Free Clinical Hours Tracker
for NP Students
Our free clinical hours tracker gives you one place to log every shift: your hours, the patients you saw, the skills you practiced and your preceptor's sign-off.
It's an Excel file with a matching Google Sheets copy, and the totals calculate themselves as you type. Use it as your personal backup log alongside the system your program requires.
What's inside the clinical hours tracker
Four tabs, built for NP clinicals. Fill in the light yellow cells, and the rest calculates itself, right up to the Summary tab's totals.
Hours Log: one row per shift
Log the date, rotation, hours and whether the time was direct patient care. Count the patients you saw by age group and visit type, note the skills you performed and collect your preceptor's initials. Choose the rotation number, and the site fills itself in.
Rotations: your progress on each one
Add each rotation's specialty, site, preceptor, dates and required hours. Hours logged, hours remaining and percent complete update from your Hours Log as you go.
Start Here: set up in a minute
Enter your program name and the total clinical hours your program requires. The color key shows which cells to fill in, and the Summary tab counts down your remaining hours from that number.
Get your free clinical hours tracker
No email or sign-up needed. Your copy is yours to keep.
How to use the clinical hours tracker
Set it up once, then keep it current a few minutes at a time.
Set up your program
Enter your program name and required hours on the Start Here tab, then add each rotation on the Rotations tab.
Log every shift the same day
Add a row to the Hours Log before you leave the site or that evening, while you still remember the patients you saw.
Check the Summary weekly
Compare its totals with Typhon, Exxat or whatever your program uses, and fix any gap right away.
How to get your preceptor's sign-off on your hours
The 2022 national standards for NP education list "Verify student clinical hours" among a preceptor's tasks, so it's a normal request.
1
Fill in the row first
Complete each shift's row before you ask, so your preceptor only has to check it and initial it.
2
Agree on a routine
In your first week, agree on initials at the end of each day or a weekly review of the printed log.
3
Match your program's system
If your program also asks your preceptor to approve hours there, use the tracker to see which shifts still need it.
Why keep your own NP clinical hours tracker?
Your program's system, such as Typhon or Exxat, is the official record of your hours, so log every shift there. A personal log is the backup that helps you check it. A shift you forgot to submit, or a typo in your hours, shows up as soon as the two totals differ.
It's also a record you keep. Your patient mix by age group and visit type helps you set clinical goals for NP students before your next rotation, and the skills column gives you real examples for your NP student resume. For the full routine, read our guide on how to track clinical hours. And when you need a nurse practitioner preceptor for your next rotation, Clinical Match Me can help.
What counts toward your clinical hours?
Your program sets the rules, and the national standards set the minimum. For the details, see our guide to what counts as clinical hours.
Direct patient care
Care you give patients in your population focus, at a site and with a preceptor your program approved. The 2022 national standards set a minimum of 750 of these hours.
Telehealth visits
The standards say direct patient care hours "may include student provision of care delivered to the patient through telehealth."
Simulation
The national standards don't count simulation as direct patient care, so log a simulation day with the direct patient care column set to No.
Orientation and other time
Log it with direct patient care set to No. Your total hours show everything you did, while your direct patient care total stays accurate.
Clinical hours tracker questions
Is the clinical hours tracker free?+−
Yes. Download the Excel file or make a copy in Google Sheets with no email, account or payment. Unlike a blank clinical hours log template, it adds up your totals for you.
Can this tracker replace Typhon or Exxat?+−
No. If your program requires its own system, your hours count only once you log them there. Use this spreadsheet as your personal backup and progress view.
How many clinical hours do NP students need?+−
The 2022 national standards set a minimum of 750 direct patient care hours, and both ANCC and AANPCB certification require at least 500 faculty-supervised clinical hours. Your program sets its own total, so enter that number on the Start Here tab. Our guide to nurse practitioner clinical hours requirements explains the differences.
Can I use the tracker on my phone?+−
Yes, with the Google Sheets copy. Open it in the Google Sheets app and log your shift before you leave the site.
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