NUR 682 Primary Care of Children: 120 hours with a pediatric preceptor
NUR 682 calls for 120 clinical hours in the primary care of children, about one clinical day a week, in a pediatric office or a family practice that sees plenty of young patients. Several Indiana health systems report pediatric preceptors as scarce or unavailable, which makes this the course to start on first.
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NUR 682
NUR 682 at a glance
This summary draws on Ball State's program pages and its 2026-27 catalog. For the course description and assignments, read the catalog's NUR 682 entry and your clinical packet.
| Item | What Ball State publishes |
|---|---|
| Credits | 4 |
| Clinical hours | 120, about one clinical day a week on average |
| Before it | NUR 632, NUR 634 and NUR 638 |
| Same term | Paired in the catalog with NUR 681, NUR 683 or NUR 684 |
| Who takes it | MS FNP students and both certificate tracks, including nurses who are already adult or adult-gerontology NPs |
| Setting | Primary care or clinic, outside your own unit or clinic |
| If you take an Incomplete | No further NP clinical course until it is finished with a passing grade |
| DNP course for the same ages | NUR 782 Primary Care 2, infants through adolescents |
Pediatric office or family practice
Ball State publishes no separate setting list for NUR 682, but two of its rules shape the choice. The MS FAQ keeps FNP clinicals out of acute care, which rules out inpatient pediatric units, and the FNP page allows most of the concentration's hours, 682 of 690, in family practice primary care.
That gives two routes. A pediatric primary care office sees children all day, so 120 hours fill steadily. A family practice can also work if enough of its patients are children to fill the hours, which is worth asking about before you commit. Either way, your course faculty approve the site and the clinical packet sets the preceptor's qualifications, so check both before an agency signs anything. The preceptor requirements guide collects what Ball State says in public.
Why pediatric preceptors are scarce
The shortage shows up in the health systems' own words. IU Health's Office of Clinical Education says a missing preceptor is its top reason for turning down NP requests, and pediatrics sits on its list of most requested specialties with family and primary care, women's health and behavioral health. Franciscan Health's Indianapolis application form cautions that pediatric and women's health preceptors are in very short supply, and Franciscan employees get priority.
Reid Health in Richmond said on its APP student page, archived in December 2025, that it was unable to provide APP student hours in pediatrics or women's health. Ball State's graduate handbook describes the same pressure from the school side, warning that students compete for clinical placements. Since employees often come first, an outside student's best openings are an early application or a preceptor who has already said yes.
A timeline for NUR 682
Because pediatric seats fill first, work backward from the term your plan of study gives for NUR 682.
- About a year outBall State's handbook advises starting clinical planning a year before the course. List the pediatric and family practices near you and note which belong to a health system with its own application process.
- Four to six months outHealth system deadlines arrive early. IU Health takes fall NP applications March 1 to April 1 and spring ones July 1 to September 1, Franciscan's Indianapolis form wants fall requests by March 31, and Community Health Network's fall deadline for students who need its preceptor search is May 1.
- About a semester outBall State wants tentative agency arrangements started roughly a semester ahead, on the standard Ball State affiliation agreement with original signatures, and a backup agency lined up.
- Before the first hourKeep your American Data Bank record current, with CORE connected during your first clinical term, since hours logged while noncompliant are repeated.
IU Health adds two conditions of its own: its placements are limited to Indiana residents holding an Indiana nursing license, and it forbids approaching its clinicians yourself to line up a preceptor. The affiliation agreements guide covers the contract step.
Sharing a term with another clinical course
Because NUR 682 runs beside an adult or women's primary care course in the catalog, you are likely to carry two clinical courses in the term you take it. At Ball State's average of one clinical day a week per course, that is roughly two clinical days a week, on top of online coursework and, for most students, a nursing job.
Two courses usually mean two preceptors and two agencies, each with its own agreement and evaluation. A family practice able to host both courses would cut that to one site, if your faculty approve it for each. Adult and adult-gerontology NPs on the certificate's shorter track take only NUR 682, NUR 684 and NUR 673, so two of their three searches are pediatrics and women's health, the areas Indiana systems flag as scarce. See the FNP 690 hours guide for the whole sequence.
How we find your NUR 682 preceptor
Pediatric searches are where an early start pays off most, so we begin yours first. We look for pediatric offices and family practices with a solid pediatric panel near you, screen each one for the authorized-state and own-workplace rules, and use each health system's own application route where it has one. We start the standard Ball State affiliation agreement early and keep a backup agency lined up.
You get a site that fits NUR 682, the paperwork your clinical packet asks for, and someone on call if the preceptor's plans change. Final approval rests with Ball State: your course faculty and the School's placement staff. Tell us your term through the placement request form.
Questions Ball State students ask
Can I do NUR 682 hours at a children's hospital?
Not on an inpatient unit, going by Ball State's MS FAQ, which keeps FNP clinicals in primary care and clinics and out of acute care. A hospital-owned pediatric primary care clinic is a different case, so ask your course faculty whether a specific outpatient clinic fits before you apply to it.
Do adult NP certificate students take NUR 682?
Yes. Ball State's Post-Master's Certificate FNP gives nurses with an adult or adult-gerontology NP background a short track made up of NUR 682, NUR 684 and the NUR 673 practicum, worth 390 clinical hours, with NUR 634 added only if the transcript review requires it. See the certificate guide.
Can I contact IU Health pediatricians directly about precepting?
IU Health says no. Its APP student manual has schools tell students that reaching out to IU Health providers for a preceptor is off limits, and its Office of Clinical Education makes the matches. Only students living in Indiana with an Indiana nursing license qualify. Community Health Network allows outreach only where a relationship already exists.
Is NUR 682 offered every semester?
Ball State posts no term-by-term schedule for graduate NUR courses, and its handbook cautions that some courses skip some semesters. Your emailed plan of study places NUR 682. If you step off that plan, the handbook warns a course can be two or three semesters away, which is why protecting your NUR 682 placement matters.
What does the Ball State DNP take instead of NUR 682?
The DNP's FNP cognate covers children in NUR 782 Primary Care 2, which Ball State's catalog lists for infants through adolescents and places after NUR 781. Ball State publishes no separate hour count for NUR 782, only totals for the cognate. More in the DNP clinical hours guide.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-26
We check these pages against Ball State's own catalog, graduate handbook, program pages and State Authorization Map, and Indiana rules. Your course faculty, your advisor and the Graduate Clinical Placement Coordinator have the final word.
Ball State asks you to find your preceptor. We find one near you.
Tell us your Ball State track, where you live and when your next clinical course starts. We find preceptors near you who fit the course, confirm the practice will sign Ball State's affiliation agreement, and line up a backup, so the School of Nursing can clear the site before the semester.
- Preceptors matched to the course: pediatrics for
NUR 682, women's health forNUR 684, adult primary care forNUR 681andNUR 683 - Outside your own unit or clinic, in a state where Ball State's program is authorized
- Across Indiana, from Muncie to Evansville, and in the other states Ball State accepts
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