How NAU's nurse practitioner clinicals fit together

Updated September 27, 2026, reviewed by the NAU Preceptor placement team

At Northern Arizona University the practicum machinery is short but strict: a preceptor you suggest or arrange, the FNP Preceptor/Agency Green Form, an affiliation agreement with the site, documents on file two months ahead, the fingerprint clearance card and the FNP Program Coordinator's sign-off. Each guide below covers one piece, then the NUR practicum courses, the semester calendar and the state rules.

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How NAU's nurse practitioner clinicals fit together. At Northern Arizona University the practicum machinery is short but strict: a preceptor you suggest or arrange, the FNP Preceptor/Agency Green Form, an affiliat — Every Northern Arizona University clinical guide in one place: the Green Form, preceptor approval, site agreements, fingerprint cards and each NUR practicum.

Why most of the detail is dated

NAU stopped posting its graduate clinical handbooks, so the step-by-step rules on these pages come from the 2022-23 FNP Clinical Guidelines, the 2022-23 DNP handbook and the graduate handbook for 2021-22, all recovered from archived copies. The catalog and the program pages still carry the credits, the course list and the in-person note for the PMHNP practicum.

Each guide names the year of the document it draws on and the NAU role that can confirm today's version, usually your program coordinator or course faculty.

A sensible order to read them

Start with the placement process for the full route, then the Green Form, which is where a preceptor you arranged enters NAU's system, and the two-month document deadline, which quietly sets your whole calendar.

After those, open the clinical hours guide and the page for each NUR practicum on your plan of study.

Preceptors and approval

Clinical placement processHow a Northern Arizona University NP clinical gets approved: the preceptor, the Green Form, the site agreement, documents two months out, then the start notice.Finding your own preceptorNAU encourages NP students to suggest preceptors. How the shared model works, why a preceptor near home matters and how to line one up for the Green Form.The Green FormWhat NAU's FNP Preceptor/Agency Green Form asks, its two boxes, where to find it, who files it, and the term cutoffs on both versions of the form.Placement coordinator and rolesWho does what in an NAU clinical: the Clinical Placement Coordinator, the FNP Program Coordinator, course faculty and graduate advisors, and which one to ask.Affiliation agreementsWhy every NAU clinical site needs an affiliation agreement, your own employer included, how long a new one can take, and who at the site signs it.Preceptor requirementsWho can precept a Northern Arizona University NP student: Arizona rule R4-19-502 as NAU applies it, from license and experience to focus and certification.Who cannot precept youNAU's DNP rules bar relatives, partners, direct supervisors and fellow DNP students as preceptors. What the FNP rules leave open and how to screen a candidate.Practicum at your workplaceCan an NAU NP student do clinicals at their own job? Yes, with an affiliation agreement, a qualified preceptor, hours kept apart from shifts and NAU's approval.Arizona health systemsBanner, HonorHealth, Dignity, Valleywise and Northern Arizona Healthcare each run a school-request route. How it shapes an NAU preceptor plan.Rural and tribal clinicalsRural and tribal clinicals for NAU NP students: the travel and overnight rules, Tuba City and IHS routes, federal preceptors and the rural NUR 689 project.

Deadlines, compliance and tracking

Documents two months aheadNAU wants every clinical document on file two months before your rotation. What that covers, what lateness costs, and a backward plan for 2027 terms.Fingerprint clearance cardNAU NP students need an Arizona DPS IVP Fingerprint Clearance Card: why, when it must be on file, which category to pick, and where the out-of-state steps are.Typhon and ExxatWhich clinical tracking system NAU nursing students use, Typhon or Exxat, what each source says, and what goes in: license, documents, logs, evaluations.RN license for clinicalsWhich RN license NAU nurse practitioner students need: Arizona or compact, valid where you train, and how the rule shifted across NAU documents since 2021.NAU student systemsLOUIE, the location check each term, Canvas, NAU Gmail's move to Outlook, NAUgo, Cline Library and advising: the NAU systems that touch clinical planning.

Hours and clinical courses

Terms, pacing and progress

Semester calendarNorthern Arizona University term dates through spring 2028, census days, spring break and summer sessions, mapped to the FNP practicums and their cutoffs.Pacing clinical hoursHow to spread 180 or 300 NAU practicum hours across a term: weekday math, break and weekend rules, late starts and how a preceptor's schedule sets your pace.Progression rulesWhat keeps you on track in NAU's graduate nursing programs: the 84% passing line, repeating a C, dismissal triggers, time limits and gaps in enrollment.

Where you live

Licensure disclosure by stateWhere NAU says its FNP and PMHNP programs do not meet state licensure rules: seven states, Kansas for the PMHNP certificate, the attestation and 2026 changes.State authorization and movingHow NAU's NC-SARA membership covers practicum hours in another state, the location check at each login, the Change of Location form and steps before a move.Nursing accreditationWho accredits Northern Arizona University and its nursing programs: HLC for the university, CCNE for the BSN, MS and NP certificates, and the DNP question.Sanghi College of NursingNAU's Maria and Steve Sanghi College of Nursing: its older School of Nursing name, BSN campuses, statewide clinical towns and what they mean for NP students.

Questions NAU students ask

Where is NAU's current graduate clinical handbook?

It is not on NAU's public site. The student handbooks page now points to the college home page, and the handbook files return errors. The 2022-23 FNP Clinical Guidelines are the newest version anyone can read, through an archived copy; your coordinator has the current one.

Which NAU role approves a preceptor?

In the 2022-23 guidelines, the FNP Program Coordinator approves every preceptor and mentor and holds the final placement decision. The Clinical Placement Coordinator handles the Green Form and the site request, and course faculty act as the liaison with the agency.

Do these guides cover the PMHNP track?

Yes, though NAU publishes far less for it. The PMHNP pages cover NUR 680, its in-person requirement and the rural project in NUR 689, and they say plainly where NAU's public record stops.

What sources do the NAU guides use?

NAU's catalog, program pages, licensure table and archived handbooks first, then Arizona statutes and Board rules for licensing questions. Each guide lists its sources at the bottom of the page.

Last checked 2026-09-27

We check these pages against Northern Arizona University's own catalog, program pages and published nursing documents. Your program coordinator and course faculty have the final word.

NAU welcomes a preceptor you arrange. We arrange one close to home.

Tell us your NAU track, your town and your next practicum. We line up preceptors who fit the course and Arizona's preceptor rule, confirm the site's approval, and gather the CV, license and certification the Green Form needs, well before NAU's cutoff.

Preceptors matched to the course: all-ages family primary care for FNP, psychiatric settings for PMHNP
License, experience and certification checked against the rule NAU applies, before the Green Form goes in
All three FNP practicums planned together, near home instead of a long drive away

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