NURS 6347 Role Development for the Nurse Practitioner
NURS 6347 is the first of UTRGV's three FNP specialty courses: 3 credits and 45 clinical hours, with the narrowest preceptor rule in the sequence. Your hours are split between at least two master's-prepared nurse practitioners at two different sites that UTRGV has already approved, with no more than 8 hours in any one day.
Get your placement plan
Tell us your UTRGV program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with preceptor and site options in your community that fit your UTRGV course.
NURS 6347, per the 2026-27 catalog
What the course is
NURS 6347 Role Development for the Nurse Practitioner is a 3-credit lecture and lab course built around the five roles of the advanced practice nurse, with 45 clinical hours. The 2026-27 catalog requires NURS 6310 before it and lists it, together with NURS 6311, as a prerequisite for NURS 6612. The catalog also notes that the course may be repeated for additional credit. Its description stays at the level of roles; the clinical rules come from the course syllabus, summarized below.
MSN-FNP students take it after most of the core, and post-master's certificate students take it as the first of their three courses. Its 45 hours are part of the certificate's 605, with the rest in NURS 6612 (224) and NURS 6613 (336). The hours for every UTRGV program sit together on the clinical hours hub.
Two master's-prepared NPs at two different sites
The tentative Summer 2025 syllabus sets out the rule. The 45 hours are completed under at least two master's-prepared nurse practitioners at two different clinical sites, chosen from the Evergreen affiliation list in the course's forms tab. The syllabus adds that only sites the university has approved are permitted and that this is strictly enforced, and it allows only one student per preceptor.
Compare that with NURS 6612 and NURS 6613, where UTRGV accepts qualified and approved NPs, physician assistants or physicians. A PA or physician who is a perfect fit for FNP I does not count here, and two NPs at the same site do not meet the two-site part of the rule. If a classmate is already working with an NP in this course, that NP is not available to you for it. Every course's preceptor rules are compared on preceptor requirements.
The common mistake is lining up one excellent preceptor. NURS 6347 needs two nurse practitioners, both master's-prepared, at two separate approved sites, and each of them can take only one UTRGV student for the course.
45 hours at no more than 8 a day
The syllabus caps a clinical day at 8 hours. At that maximum, 45 hours takes at least six clinic days, and dividing them between two preceptors gives a shape like the example below. The day counts and the split are our arithmetic, not a UTRGV rule. The syllabus does not say how the hours must divide between the two NPs, so check with your course coordinator before planning a lopsided split.
| Preceptor | Clinic days | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| NP at site A | 3 days of 8 hours | 24 |
| NP at site B | 2 days of 8 hours and 1 day of 5 | 21 |
| Total | 6 days | 45 |
In a summer term the calendar is tight, and six clinic days at two practices are harder to fit than they look. Book the days as soon as your sites are approved, and ask each preceptor for one spare date in case a clinic closes or a patient day is cancelled.
The Summer 2025 timeline
The tentative Summer 2025 syllabus laid out the preceptor steps in this order. Dates change from term to term, so treat these as the pattern and the syllabus for your term as the schedule.
- Choose two NPsPick two master's-prepared nurse practitioners at two different sites from the Evergreen affiliation list, or make sure a new site's affiliation is approved before the term.
- Send the preceptor requestSubmit the Clinical Preceptor Request form electronically, as a Word document. In Summer 2025 it was due June 12.
- Wait for site approvalThe course coordinator approves your clinical sites, and nothing is scheduled until that happens.
- File the agreement a week aheadOnce the sites are approved, submit the signed Student/Preceptor Agreement (scanned) and the Mandatory Weekly Time Report at least one week before your first scheduled clinical date.
- Complete and log the hoursWork no more than 8 hours a day, log every day, and keep the weekly time report current for faculty.
A June due date means the search belongs in the spring. A site new to UTRGV needs its affiliation agreement before it counts, and UTRGV's guidelines put that process at 30 to 90 days, so counting back from June 12 (our arithmetic) a new site should be in motion by mid-March. The Clinical Request Form guide walks through that step.
Operation Border Health
The Summer 2025 syllabus made Operation Border Health (OBH), an exercise run by the Texas Department of State Health Services, part of the course's clinical assignment. It ran July 21 to 25, 2025 at Los Fresnos High School in Cameron County. Before taking part, students completed two trainings on TX TRAIN: OBHP HIPAA Compliance Training and OBHP Needle Stick and Splashes Training.
Two things are not published: how many of the 45 hours the event covered, and whether it returns in later summers. If your term's syllabus includes it, expect a week near Los Fresnos and plan your NP clinic days around it. Finish the two TX TRAIN trainings early, since they come before participation, and keep the completion records with your clinical forms.
Where NURS 6347 sits in your program
On UTRGV's only published MSN-FNP program of study, which starts in Fall 2019, NURS 6347 falls in a summer: Year 1 for full-time students, alongside NURS 6301, NURS 6307 and NURS 7302, and Year 2 for part-time students, alongside NURS 6307 and NURS 7302. Either way, NURS 6612 follows in the fall.
The full-time route conflicts with today's catalog, which requires NURS 6310 first, while the 2019 plan schedules NURS 6310 for the fall after NURS 6347. The part-time route, with NURS 6310 in Year 1 fall, fits. Post-master's certificate students start in fall or Summer I, and UTRGV does not publish their term-by-term order. UTRGV also does not say which summer session the course runs in. Ask your advisor for your sequence, then check the dates on the academic calendar.
How we set up both NP sites
Two preceptors at two sites is twice the work of an ordinary placement, and a June request date leaves little slack. Our placement desk starts in the spring: we find two master's-prepared NPs at separate practices, check both against UTRGV's approved list, confirm that each will take you as their only UTRGV student for the course, and map six or more 8-hour days around their clinic calendars and your summer classes.
When one of the sites is new to UTRGV, we collect everything the Clinical Request Form asks about the facility and the preceptor, so the affiliation can start months before the request is due. You receive both preceptors' information ready for the Clinical Preceptor Request form, and we keep a backup NP in view in case a schedule falls through. Tell us your program and summer term in the form below to begin.
Questions UTRGV students ask
Can a physician assistant precept me in NURS 6347?
Not for this course. The Summer 2025 syllabus calls for master's-prepared nurse practitioners for all 45 hours. Qualified and approved PAs and physicians can precept you later in NURS 6612 and NURS 6613, so a PA you meet now may still be the right fit for your FNP I or FNP II placement.
Can I complete all 45 hours with one nurse practitioner?
No. The syllabus asks for at least two master's-prepared NPs at two different clinical sites. One NP who works at two locations does not meet it, because the rule counts preceptors as well as sites. The split of the 45 hours between the two is not specified, so agree it with your course coordinator.
Can two UTRGV students share an NP preceptor in NURS 6347?
The Summer 2025 syllabus allows only one student per preceptor, so if a classmate is already working with an NP in this course, you need a different one. That is one more reason to settle both of your preceptors early in the spring, before the request form is due.
Is Operation Border Health part of NURS 6347 every summer?
It was in the Summer 2025 syllabus, which ran the event July 21 to 25 at Los Fresnos High School and required two TX TRAIN trainings first. UTRGV has not published whether it repeats each year or how many hours it counts for, so check your own syllabus in Brightspace as soon as it opens.
What happens if I earn below a B in NURS 6347?
Under UTRGV's archived 2023-24 graduate guide, a student who earns less than a B in a clinical course is not allowed to progress, and NURS 6612 requires NURS 6347 first. The catalog notes the course may be repeated for additional credit; your advisor and course coordinator decide what a repeat looks like. See grades and progression.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-27
We check these pages against UTRGV's own catalog, course syllabi, School of Nursing pages and Texas Board of Nursing rules. Your course faculty and the School of Nursing have the final word.
From the approved list or a brand-new site, we find the preceptor who fits.
Tell us your UTRGV program, where you live and when your next clinical course starts. We line up a willing preceptor who fits the course and UTRGV's rules, and hand you the details the Clinical Request Form, the affiliation agreement and the preceptor agreement ask for, well before the semester.
- Family practice preceptors for
NURS 6612andNURS 6613, and two NP sites forNURS 6347 - Board-certified psychiatric preceptors for
NURS 6476andNURS 6620, in your home state - Across the Valley and Texas, from McAllen and Brownsville to San Antonio, Houston and beyond
- A replacement lined up fast if a preceptor drops
Start your placement plan
Program, city and start date is all we need to begin.