Clarkson College preceptor requirements, track by track

Where the rules come from, and how current they are

Your school sets these rules, not your state board. Nebraska's licensing agency says its Board of Nursing does not regulate post-licensure programs and that preceptor qualifications for them are established by the nursing program. Clarkson's current catalog enforces the result: no registration in a clinical course until the preceptor and site are approved.

The rules themselves were last published in Clarkson's Clinical Rotation Information sheets for FNP, AGACNP and PMHNP, revised in November 2023, and for the practicums in the 2021-22 Graduate Nursing Student Handbook. Clarkson has since removed both from its public site, along with the Nurse Practitioner Preceptor Handbook it linked for 2024-25. Treat the details below as dated, and confirm the current version with course faculty or your Graduate Nursing advisor.

The baseline for every NP preceptor

The November 2023 sheets apply these to all three nurse practitioner tracks:

• Licensed where you train. In the sheets' words, preceptors must be "currently licensed in the state where you intend to do your clinical."
• Two years of experience, a floor the sheets mark "(no exceptions)".
• A practice that fits the course. The preceptor works in an area related to the course content.
• No relatives. Family members cannot precept, and hours spent with one do not count; who cannot precept you covers the full list of exclusions.
• Two preceptors per course at most, unless course faculty approve more in writing.
• Outside your own department. If you work at the site, your clinical hours happen away from your own unit.
• Physician assistants only where allowed. Where a track accepts PAs, the sheets still rule them out in Florida, Oklahoma, Arizona and Maryland.

Each preceptor also signs an agreement, and so does every provider you see patients with, partners in a practice among them, as the agreement guide explains.

Adult-gerontology acute care preceptors

AGACNP students start NRS 830 in a family practice or internal medicine setting, under a physician (MD or DO), an NP or a PA. The same four professions stay eligible for the acute care courses, with one sharp condition from NRS 861 on: every NP preceptor must hold acute care certification, and the sheet bars FNPs outright. Physicians and PAs are unaffected by that condition.

The setting climbs with the course: hospitalist sub-acute or short-stay acute units in NRS 861, hospitalist medical-surgical care in NRS 862, and, for the last two courses (NRS 863, NRS 864), step-down units, urgent care, intensive care or the emergency department. Specialty hours were capped at 40, 50, 40 and 56 across those four courses, and optional observation hours at up to 10 per course after NRS 830. The AGACNP site guide goes course by course.

Practicum preceptors and DNP mentors

Nursing Education (NRS 894) and Nursing Healthcare Administration (NRS 898) students follow the 2021-22 handbook. The preceptor has at least two years as a nurse educator, in an academic or clinical setting, or as a nursing health care administrator, holds at least an MSN, and is the only preceptor for the course. Sites can be colleges and universities, hospitals or primary care offices, in an area separate from your job.

The 2020-21 handbook asked instead for a licensed NP with two years in that role. The 2021-22 wording is newer and matches the practicum's subject, but confirm it with your advisor; the practicum guide has the hours.

DNP students recruit an External Subject Area Expert/Mentor, who should bring an advanced degree or expertise tied to the project topic. Clarkson prefers a doctorate without demanding one, and the whole project team signs a Mentor Approval Form as DNP 960 begins.