GW's AGPCNP clinical courses: NURS 6224, 6225 and 6229
At GW, the Adult-Gerontology Primary Care track fits its 600 precepted hours into three courses: NURS 6224 for 120 hours, then NURS 6225 and NURS 6229 for 240 each. The first course rules out several settings, the second widens to adolescents and women's health, and the third pulls you into long-term care. Knowing those turns in advance is what keeps an AGPCNP placement plan on schedule.
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Three courses, from practice introduction to older and frail adults
| Course | Title | Credits | Hours | Setting in GW's 2021 guide |
|---|---|---|---|---|
NURS 6224 | Adult/Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner I: Practice Introduction | 4 | 120 | Adult primary care; no urgent care, fast track, long-term care or nursing homes |
NURS 6225 | Adult/Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner II: Adolescent and Adult | 8 | 240 | Adult, adolescent and women's health; up to 100 outpatient specialty hours |
NURS 6229 | Adult/Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner III: Adult, Older/Frail | 8 | 240 | At least 120 hours in nursing homes or long-term care; up to 100 palliative or hospice hours |
Titles move from an introduction to practice, to adolescents and adults, to older and frail adults, and the settings follow the same arc. Those setting rules trace to GW's 2021 clinical placement guide, an older file GW keeps online without linking it from current pages, so today's syllabi could read differently. Check each course's rules with your Clinical Experience Faculty before you sign anyone.
Whether you are in the MSN, the post-BSN DNP or the certificate, these three courses and their hours are identical.
NURS 6224: an adult office, away from acute and long-term settings
GW's 2021 guide rules out four settings for the first AGPCNP semester: urgent care, fast track in the emergency department, long-term care and nursing homes. What remains is the classic adult primary care office, where the same patients return for chronic disease follow-up, screening and new complaints.
The same guide set a patient target for this course of 110 patients, about six in an eight-hour day. GW's newer CORE workshop deck asks for at least one logged patient per hour, which would put the floor at 120 for a 120-hour course. Follow whatever your current syllabus states and log every encounter, as the hour logs guide explains.
Good preceptors for 6224 include adult-gerontology or family nurse practitioners, internists and family physicians whose panels are mostly adults. Volume matters: a slow schedule makes the patient count hard to reach in 120 hours.
NURS 6225: adolescents, women's health and a specialty window
The second course doubles the hours to 240 and widens the population. GW's 2021 guide lists adult, adolescent and women's health, and it leaves room for as many as 100 outpatient specialty hours. That specialty window is the biggest in the AGPCNP sequence, so use it deliberately for an area you expect to see in practice.
One workable way to cover 6225 pairs a primary care preceptor whose panel includes teenagers with a women's health NP, an OB/GYN physician or a certified nurse-midwife for the gynecologic side. A specialty block, such as a cardiology or endocrinology clinic, needs its own preceptor and its own Site Prospector submission.
This is also the first AGPCNP course with an OSCE. GW lists OSCEs during both NURS 6225 and NURS 6229, and its AGPCNP page says the program's simulation events use standardized patients in person and virtually. The OSCE guide has the 2026-27 dates.
NURS 6229: long-term care, palliative care and older adults
NURS 6229 is where the gerontology in the track name becomes concrete. Under GW's 2021 guide, no fewer than 120 of the course's 240 hours happen in long-term care or nursing homes, and palliative or hospice work may account for as many as 100. In practice, half the course or more can be spent with older and frail adults outside a regular clinic.
Long-term care preceptors are a different search from office-based ones. Look for nurse practitioners and physicians who round in skilled nursing or long-term care facilities, often through a group that covers several buildings. Palliative and hospice hours come from NPs and physicians on those teams.
Because this setting sits outside the ordinary primary care office, a search started in the final term has far fewer options. Begin it while you are still in 6224.
Of all the AGPCNP requirements, the long-term care block in the third course is the one most easily left too late. Search for it early.
When the courses run, including the certificate
On GW's November 2024 plans, a full-time MSN student who enters in fall starts NURS 6224 in the summer of year one, then takes 6225 in fall and 6229 in spring. Full-time study is a fall-entry option only; part-time plans start the sequence in the second summer, and the post-BSN DNP starts it in the summer of year three. The first clinical semester guide lists each plan.
Post-master's AGPCNP certificate students begin clinicals in their first semester, because graduate health assessment is an entry requirement rather than a GW course for them. Their plans run fall, spring and summer or summer, fall and spring. The certificate guide covers entry and timing.
If an older GW certificate page shows 625 AGPCNP hours, that figure comes from a legacy text block. The current program pages and the Bulletin state 600.
Why AGPCNP students choose us
We plan the AGPCNP sequence as a whole: a high-volume adult office for 6224, adolescent and women's health coverage for 6225 with a specialty block if you want one, and a long-term care group for 6229 with palliative time if it fits. Each match is built around the setting GW's 2021 guide describes, close to where you live.
Every preceptor file we hand you is ready for CORE: license details, a CV or GW's preceptor bio, the facility's signing authority for the affiliation agreement, and the reasons the site meets the course. Submissions land complete, and GW's program director makes the call with nothing missing. If a site cancels, we move fast on a replacement. Our process page shows each step, and the contact form starts yours.
Questions GW students ask
Can I use an urgent care clinic for my AGPCNP rotations?
Not for NURS 6224. GW's 2021 clinical placement guide keeps urgent care and ED fast-track settings out of the first AGPCNP term. It does not restate that limit for the later courses, though each has its own required patient mix. Check with your Clinical Experience Faculty before an urgent care site goes into a 6225 or 6229 request.
Do the long-term care hours in NURS 6229 have to come from one facility?
GW's 2021 guide sets a minimum of 120 long-term care hours but does not say they must come from one building. Each additional preceptor or site needs its own Site Prospector submission and may need its own affiliation agreement, so one facility or one rounding group keeps the paperwork simpler. Your Clinical Experience Faculty can confirm the arrangement.
Can a family nurse practitioner precept an AGPCNP student?
GW's 2021 guide looks for appropriate credentials, meaning NP, MD, DO or CNM, plus a minimum of two years in an advanced practice role and an unencumbered license. Beyond the credential, the setting and the patients decide fit. An FNP whose panel is mostly adults can suit 6224, provided the site matches the course rules and GW's program director approves the pairing.
Are AGPCNP simulation events held in person?
According to GW's AGPCNP page, simulation in this track mixes in-person and virtual sessions built around standardized patients. The OSCEs during NURS 6225 and NURS 6229 are in person, and the 2026-27 dashboard places them in Ross Hall, in DC's Foggy Bottom neighborhood. Check the dashboard for your term before you arrange travel or time off.
Do DNP AGPCNP students follow the same clinical courses?
Yes. The post-BSN DNP AGPCNP keeps NURS 6224, NURS 6225 and NURS 6229 at their MSN hours. The first course falls in the summer of year three on GW's part-time DNP plan, and the DNP project courses add indirect practice hours that GW counts separately from the 600 precepted hours.
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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