NURS 5454 FNP Primary Care II: sexual and mental health
NURS 5454, the second primary care course of UT Tyler's current FNP plan, is worth 4 credits and 125 clinical hours with a sexual and mental health focus, run across a full semester with a single mandatory campus date for the OSCE. It calls for a Texas preceptor whose everyday primary care includes sexual health and mental health visits, approved before the term begins.
Find your NURS 5454 preceptor
Tell us the term you take NURS 5454 and where you live in Texas. A placement advisor replies with practices near you that fit the course.
Where NURS 5454 sits in the FNP
In the catalog's part-time outline, NURS 5454 is the fourth-semester course, after NURS 5453 pediatric primary care and before the adult and geriatric course, NURS 5455. It carries 4 credits and 125 of the program's 750 direct care hours, and like the other UT Tyler NP clinical courses it is scheduled as a 15-week course.
It replaced the older plan's NURS 5353 Primary Care II, a 3-credit, 120-hour women's health course that students on the 675-hour plan still take. The two sit side by side below.
NURS 5454 (2026-27 catalog) | NURS 5353 (675-hour plan) | |
|---|---|---|
| Focus | Sexual and mental health | Women's health |
| Credits | 4 | 3 |
| Clinical hours | 125 | 120 |
| Campus requirement | The OSCE, usually in Week 11 | The OSCE, its only mandatory campus date |
| OSCE time and hours | Check your syllabus | Counts as clinical hours |
What a strong NURS 5454 site looks like
UT Tyler has not published a split inside the 125 hours, so the course focus is your guide. When we look for a NURS 5454 site, we look for a primary care practice where contraception visits, sexually transmitted infection testing and treatment, and common mental health concerns such as depression and anxiety are part of an ordinary week, not a rare referral.
Family practices, women's health clinics, OB/GYN offices with nurse practitioners, and primary care clinics with integrated behavioral health are the settings we check first. Your course faculty make the call, judging whether the practice can deliver the patient mix the course is built around.
The older plan shows how much weight women's health once carried: 120 hours in the Fall 2026 NURS 5349 syllabus, 75 in a Summer 2026 NURS 5455 syllabus. Neither figure governs NURS 5454, but together they explain why pairing two practices, one strong in sexual and reproductive health and one in primary care mental health, can make the course easier to complete.
Preceptor rules that shape your options
The FNP preceptor rules follow you from course to course, and a few matter most when you are choosing a sexual and mental health site.
- The preceptor practices in Texas, and every hour happens in Texas while you live there.
- Nurse practitioners, physicians (MD or DO) and PAs can all precept, with UT Tyler recommending that one hour in four across the program be with an APRN.
- UT Tyler's 2023 NP guide asks for at least one year in practice, while its online program pages ask for two years and board certification.
- Your supervisor, anyone in your reporting line and relatives are all off the list.
- Faculty approve the site and the preceptor before the semester opens.
The full list, and the places where UT Tyler's guides differ, is on the preceptor requirements page.
Software, Canvas and the first week
The Fall 2026 NURS 5454 syllabus says students receive the clinical placement software details in Canvas during the first week, and that you need a Clinical Placement Software Subscription activated through UT Tyler. For graduate students that software has been Exxat since Spring 2024, though some FNP syllabi still print InPlace beside it; the Exxat guide explains the changeover.
Do not mistake the first-week software setup for your placement deadline. Clinical policy 7.2 still requires your site and preceptor to be approved before the semester starts, so the Self-Placement Request and your preceptor's online agreement belong well before Week 1. Treat Week 1 as the start of logging, not the start of looking.
The OSCE: your one required campus date
The NURS 5454 syllabus names the OSCE as the only mandatory on-campus date and says it usually falls in Week 11. Treat that week as a travel week: bank clinic hours in the weeks before it and give your preceptor the date at your first meeting. Students driving in from the far corners of Texas can lose a clinic day on each side of the exam, so count those days out when you set the schedule.
Whether OSCE time counts toward your 125 depends on the syllabus in front of you, because UT Tyler's documents answer both ways: the older NURS 5353 counts it, and the internship syllabi say no simulation hours are given. The OSCE campus days guide covers the conflict and the trip to Tyler.
Planning 125 hours across the term
Spread evenly, 125 hours over 15 weeks is a little over 8 hours a week, but the pediatric course sets a 10-hour weekly floor and your NURS 5454 syllabus may set its own. Practices that host students from several schools fill their calendars early, so settle your clinic days with the preceptor when you confirm the placement, not in Week 1.
Watch the calendar if you take the course in summer. UT Tyler lists NP clinical courses as 15-week courses, while the School of Nursing's summer 2027 session runs 14 weeks, May 10 to Aug 14; ask your faculty how the hours fit. Spring 2027 runs Jan 7 to Apr 24 with spring break Mar 8-12, and Fall 2026 ends Dec 12. The academic calendar guide has census and withdrawal dates.
How we line up your NURS 5454 site
Your placement advisor looks for Texas practices near you where sexual health and primary care mental health are routine, then checks each preceptor against UT Tyler's license, experience and conflict rules. If one practice cannot cover both halves of the course focus, we pair it with a second so your 125 hours reflect the whole course.
- Preceptor options near where you live that fit the sexual and mental health focus
- The preceptor details your Self-Placement Request needs, gathered before the semester
- Your OSCE week built into the clinic schedule from the start
- A backup preceptor ready if a practice pulls out
Share your program, term and location with the placement desk through the contact page.
Questions UT Tyler students ask
Is NURS 5454 a women's health course?
Not by name. The 2026-27 catalog describes NURS 5454 as FNP Primary Care II with a sexual and mental health focus. The course it replaced, NURS 5353, was the women's health course, and students on the 675-hour plan still take it. Many practices that suit one course also suit the other, so a women's health office is often a good place to start the search.
Can an OB/GYN physician precept me in NURS 5454?
UT Tyler accepts physicians (MD or DO) as FNP preceptors when they are licensed with at least a year of experience and your course faculty approve the fit. Keep the program-wide recommendation in view: about a quarter of your hours with an advanced practice nurse. An OB/GYN office with a nurse practitioner on staff can cover both.
When is the NURS 5454 OSCE?
Usually in Week 11, according to the Fall 2026 syllabus, on UT Tyler's main campus in Tyler. Look in Canvas for the exact day in your section. Put it on your preceptor's calendar at your first meeting and schedule extra clinic hours in the weeks before it so the trip does not leave you short.
Do I need Exxat for NURS 5454?
You need the clinical placement software subscription UT Tyler activates for you, and for graduate students that has been Exxat since Spring 2024. Some FNP syllabi still say InPlace/Exxat during the changeover. The course's Canvas page explains setup in Week 1, but your placement approval should already be underway by then.
Can I do NURS 5454 hours where I work?
Possibly, if the preceptor is not your supervisor, in your reporting line or a relative, and faculty approve the site. UT Tyler tells students employed at small NP- or physician-owned clinics that they will likely need to rotate elsewhere. The clinicals where you work guide sets out the rules for each track.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-25
We check these pages against UT Tyler's own catalog, syllabi, program pages and clinical policies, and Texas rules. Your course, your program coordinator and the Clinical Coordinator have the final word.
UT Tyler asks you to choose your clinical site. We find it.
Tell us your UT Tyler track, where in Texas you live and when your next clinical course starts. We find preceptors near you who fit the course and gather everything your Self-Placement Request needs, so faculty can approve it before the semester.
- Preceptors matched to the course: pediatrics for
NURS 5453, adult and geriatric care forNURS 5455, psychiatric care forNURS 5367 - Texas-licensed preceptors who clear UT Tyler's supervisor, relative and site rules
- Anywhere in Texas, from the Piney Woods to the Valley
Start your placement plan
Program, city and start date is all we need to begin.