Behind on clinical hours with the course end in sight
When a Wilmington University practicum is nearly over and the hours are not, do the math, bring your course faculty a plan while the course is still running, and add clinical time wherever you can. WilmU's Incomplete rules give some room, but only if you ask in time.
Get your placement plan
Tell us your WilmU program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with the preceptor and site options that fit your WilmU course.
Do the hour math first
Start with numbers, not worry. Take the hours the course requires, subtract what your preceptor has confirmed, and divide by the weeks left. The catalog states each practicum's requirement as direct care clinical hours. WilmU's public pages leave open whether NP practicums use the 7-week or the 15-week format, so the table gives both paces.
| Course | Hours | Per week over 15 weeks | Per week over 7 weeks |
|---|---|---|---|
GRN 7121, GRN 7122, GRN 7123 (FNP) | 175 each | About 12 | 25 |
GRN 7124 (FNP) | 225 | 15 | About 32 |
GRN 7221, GRN 7222, GRN 7223 (PMHNP) | 175 each | About 12 | 25 |
GRN 7224 (PMHNP) | 225 | 15 | About 32 |
GRN 8121 to GRN 8124 (DNP Leadership) | 125 each | About 8 | 15-week courses |
GRN 9001 (DNP Project I) | About 145 | About 10 | 15-week course |
GRN 9002, GRN 9003 (DNP Project II, III) | About 145, about 150 | 7-week courses | About 21 |
If the weekly figure for the weeks you have left is more than your preceptor can offer, the gap has to come from somewhere else, and that is the conversation to start now. Our clinical hours page lists every program's totals.
Where the extra hours can come from
Options to raise with your course faculty
- More days with your current preceptor, including days you had not offered before
- Longer clinic days where your preceptor's schedule and the practice allow them
- A second preceptor or site for the remaining hours, approved by your faculty the same way as the first
- Any planned simulation your FNP course includes, logged the way your course directs
WilmU counts planned simulation inside FNP clinical hours, but that simulation is scheduled by the program, not something a student adds on; the simulation and seminars page explains how it fits. When a single busy clinician cannot give more days, a second preceptor for the last stretch is often the fastest way to close the gap.
Ask what the second preceptor needs to send your faculty, and start their site's onboarding the week they agree rather than the week you need them.
How an Incomplete works at WilmU
WilmU's catalog spells out the I grade. It needs the instructor's prior approval. Your instructor sets the deadline for the remaining work, and it can stretch no further than 60 days past the course's last day; miss it and the I becomes an F.
There is one route past the 60 days: an extension, which only your instructor can report to the Registrar, and only while the window is still open. That makes the timing of your request as important as the request itself. Ask while the course is live, with a written plan showing where the remaining hours will come from and by when.
An F would weigh on the 3.0 GPA the MSN-FNP requires throughout the program, and DNP courses need a B or better. Our grades and progression page covers repeats and probation.
An Incomplete is approved in advance. Raise it during the course, with dates, not after grades post.
Bring your faculty a plan, not just a problem
A request for more time with nothing behind it is hard to approve; a dated plan is easy to say yes to. Put the numbers on one page and send it through your MyWilmU student email well before the last week of the course.
What the plan should show
- Hours required, hours your preceptor has confirmed, hours left
- The dates your current preceptor can still offer
- Any second preceptor or site, with their license type and practice focus
- The date you expect to finish, inside the 60-day window
- What you will do if one of those dates slips
- Which option you are asking for: extra days, a second preceptor or an Incomplete
If the shortfall began when a preceptor left, work through the steps on preceptor dropped out first, then come back to the plan.
Why hours fall behind, and how to stay ahead next time
The causes are usually ordinary: a preceptor's clinic schedule shrinks, a holiday stretch closes the practice, illness takes a week, or onboarding at a large system runs long. Onboarding is the one you can plan around. If a site runs student intake through a system such as Clinician Nexus, start it the week the preceptor agrees, not the week the course opens.
For the next practicum, set a weekly target from the first week and front-load it; hours banked early absorb a missed week later. Keep a weekly tally against that target so a shortfall shows up while there is still time to fix it. Each WilmU practicum builds on the one before, so a clean finish now keeps the whole sequence on time, and delayed graduation covers what happens when it does not.
How we help you catch up
Late in a course, a second preceptor for the remaining hours is often the quickest fix. We find one in the same practice focus, close to home and in a state that has licensed you as an RN, with days that fit the weeks you have left, and we confirm each against Delaware's preceptor rule before introducing them.
Their license, credentials and contact details come organized so your WilmU faculty can review the new preceptor and decide without delay. For your next practicum, we line the preceptor up early so the hours start on the first day. In the form below, choose Already started, behind on hours as your start timing, and if the course has already ended, tell us when your Incomplete window closes.
Questions WilmU students ask
Does simulation count toward WilmU FNP clinical hours?
WilmU's FNP pages say the clinical hours include planned simulation experiences, so simulation your program schedules is part of the total. The catalog describes each practicum's requirement as direct care clinical hours, and how many simulation hours sit inside a given course is not published. Ask your course faculty how simulation is recorded for your practicum.
What happens if I do not finish my hours within 60 days?
Per WilmU's catalog, unfinished Incomplete work turns into an F once the instructor's deadline passes, and that deadline tops out at 60 days after the course closes. Only an extension, sent by your instructor to the Registrar while those 60 days are still running, changes the outcome. If the date is slipping, tell your instructor early enough for that to happen.
Can extra hours in one practicum carry over to the next?
Nothing WilmU publishes says whether hours beyond a course's requirement carry forward. Each practicum lists its own total: 175 direct care hours for the first three FNP and PMHNP practicums and 225 for the fourth. Plan to meet each course's total inside that course, and ask your course faculty before counting on any carryover.
Will being behind on hours put me on probation?
Probation at WilmU follows your cumulative GPA, not your hours: a graduate GPA below 3.0 triggers it. Short hours become a GPA problem only if they end in a failing grade, such as an Incomplete that turns into an F. Finish the hours inside the course or its approved window and the delay alone leaves your GPA where it was.
Can I add a second preceptor near the end of the course?
WilmU's public pages do not address how many preceptors one course may use, and Delaware's Board rules leave preceptor approval to faculty. So a second preceptor comes down to approval and timing: send the name, license, practice focus and open dates to your course faculty in one message, and begin that site's onboarding the day they agree.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-27
We check these pages against Wilmington University's own program and curriculum pages, the 2026-27 graduate catalog, the College of Nursing and Health Sciences policies and the State Licensures by Program page. Your NP Program Chair, your course faculty and the College have the final word.
A WilmU practicum coming up? Your preceptor search starts here.
Tell us your WilmU program, where you live and when your next practicum starts. Whether WilmU's faculty help with your placement or you are starting the search yourself, we find preceptors who fit the course, check the health system's own intake steps, and organize the preceptor's license and credentials well before the first day.
- Preceptors matched to the course: family practice across the lifespan for
GRN 7121toGRN 7124, psychiatric mental health forGRN 7221toGRN 7224, doctorally prepared for the DNP - Clinicians who meet Delaware's rule for APRN program preceptors: an active APRN, PA, pharmacist or physician license in a comparable focus
- Close to home, in a state where you hold an RN license, with each system's onboarding mapped out early
Start your placement plan
Program, city and semester is all we need to begin.