Find your Walden program
We place students in every Walden College of Nursing track and carry the practicum from there: a real preceptor, a compliant site, Meditrek nomination, and hours signed off on time. Pick your program for the details that apply to you.
Not sure which page fits? Tell us your specialization and we will map it for you.
Programs we place
Each card links to hours, courses, and how placement works for that track.
FNP
Family Nurse Practitioner. Four 160-hour practicums spanning primary care for every age, peds to older adults.
PMHNP
Psychiatric-Mental Health NP. Lifespan placements in psychiatric and behavioral health settings.
AGPCNP
Adult-Gerontology Primary Care NP. Focused on adult and older-adult primary care sites.
AGACNP
Adult-Gerontology Acute Care NP. High-acuity hospital and specialty placements.
PNP
Pediatric Primary Care NP. Well-child and acute pediatric clinical hours.
DNP
Doctor of Nursing Practice. A minimum of 1,000 post-bachelor's hours tied to your NURS 8600 and 8601 project.
RN-to-BSN
The NURS 4300 capstone practicum, plus leadership field-experience hours.
Hours at a glance
Tap a program to see its practicum load. Always confirm against your own catalog-year program map.
640
practicum hours4
practicum coursesFamily NP: four 160-hour practicum courses across primary care for every age, from pediatrics to older adults.
How the practicum sequence actually runs
Walden quarters run about 11 weeks, and every NP practicum course packs 160 hours into one of them. Spread evenly, that is roughly 16 hours a week at the site on top of coursework and, for most students, a job. Walden also caps logging at 12 practicum hours per day and expects hours spread across the term, finished by the Week 10 deadline, so a back-loaded plan fails even when the math adds up. Our Meditrek guide covers the logging rules in detail.
The sequence itself is the part students underestimate. Four practicum courses usually means four consecutive quarters of placement logistics, and each course needs its own approved application in Meditrek before you can register for it. Keeping one site across two courses works when the specialty mix fits the next course's requirements, but the approval never rolls over automatically. Treat every course as its own placement with its own deadline, and the sequence stays boring in the best way.
The DNP runs differently: hours attach to your NURS 8600 and 8601 project work, so the site has to fit the project, not just a specialty. RN-to-BSN students have one 100-hour capstone, which still needs a site, an agreement, and an approval like everything else.
When to start looking, by track
Applications are due well before the quarter opens, and the search is the slow part: finding the preceptor, screening credentials, and, if the site is new to Walden, getting the affiliation agreement signed. A fresh agreement can take longer than everything else combined. Our standing advice by track:
| Track | Load | Start your search |
|---|---|---|
| FNP | 640 hours, 4 courses | A full quarter before each course, earlier for pediatric rotations |
| PMHNP | 640 hours, 4 courses | A quarter ahead; psych sites tend to take fewer students at a time |
| AGPCNP | 640 hours, 4 courses | A quarter ahead; adult primary care is the steadiest supply |
| AGACNP | 640 hours, 4 courses | Earlier than you think; hospital credentialing adds its own steps |
| PNP | 640 hours, 4 courses | Earliest of all; pediatric slots are the scarcest |
| DNP | 1,000+ hours | As soon as your project direction is set; the site must fit it |
| RN-to-BSN | 100-hour capstone | A quarter ahead; short course, same paperwork |
Why FNP fills slowest
FNP is the largest NP cohort at most schools, so more students chase the same family practice and primary care preceptors every term. The track also has to cover every age group, and the pediatric slice is the pinch point: fewer pediatric primary care sites take students, and the ones that do are claimed first. Add the practical limit that a preceptor usually takes one student at a time, and a clinic that said yes in spring can be fully booked by fall.
What that means for you: start earlier than the deadline suggests, stay flexible on geography, and consider an out-of-state rotation if your license allows it. Already working in a clinic? Read our guide to clinicals at your workplace, since a familiar site can shortcut the search without shortcutting any of the rules.
Can I keep one preceptor for all four courses?
Sometimes. It works when the preceptor's credentials and patient mix fit each course's requirements, and plenty of students split the sequence across two or three sites instead. Either way, every course needs its own Meditrek application and approval. Nothing carries over on its own.
What happens if I miss the application deadline?
Walden warns that a late practicum application may push the course, and your graduation date, to a later term. The deadlines sit well before the quarter opens, so back-plan from our deadline guide rather than from the first day of class.
Do all four practicum courses run back to back?
Most program maps run them in consecutive quarters, but your own catalog-year map is the authority. If you need a gap quarter, plan it deliberately, since re-entering the sequence still requires a fresh application and an available preceptor.
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