Behind on clinical hours in a Samford course: measure the gap, then close it
Measure the shortfall against the weeks left, tell your course faculty the same week, and fix the cause, whether that is too few clinic days, canceled sessions or a preceptor stepping away. Samford's Incomplete and In Progress grades exist, but the catalog attaches conditions and nursing adds a progression hold, so treat them as a fallback rather than the plan.
Hours slipping this term?
Send your Samford course, hours logged, hours owed and weeks left, plus your ZIP code. Your placement advisor looks for a preceptor with room for what remains.
Measure the gap first
Samford's NP program pages set clinical weeks at 10 to 20 hours, varying with the rotation, and your plan of study fixes each course's total. Divide the hours you still owe by the weeks left and hold the result against that range. Above 20 is a warning; well above it is an emergency.
The checkpoints below are our arithmetic for an even pace, not Samford figures, assuming fall and spring terms of about 15 weeks and the 12-week summer term. Confirm your own section's dates in Canvas.
| Course hours | Courses | Term length | On pace at one-third | On pace at two-thirds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 75 | NURG 767 | About 15 weeks | 25 by week 5 | 50 by week 10 |
| 150 | NURG 723, NURG 788 | 12 weeks (summer) | 50 by week 4 | 100 by week 8 |
| 225 | NURG 716, NURG 789 | About 15 weeks | 75 by week 5 | 150 by week 10 |
| 225 | NURG 717 | 12 weeks (summer) | 75 by week 4 | 150 by week 8 |
| 300 | NURG 724, NURG 718, NURG 730, NURG 790 | About 15 weeks | 100 by week 5 | 200 by week 10 |
A worked example: 40 hours short at week 10 of a 300-hour spring course leaves 140 hours for five weeks, or 28 a week, far past the top of Samford's range. Caught at week 5, the same gap is about 24 a week.
Tell your course faculty the week it happens
Your course faculty carry responsibility for your clinical learning, and Samford's rules on clinical standing, probation and progression for NP students are in the NP Clinical Manual, posted in the Nurse Practitioner Homeroom in Canvas. That manual is not public, so read its sections on hour tracking and standing before the conversation; the Homeroom guide explains what lives there.
Bring numbers rather than worries: hours logged, hours owed, weeks left, the cause and your proposed fix. A shortfall raised in week 6 leaves room for extra days or a second preceptor; one raised the week before finals leaves very little. If the fix involves a new clinician or site, copy your program coordinator too, since it may touch your plan of study.
Incomplete, In Progress and clinical failure
The graduate catalog allows an Incomplete (INC) when an emergency kept a student with passing work from finishing part of a course and the remainder needs no further class attendance. Most of the coursework must be done at a passing level, the request must reach your instructor before the final exam, and the missing work is due within the next term or the grade converts to an F. In Progress (IP) marks a course that stays open past the term's final grade deadline.
Nursing adds a hold: under the graduate handbook, an Incomplete bars you from the next course unless the graduate nursing associate dean or your program coordinator gives permission.
Running short of hours and failing clinically are separate things, though an ignored shortfall can drift toward the second. A clinical failure is an F for the course whatever the didactic grades, and a withdrawal after it is recorded as WF. What counts as one for NP students is set by the manual's standing policy and your faculty's evaluation. Neither document says which grade code fits unfinished clinical hours, so ask early; grades and time limits gives each rule with its source.
Ways to make the time up
These are the usual routes for closing a gap. Each needs your faculty's agreement, and anything involving a new clinician or site also needs Samford's approval.
- Add time with your current preceptor.Ask for an extra half-day or a longer shift each week. A few added hours spread over the rest of the term usually beat a crash schedule at the end.
- Ask about days the calendar leaves open.The October 12 and 13 fall break is optional for graduate programs, and the spring 2027 calendar lists a January 4 start for certain clinical experiences. Check with your faculty before booking any such day.
- Add a second preceptor for the same course.Another clinician in the same practice, or a second site, can take part of the load. Each new preceptor and site passes Samford's review, and a new site may need an agreement, so start that request as soon as the plan is agreed.
- Ask about finishing after the term.If the gap cannot close in time, ask whether an Incomplete or In Progress grade applies and what it would mean for the next course in your plan.
Log hours every week as the manual directs, so the figures you bring to faculty are exact.
When the preceptor is the problem, and how we help
A frequent cause of a shortfall is a preceptor who cuts days, takes leave, changes jobs or stops teaching. Samford's public documents are silent on a preceptor who leaves mid-course, so treat it as urgent: tell your faculty, ask what the manual allows, and keep the hours already logged documented the way it requires. If your preceptor moves to another practice and offers to keep teaching you, the affiliation agreement belongs to the site, so the new practice may need its own; affiliation agreements explains that request.
A replacement in the middle of a term is the hardest search in placement, and it is where our preparation shows. Your placement advisor looks for a clinician in your community with room for the hours still owed, fitted to the same course and patient population.
- A replacement or second-preceptor search sized to the hours owed and the weeks left.
- Site details and the contract signer ready for Samford as soon as a clinician agrees.
- Onboarding tracked so the new site does not cost you a week to a badge or an orientation module.
- A plan for your next clinical course, so one late term does not ripple through the rest.
Samford approves every replacement, and your faculty decide how the course finishes. Start with the placement request form, or read can't find a preceptor if you have no clinician at all.
Questions Samford students ask
How many clinical hours a week does a Samford NP course expect?
Samford's NP program pages give a range of 10 to 20 clinical hours weekly, varying by rotation. The plan of study sets each course's total, from 75 hours in NURG 767 to 300 in the practicum courses. The 750 hours guide spreads each course over its term.
Can I carry unfinished hours into my next clinical course?
Samford's public documents say nothing about moving hours between courses. Each clinical course has its own total in your plan of study, an Incomplete must be finished within the following term, and nursing requires permission before you progress. Ask your faculty how a shortfall would be handled rather than assuming a later course can absorb it.
What if my preceptor goes on leave in the middle of the term?
Tell your course faculty right away and ask whether another clinician at the same practice can cover, since the site's agreement stays in place. If no one there can, a replacement elsewhere needs Samford's review and possibly a new agreement. Send us the course and hours owed and your placement advisor starts that search at once.
Will an Incomplete in a clinical course delay graduation?
It can. The remaining work must be finished in the next term, nursing requires permission to progress, and the catalog notes that an Incomplete may change your plan of study. In a final practicum such as NURG 730 or NURG 790, that can move your graduation term, so raise it with your program coordinator early.
Can I make up clinical hours on weekends?
If your preceptor works weekends and your course allows it, weekend days can add hours without cutting into your job. Samford's public documents do not say which days of the week count, so confirm with your faculty and the NP Clinical Manual before you schedule them.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-25
We check these pages against Samford's own program pages, plans of study, the 2026-27 Graduate Nursing Student Handbook and Alabama rules. Your course, your program coordinator and Graduate Student Services have the final word.
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