NUR 655 Diagnostic Reasoning: the 50 hours both AG tracks share

Updated September 25, 2026 · Reviewed by the Bradley Preceptor placement team

At Bradley University, NUR 655 Diagnostic Reasoning is a 3-credit course that both adult-gerontology tracks take, and the 2026-27 catalog gives it 50 supervised practicum hours in real clinical settings. Those hours are new this catalog year, Bradley's online AG pages still show none, and the handbook's packet list leaves the course out, so settle early how your section arranges them.

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50supervised practicum hours in the 2026-27 catalog

3credits, with no prerequisites listed

750AG clinical hours once NUR 655 is counted

What NUR 655 is

As its title says, NUR 655 centers on diagnostic reasoning. The 2026-27 catalog lists it at 3 credits, says it includes 50 supervised practicum hours in real-world clinical settings, and sets no prerequisites. With none listed, the course can come early, even before the core courses the management courses require; your program of study shows where Bradley actually places it.

Every adult-gerontology path takes it: the AGACNP and AGPCNP MSN with BSN or RN entry, the BSN-to-DNP and the post-master's certificates. The AG welcome sites also list Shadow Health digital standardized patients among the resources for NUR 655.

Where NUR 655 sits in each AG track (2026-27 catalog)
Track	NUR 655	Course I	Course II	Course III
AGACNP	50 hours	NUR 656: 200	NUR 657: 200	NUR 658: 300
AGPCNP	50 hours	NUR 666: 200	NUR 667: 200	NUR 668: 300

The four courses make up the 750 clinical hours the catalog sets for each AG track. The AG skills bootcamp comes before the third management course in both.

Fifty new hours in the 2026-27 catalog

The hours are recent. In the 2025-26 catalog, and on Bradley's online AGACNP and AGPCNP pages today, NUR 655 carries no clinical hours, and the AG total is 600: three management courses of 200 each.

The 2026-27 catalog rebuilt the AG plan with 50 hours in NUR 655, 200 in each of the first two management courses and 300 in the third, for 750, plus one on-site skills bootcamp. Our 750-hour change page sets out the before and after for every track affected.

If you entered Bradley under an earlier catalog, ask your academic advisor which version governs your plan of study before you arrange anything for this course. The answer decides whether you owe these 50 hours at all.

What Bradley has not said about the 50 hours

Three practical questions have no public answer yet. First, the catalog calls the hours supervised and set in real clinical settings, but does not say who supervises them: a community preceptor, course faculty or both.

Second, the Graduate Student Handbook's list of clinical packets leaves out NUR 655. The AGACNP packet covers NUR 656, NUR 657 and NUR 658, and the AGPCNP packet covers NUR 666, NUR 667 and NUR 668. Whether a separate NUR 655 form exists, or the hours ride on other paperwork, is not stated.

Third, no setting is named by track, so it is unclear whether an AGACNP student's 50 hours must be in acute care. Your course faculty, the Clinicals tab in MyOnline and your academic advisor are the places to ask.

Ask about NUR 655 hours as soon as the course appears on your schedule: if a preceptor is needed, Bradley's packet deadline is midterm of the semester before.

Choosing a site that builds toward your track

If your section does need a preceptor, choose one in the setting of the track you are heading into. For AGACNP that means acute care, and the online AGACNP page names trauma units, sub-acute care units, emergency rooms and intensive care units. For AGPCNP it means primary care or outpatient practices seeing adolescents, adults and older adults.

A site that suits both NUR 655 and your first 200-hour course can save you a search, since Bradley's 2017 webinar allowed a preceptor to be reused with a one-page form. Check that rule against the current packet. Any preceptor needs an active, unencumbered license, and the preceptor requirements page covers the rest.

AGACNP students should also allow for hospital timelines. Many acute care sites sit inside health systems with their own student applications and agreements, and those can take longer than the 50 hours themselves. Start the conversation with any hospital preceptor early.

Notes for RN-entry, certificate and PMHNP students

RN-entry AG students finish the bridge courses first, including NUR 407, the 50-hour community health practicum, so NUR 655 becomes their second supervised clinical experience at Bradley. The RN-to-MSN page explains the bridge.

PMHNP students should note one conflict. Bradley's online RN-to-MSN PMHNP course list includes NUR 655 Diagnostic Reasoning, while the 2026-27 catalog's PMHNP requirements do not. If you are an RN-entry PMHNP student and NUR 655 appears on your program of study, ask your advisor whether it carries the 50 practicum hours for you.

Post-master's certificate students may have BIO 526, NUR 600 and NUR 651 waived when they finished them within the past five years with a B or better. That can pull NUR 655 and the first management course forward, and the preceptor search with them.

How we help with NUR 655 and the course after it

We plan NUR 655 together with the 200-hour course that follows it, NUR 656 or NUR 666. Once course faculty confirm how the 50 hours work, we search acute care or primary care preceptors near you in your approved state and, where it helps, look for one who can take you for both courses.

We collect the preceptor's license, CV, malpractice details and site address for the DocuSign packet, track Bradley's midterm date for each course, and keep the third-course placement and the bootcamp in view from the start. If a preceptor steps away, we begin the replacement search right away. Read how it works or send your track and start term through the form below.

Questions Bradley students ask

Does NUR 655 have clinical hours at Bradley?

Yes, in the 2026-27 catalog: 50 supervised practicum hours in real clinical settings, inside a 3-credit course. Bradley's online AGACNP and AGPCNP pages still show the older plan with no hours for NUR 655. Follow the catalog and your course faculty, and ask your advisor if you started under an earlier catalog.

Is NUR 655 the same course for AGACNP and AGPCNP?

Yes. Both adult-gerontology tracks list NUR 655 Diagnostic Reasoning with the same 50 hours ahead of their first management course. The tracks split afterward: AGACNP continues with NUR 656 in acute care, AGPCNP with NUR 666 in primary care or outpatient settings.

Do I need a preceptor packet for NUR 655?

Bradley has not published an answer. The handbook's AG clinical packets list the three management courses and leave NUR 655 out, and the catalog does not name the supervisor. Ask your NUR 655 course faculty early; if a preceptor is required, plan for the usual deadline of midterm in the prior semester.

What are the prerequisites for NUR 655?

The 2026-27 catalog lists none. The management courses that follow, NUR 656 and NUR 666, require BIO 526 Advanced Pathophysiology, NUR 600 Advanced Health Assessment and NUR 651 Advanced Pharmacology I first. Your program of study in MyOnline shows where NUR 655 falls for your entry point.

Are NUR 655 hours logged in Typhon?

The handbook requires every practicum day, with patient data for NP students, in Typhon within seven days. Whether the supervised hours in NUR 655 are logged the same way is a course detail to confirm with faculty. The Typhon page covers the logging rules and what faculty review.

AGACNPNUR 656 AGACNP course IBradley's NUR 656 is the first 200-hour AGACNP course: acute care preceptors, hospital student processes, packet timing and how to plan the hours.AGPCNPNUR 666: AGPCNP practicum INUR 666 is Bradley's first AGPCNP practicum: 200 primary care hours with a preceptor you name. Prerequisites, packet timing and how to plan the search.AGACNPMSN AGACNPBradley's MSN AGACNP: 750 acute care hours in the 2026-27 catalog (the online page still says 600), four practicum courses, the skills bootcamp and preceptors.AGPCNPMSN AGPCNPBradley's MSN AGPCNP: 750 primary care or outpatient hours in the 2026-27 catalog (600 on the online page), NUR 655 and NUR 666-668, and preceptor search.HoursThe 600 to 750 hour changeWhy Bradley's 2026-27 catalog lifted PMHNP and adult-gerontology NP hours from 600 to 750, which courses gained them, and the FNP 700 vs 750 question.

Last checked 2026-09-25

We check these pages against Bradley's own catalog, online program pages and Graduate Student Handbook. Your clinical packet, course faculty and academic advisor have the final word.

Bradley lets you choose your preceptors. We find the ones worth choosing.

Tell us your Bradley track, your city and your next practicum course. We line up preceptors who fit the NUR course and gather the license, CV and malpractice details the DocuSign packet asks for, well before the midterm of the semester before you start.

Preceptors matched to the course: primary care for FNP and AGPCNP, acute care teams for AGACNP, mental health settings for PMHNP
Preceptor license, CV, malpractice coverage and the site address ready for the packet
Every practicum in your sequence planned together, close to home in your approved state

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