How many clinical hours is GW's NP program? 600, in every track
GW Nursing requires 600 precepted clinical hours in each nurse practitioner track: Family, Adult-Gerontology Primary Care, Adult-Gerontology Acute Care and Psychiatric Mental Health, whether you study for the MSN, the post-BSN DNP or a post-master's certificate. What changes from track to track is how the hours are divided among courses, and a few older GW pages still print other totals.
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The answer, in GW's own words
The figure holds across all four NP specialties and all three routes into them. GW's MSN Family Nurse Practitioner page states it directly: "You must record a minimum of 600 hours of clinical experience with an approved preceptor." The AGPCNP, AGACNP and PMHNP pages, the four post-BSN DNP pages and the AGPCNP, AGACNP and PMHNP certificate pages carry the same 600, and the Bulletin 2026-27 agrees with them.
Two words in that sentence do real work. "Minimum" makes 600 a floor your courses build up to, and "approved" means an hour counts only with a preceptor your program director has accepted through CORE. Post-BSN DNP students complete these same 600 direct hours and then add 500 indirect practice hours on top, which the DNP practice hours guide breaks down.
The single exception inside the NP tracks is the post-master's FNP certificate, where GW's website and Bulletin still disagree. It has its own section below.
The 120/240/240 split in FNP, AGPCNP and AGACNP
Three of the four tracks divide their 600 hours in the same shape: a 120-hour introductory course followed by two courses of 240 hours each. The introductory course carries 4 credits and each larger course 8, so the credit load rises with the hours.
| Track | First course | Second course | Third course |
|---|---|---|---|
| FNP | NURS 6230: 120 | NURS 6231: 240 | NURS 6232: 240 |
| AGPCNP | NURS 6224: 120 | NURS 6225: 240 | NURS 6229: 240 |
| AGACNP | NURS 6235: 120 | NURS 6236: 240 | NURS 6237: 240 |
The split is identical in the MSN, the post-BSN DNP and the AGPCNP and AGACNP certificates, because all of them use these courses. FNP and AGPCNP students sit their OSCEs during the second and third courses, and AGACNP students return to campus for simulation events in all three. Course-by-course detail sits in the FNP, AGPCNP and AGACNP guides.
PMHNP: five courses of 120 hours
The psychiatric track reaches 600 by a different route. Its hours sit in five clinical courses of 120 hours each: NURS 6244 (families and groups), NURS 6245 (diagnostic assessment), NURS 6246 (individuals), NURS 6247 (population-based practice) and NURS 6248 (integrated application). The Bulletin's own description of NURS 6245 repeats the 120-hour floor.
The five courses do not run one per term. GW's November 2024 part-time plans open with NURS 6245 alongside psychopharmacology, then schedule NURS 6244 and NURS 6246 together in one spring term, which makes that semester a 240-hour term. NURS 6247 follows in the summer and NURS 6248 comes last. The post-master's PMHNP certificate also starts its rotations with NURS 6245.
GW's 2021 clinical placement guide adds one preceptor rule for this track: NURS 6248 needs a PMHNP or CNS preceptor. The PMHNP clinical courses guide covers each course in turn.
What a 240-hour term asks of your preceptor
The step from 120 to 240 hours is where planning matters most. Your second and third clinical courses each need double the clinic time of the first, squeezed into the same semester dates, and every shift has to be recorded in CORE with at least one patient encounter per hour. GW posts no weekly maximum, so your pace depends on how many days your preceptor can take you.
Two practical points follow. A preceptor who suited your 120-hour course may have no room for 240, so ask early whether they can keep you for the longer course as well. And one course can involve more than one preceptor: CORE takes a separate Site Prospector submission for each preceptor and site in each term, and GW's 2021 guide describes the second FNP course as mixing OB/GYN with pediatrics.
How the hours and encounters are entered, and the dates they must fall inside, are on the clinical hour logs page.
Older figures still on GW pages: 625 and 650
If you have seen a GW certificate page quoting 625 or 650 hours, you have not misread it. Several GW program pages keep a second, hidden copy of their tab text in the page source. On the AGPCNP and AGACNP certificate pages those legacy blocks still say 625 hours for AGPCNP and 650 for AGACNP, with the acute care hours split 150/250/250.
The 650 figure has a history. GW's 2017 AGACNP clinical requirements page described 650 hours in that same 150/250/250 pattern, plus an optional summer Advanced Role Immersion of 350 to 400 hours. Today the visible program tabs and the Bulletin 2026-27 all say 600, split 120/240/240, and that is the number to plan around. If a search snippet or an old syllabus shows anything else, ask your program director to confirm the current total by email.
The FNP certificate: 500 or 600
The one live conflict inside the NP tracks belongs to the post-master's FNP certificate. Its page on nursing.gwu.edu says 500 clinical hours, while the Bulletin 2026-27 and the 2025-26 Bulletin before it both say 600. The certificate is also built differently from the MSN: a variable-credit clinical practicum, NURS 6227 (1 to 7 credits), runs alongside NURS 6250, NURS 6251 and NURS 6252, with OSCEs during the second and third of those.
GW is not admitting new students to this certificate, so the question matters mainly to students already in it. The Bulletin is GW's newest official catalog, yet your program director decides which total applies to your cohort. Settle it well before your final clinical term, when a 100-hour gap would be hardest to close. The admitting certificates are covered in post-master's NP certificates.
Why GW NP students choose us for all 600 hours
A 600-hour requirement is really three or five separate searches, each tied to a different term and a different setting. We run those searches for you, looking near home for preceptors whose practice fits each GW course and who can carry its full 120 or 240 hours. We gather the license and bio or CV every Site Prospector submission needs, so your program director reviews a complete request the first time.
If a preceptor pulls out partway through a course, we move straight to a replacement with the same setting, so your hours keep building. To see how 600 compares with the midwifery, leadership and DNP totals, open clinical hours by program.
Questions GW students ask
Does the post-BSN DNP require more than 600 precepted hours?
No. The precepted, direct hours are the same 600, earned in the same clinical courses as the MSN. What the DNP adds is 500 indirect practice hours tied to the DNP project. GW's Bulletin 2026-27 lists 600 direct plus 500 indirect, and GW's DNP web pages describe the combined figure as a 1,100-hour minimum.
Can I split one 240-hour course between two preceptors?
GW publishes no limit on preceptors per course, and CORE expects one Site Prospector submission for each preceptor and site you use in a term, so more than one is possible. GW's 2021 guide adds that any new or added preceptor must be verified by the Clinical Placement Team before you work with them.
Where must AGACNP students complete their 600 hours?
In Washington, DC, Maryland or Northern Virginia. GW requires AGACNP applicants to be residents of DC, Maryland or Virginia, and the Bulletin says DNP and certificate students must live in Maryland, Northern Virginia or DC while taking NURS 6235, NURS 6236 and NURS 6237. GW also asks for at least a year of critical care experience.
Can I finish a course's hours after the semester ends?
GW's rule is that clinical hours are completed inside the semester dates, so a course's hours cannot spill into the break that follows. If you are falling short, raise it with your Clinical Experience Faculty and program director while the term is still running, when there are still options to discuss.
Who can supervise my 600 hours at GW?
GW's 2021 clinical placement guide lists nurse practitioners, physicians (MD or DO) and certified nurse-midwives with at least two years in advanced practice and a current, unencumbered license. Physician assistants do not appear on that list. Your program director reviews every preceptor before the hours can start.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-24
We check these pages against GW's Bulletin and GW Nursing's own program and clinical pages. Your course, CORE and GW's Clinical Placement Team have the final word.
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