches the degree at its Oak Brook location or online. Core MSN courses run as accelerated 8-week sessions; NP specialization courses, every practicum included, keep a traditional 16-week semester. You have 5 consecutive years to finish, and Lewis's FAQ describes up to 3 ½ years as typical for its master's programs.
Admission calls for a BSN from a CCNE- or ACEN-accredited school, a current RN license without encumbrance in Illinois or wherever you practice, and a 3.0 GPA, with provisional admission possible from 2.75. You also send two letters of recommendation, your resume and a 500-word essay. There is no GRE or interview, and the catalog says Lewis is not accepting international applications for 2026-27.
Every course in the FNP curriculum
Hours below come from Lewis's own course descriptions; where one prints none, the table says so.
| Course | Title | Credits | Clinical hours Lewis prints | Format and timing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
NURS 51700 | Health in All Policy (HiAP) | 3 | None | MSN core, 8 weeks; taken first |
NURS 55900 | Applied Biostatistics and Epidemiology | 3 | None | MSN core, 8 weeks; taken first |
NURS 53300 | Scholarly Inquiry | 3 | None | MSN core, 8 weeks; after NURS 51700 and NURS 55900 |
NURS 53400 | Dynamics of Population Health | 3 | None | MSN core, 8 weeks |
NURS 53600 | Healthcare Informatics | 3 | None | MSN core, 8 weeks |
NURS 73500 | Transformational Leadership for Healthcare | 3 | None | MSN core, 8 weeks |
NURS 58800 | Role Transition and Development for the Advanced Practice Nurse | 1 | None | NP specialty core |
NURS 60500 | Applied Physiology/Pathophysiology for Advanced Practice Nursing | 3 | None | NP specialty core |
NURS 60400 | Pharmacotherapeutics for Advanced Practice Nursing | 3 | None | NP specialty core; with or after NURS 60500 |
NURS 60700 | Health Assessment for Advanced Practice Nursing | 3 | Lab, no clinical hours | NP specialty core; with or after NURS 60500 |
NURS 61000 | APN Management: Adults in Community/Primary Care | 3 | None | 16 weeks; same semester as NURS 61100 |
NURS 61100 | NP Practicum: Adults in Community/Primary Care | 3 | 180 | 16 weeks; with NURS 61000 |
NURS 61200 | APN Management: Adult/Gerontology and Adolescents | 3 | None | 16 weeks; same semester as NURS 61800 |
NURS 61800 | NP Practicum: Adult/Gerontology and Adolescents | 3 | 180 | 16 weeks; with NURS 61200 |
NURS 64000 | Family Nurse Practitioner Management: Primary Care of Women | 2 | None | 16 weeks; prerequisite for NURS 64100 |
NURS 64100 | Family Nurse Practitioner Practicum: Primary Care of Women | 2 | Not printed | After NURS 64000 |
NURS 64200 | Family Nurse Practitioner Management: Primary Care of Infants and Children | 2 | None | 16 weeks; prerequisite for NURS 64300 |
NURS 64300 | Family Nurse Practitioner Practicum: Primary Care of Infants & Children | 2 | Not printed | After NURS 64200 |
| Total | 48 | 630 minimum |
The course list gives credit ranges for some practicums (NURS 61100 2 to 3, NURS 61800 1 to 3, NURS 64100 and NURS 64300 1.5 to 2), while the FNP curriculum fixes them at the values above. The fixed values are the ones that add up to 48.
The four FNP practicums, in order
Each practicum runs with or after its own management course, and every one is approved separately, preceptor and site together. Lewis publishes no semester-by-semester plan of study, so your advisor confirms the exact terms. The catalog still fixes part of the order. The management courses need five of the six MSN core courses plus the three foundation courses in pathophysiology, pharmacotherapeutics and health assessment, and NURS 61000 and NURS 61100 are prerequisites of NURS 61800, so adult primary care comes before the adult/gerontology and adolescents practicum.
| Practicum | Management course | Hours Lewis prints | Patient focus |
|---|---|---|---|
NURS 61100 | NURS 61000, same semester | 180 | Adults in community and primary care |
NURS 61800 | NURS 61200, same semester | 180 | Adult/gerontology and adolescents |
NURS 64100 | NURS 64000, listed as a prerequisite | None printed | Primary care of women |
NURS 64300 | NURS 64200, listed as a prerequisite | None printed | Primary care of infants and children |
Two catalog quirks matter here. The NURS 61100 description still counts three clinical courses in the sequence, although FNP students take four. And neither NURS 64100 nor NURS 64300 prints clock hours: through 2024-25, women and children shared one 270-hour course, NURS 61700, which no current program uses. The 630-hour total is unchanged, and our 630-hour breakdown shows what Lewis prints and what it leaves to your course.
Course-level detail sits in separate guides: adult primary care for NURS 61100, adult/gerontology and adolescents for NURS 61800, and women's health and pediatrics for NURS 64100 and NURS 64300.
When to start each FNP preceptor search
Lewis's FAQ urges NP students to start planning practicums from the moment they are accepted, and the contract process explains the advice. Every practicum needs its own request in the college's contract portal. Lewis allows at least two weeks to process one, and if your site has no affiliation agreement with Lewis, a new agreement goes out and the request sits in review until the signed copy comes back. Health systems add their own clocks: Northwestern Medicine's request page, for one, tells students to allow 4 to 8 weeks at minimum.
- At acceptanceWork out how far you can drive on clinical days and start looking for an adult primary care preceptor for
NURS 61100. - The term before
NURS 61100File the contract request with every required field complete, leaving room for a new affiliation agreement if the practice needs one. - During
NURS 61100Line up theNURS 61800preceptor. That course adds adolescents and older adults, so the practice's patient panel matters as much as its address. - Before the women's and pediatric coursesA family practice that sees women and children may suit both
NURS 64100andNURS 64300, subject to track faculty approving it for each course; otherwise you need a women's health preceptor and a pediatric one. - Every semesterKeep your CastleBranch items current, and copy the Clinical Placement Office on any document an agency asks you for, as Lewis's contract legend instructs.
The common FNP mistake: treating four practicums as one search. Each is approved on its own, with its own contract request, and the women's and pediatric courses call for patients an adult practice may never see.
Lewis rules that shape FNP clinicals
- A contract request for every practicum. Lewis makes the portal submission compulsory for any student heading into a clinical practicum; our contract portal guide walks through it.
- Compliance you pay for, insurance Lewis pays for. The fees for background checks and for health and clinical records fall to students, while the university pays for student clinical insurance. Falling behind on CastleBranch requirements gives Lewis grounds to deny a contract.
- Preceptor license checks. Discipline from IDFPR, Illinois's licensing agency, is another listed denial reason, so look up your preceptor's record before you file.
- An RN license where you practice. Lewis wants MSN students licensed as RNs, without encumbrance, in Illinois or in the state or country where they work. A clinical placement in another state can require added approval from Lewis, from that state or from Illinois licensing boards.
- Authorized states. Online graduate nursing students can enroll from 18 jurisdictions, and Lewis's FNP MSN table flags four of them (Hawaii, Indiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi) where the curriculum falls short of licensure requirements; see the state authorization page.
- No In Progress grade. A practicum that spills past its semester can only be graded Incomplete, and that grade must be cleared by March 1 after fall, July 1 after spring or October 15 after summer, or it converts to an IF.
After graduation: certification and your license
Two certifying boards appear in Lewis's materials for FNP graduates, ANCC on the MSN program page and AANPCB in the 2023 graduate viewbook. Lewis reports a 2023 FNP pass rate of 92% on the ANCC exam, 36 of 39 graduates. Our certification exams page compares what Lewis prints for every NP track, older viewbook figures included.
Illinois then licenses you through IDFPR, which pairs that national certification with a graduate degree in a clinical advanced practice specialty, the half of the requirement the Lewis MSN supplies.
Why Lewis FNP students choose us
Four practicums means four searches, each with a different patient population, and each one has to clear Lewis's review before its semester starts. We find preceptors in your own community whose practices fit the Lewis course, check the match against the course title and population, and give you every preceptor, license and practice detail the contract form will ask for, early enough for a new affiliation agreement to be signed.
We stay with you through CastleBranch and agency onboarding, and if a preceptor steps back partway through the program, we find a replacement. Lewis's Clinical Placement Office, clinical coordinators and track faculty still review and approve every preceptor and site; we see to it that the file in front of them is complete and fits the course the first time. Tell us your city and your next FNP practicum in the form below.
Questions Lewis students ask
Can one family practice preceptor cover both the FNP women's health and pediatric practicums?
Possibly, but Lewis publishes no rule either way. NURS 64100 and NURS 64300 are separate courses, and Lewis approves each preceptor and site for the course it serves, so one family practice would need approval for both. A practice whose panel includes gynecologic visits and well-child care makes that case easier. Ask your track coordinator before filing two requests that name the same preceptor.
Is the Lewis FNP program fully online?
Lewis's MSN page offers the NP tracks at Oak Brook or online, but other Lewis program lists mark only Healthcare Systems Leadership and Nursing Education as available online, so its sources disagree. No mandatory on-campus intensive for the MSN appears in anything Lewis publishes. Either way, your 630 hours are supervised clinical experiences at an approved site with a preceptor, whichever format your classes take.
Does Lewis assign FNP preceptors?
Nothing Lewis publishes describes assigning NP preceptors. The FAQ wants NP students actively involved in finding them. Approval of each preceptor and site belongs to Clinical Coordinators and/or track lead faculty, and the Clinical Placement Office runs the process as your main point of contact. Our guide to identifying preceptors covers the rule in full, and our service does the searching part for you.
What happens if I cannot finish my FNP hours on time?
Lewis grades have no In Progress option, so an unfinished practicum is handled as an Incomplete. To qualify you need to be passing, and the request, made on Lewis's Incomplete Grade Form, has to fall between the withdrawal date and the last day of the course. One extension is allowed. An Incomplete in your graduation term may mean deferring your graduation date, so talk to your course faculty early.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-25
We check these pages against Lewis's own catalog, program pages and FAQ, its contract portal and Illinois law. Your course, your track coordinator and the Clinical Placement Office have the final word.
Lewis asks you to identify your preceptor. We do the searching.
Tell us your Lewis program, where you live and when your next practicum starts. We find preceptors near you who fit the course and prepare every detail the contract portal asks for, so your request goes in complete.
- Preceptors matched to the practicum: primary care for
NURS 61100andNURS 61800, acute care forNURS 62500, psychiatric care forNURS 63300 - Preceptor, license and site details ready for your preceptor contract request
- In your own community, anywhere Lewis enrolls you and your RN license is valid
Start your placement plan
Program, city and start date is all we need to begin.