Clinical Track Issues for Adult/Gero Nurse Practitioner Students

Clinical Placement -- Dr. Carol Starling is the Clinical Placement Coordinator for all A/GNP students for AG I, II, & III. Students may request experiences in specific settings. The final decision on where you go for clinical will be made by the clinical course faculty coordinator, not Carol Starling. Carol can make placements to accommodate class schedules; however, she can not accommodate work/family schedules.

Age Range -- A/GNP students will see patients from 18 to death with distribution in four categories: young adults (18-30s), middle age (40s-50s), older adults (60s-80s), and frail elders/LTC (80s-death). Students will have clinical experiences which expose them to the full array of both male and female patients.

Clinical Focus -- The clinical focus may be primary care in an internal medicine practice or VA outpatient clinic, or a specialty setting such as oncology, cardiology, pulmonary, women’s health, GU for men, etc. Acceptable preceptors can be nurse practitioners, physician's assistants, or physicians. A/GNP students may split their clinical rotations into half semesters to allow a broad range of choices. If you desire a clinical site meeting these criteria, please make your request to Carol Starling in the semester prior to enrollment via e-mail cstarlin@kumc.edu.

Location -- Sites may be anywhere within approximately an hour's drive. They are chosen to afford you the best possible educational experience. Students are responsible for providing their own transportation to and from all clinical experiences. In general, clinical placements are available on Monday through Friday, from 8 to 5. It is necessary for students to have at least one day a week (M, T, R, F) available for their clinical experiences in AG I & II.  Wednesday can not be used due to conflicting AG classes.

Current work site -- We prefer that students not use clinical experiences for school at the same site where they are employed. This is unfair both to you and to your preceptor. It is difficult to function in the student role when the staff also expect you to do regular work duties.

Professional Conflicts of Interests -- Please inform Carol Starling (cstarlin@kumc.edu) as early as possible if there is any clinical site or specific provider that would create significant conflicts for your clinical placement.

Preceptorship (AG III) -- The final PC course is a capstone experience to pull together all earlier courses. Its purpose is to transition the student into the role of A/GNP; it is not designed for job orientation (although it can be a plus if the site offers you a job). This course is a 5 credit hour clinical course (320 hours). You may work 5 days per week for 8 weeks or discuss other options in advance with the faculty assigned to teach the course. Please begin planning for this time commitment now. We suggest that you save money, vacation/leave time at your job for this course so that you can complete the required clinical with little to no working.

Clinical Hours – The AGNP program counts clinical hours as follows:

The minimum number of clinical hours required by American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), the certifying exam organization and the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculty (NONPF) is 500. The Kansas Board of Nursing is considering setting the minimum at 500 hours also. We feel that you are getting a substantial amount. Although KU offers a combined Adult and Gerontological program, ANCC offers two separate credentialing exams.  The student may choose to take only one or both examinations.