FIU BSN clinicals: assigned groups, course by course

FIU assigns BSN clinical placements

For prelicensure students, FIU runs placement itself. Its nursing clinicals page says undergraduates are assigned in groups with an instructor, and the BSN Student Handbook (revised February 2026) says students are placed in clinical groups at a facility at the discretion of faculty. That is the reverse of FIU's online graduate tracks, where the student identifies the site.

Requests to change a clinical group go to the Director of Clinical Education, who handles BSN group changes, and the Chair of Undergraduate Nursing leads the department. Because placement is at faculty discretion, a change is a request to explain and justify, and the earlier you raise it the more room faculty have to consider it.

So the honest advice for a BSN student is simple: your clinical site will come from FIU. Put your effort into clearance, preparation for each clinical course and, at the end, the NCLEX-RN. The sections below lay out the order of those courses and how FIU counts their hours.

How FIU counts BSN clinical hours

FIU gives a formula rather than a program total. On the Traditional BSN curriculum page, clinical courses are counted at credits x 1:2 x 15 weeks, simulation courses the same way, and the senior practicum at credits x 1:3 x 15 weeks. Up to 50% of clinical hours may be simulation.

Worked through on that formula, a 3-credit clinical course comes to 90 contact hours and the 4-credit NUR 4945L practicum to 180. The BSN Student Handbook, however, states the credit-to-contact ratio for clinical courses as 1:3, which would make the same 3-credit course 135 hours. FIU does not reconcile the two.

In practice, the syllabus and your clinical instructor set the hours you actually owe. Read the attendance and make-up rules in each syllabus during the first week, since a missed clinical day is far easier to schedule early in the term than in the last two weeks.

Clearance before each semester

BSN clinical clearance is due 3 weeks before the semester starts, under the BSN Student Handbook; the RN to BSN is the one BSN track with different timing. The handbook names Complio as the clearance system, while FIU's web pages use the name FIU Express, so follow the system your instructions name.

FIU also posts college-wide forms on its Clinicals & Fieldwork page, such as the NWCNHS Student Consent Form for Clinical Placement, the History & Physical Form and the TB Annual Screening Form. Start early: some items, such as a 2-step TB skin test, take more than one visit, and a titer result can take days to come back.

The graduate program's item list, renewal cycles and the conflicts between FIU documents are on our clinical clearance page; your BSN instructions set the exact items for your cohort. The catalog also notes that courses with an L suffix may carry a fee for laboratory supplies.

Where we help BSN students and graduates

While you are in the BSN, FIU's clinical groups cover your placements, and your time is best spent on clearance, preparation and the NCLEX-RN. We become useful when you plan the next step. If you are heading for FIU's online primary care NP tracks, we map your first practicum semester, line up adult-gerontology or pediatric primary care preceptors near where you will be living, and see whether each site is already under an FIU agreement, well before the practicum starts.

If a DNP is in your plans, we find an organizational mentor whose practice fits your project. Every site, preceptor and mentor still needs FIU's approval, and we send you into that approval with a file that is complete and in line with FIU's rules. Reach us through the contact form when you are ready to plan.