Who cannot precept you at Clarkson College
A preceptor can be skilled, kind and willing and still fail Clarkson College's review. The disqualifiers are specific: a relative, fewer than two years in practice, no license in your clinical state, a physician assistant in the wrong state or track, an FNP on an acute care rotation, a hospitalist for FNP hours. Here is each one, why it catches students, and what to do instead.
Get your placement plan
Tell us your Clarkson program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with the preceptor and site options that fit your course.
The short list
Clarkson's current catalog requires preceptor approval before you register. The exclusions below come from Clarkson's November 2023 clinical rotation sheets and its 2021-22 graduate handbook, both since taken off its public site, so ask course faculty whether anything has changed. The positive rules, what a preceptor must have, live on the preceptor requirements page; this page is their mirror image.
| Ruled out | Applies to | Source (dated) |
|---|---|---|
| Relatives, extended family included | Every track | 2021-22 handbook; Nov. 2023 sheets |
| Clinicians with under two years of experience | All NP tracks | Nov. 2023 sheets |
| Clinicians not licensed in your clinical state | All NP tracks | Nov. 2023 sheets |
| Physician assistants in Florida, Oklahoma, Arizona, Maryland | All NP tracks | Nov. 2023 sheets |
Physician assistants after NRS 830 | PMHNP | Nov. 2023 PMHNP sheet |
| FNPs, and any NP without acute care certification | AGACNP, NRS 861 to NRS 864 | Nov. 2023 AGACNP sheet |
| Hospitalists; aesthetic dermatology | FNP | Nov. 2023 FNP sheet |
| Providers in your own department at work | Every track | 2021-22 handbook; Nov. 2023 sheets |
| Educators or administrators under two years or without an MSN | NRS 894, NRS 898 | 2021-22 handbook |
Relatives, near or distant
Family is out, and the 2021-22 handbook stretched the rule to extended family, so a cousin or an aunt who runs a clinic does not qualify either. The November 2023 sheets spell out the consequence: hours logged with a family member do not count toward the course. It applies to every hour, so a relative cannot serve as a second or backup preceptor for even one shift.
The fix is an introduction, not a workaround. Ask the relative to connect you with a colleague outside the family, and tell your advisor about the connection when you file. The sheets say nothing about a relative's practice partners, so let course faculty make that call before any hours are logged at that practice.
Newer clinicians and out-of-state licenses
Two years of experience is a floor the sheets mark "(no exceptions)", and neither a doctorate nor a glowing reference moves it. A nurse practitioner who finished school last year may make a fine preceptor for a later course, just not yet. The sheets do not say whether the two years must be in the current role, so if a candidate recently changed roles, ask your advisor how the time is counted.
The license rule catches students near a state line. The preceptor needs a license in the state where your clinical happens, and the Nurse Licensure Compact covers RN licenses, not nurse practitioner licenses; the separate APRN Compact is not in effect. An NP licensed only in Iowa cannot precept you in Omaha, however close the clinic is to the Iowa line. Your own RN license must also be effective in that state, as the license guide explains.
Physician assistants: four states and one track
The sheets name four states where a PA cannot precept any Clarkson NP student: Florida, Oklahoma, Arizona and Maryland. Elsewhere, PAs appear on the FNP and AGACNP preceptor lists.
PMHNP students run into a second limit. A PA may precept them only in NRS 830; from NRS 856 on, the preceptor has to be a psychiatrist or a PMHNP. FNP students meet a softer version in NRS 842, where a PA working in women's health counts toward the 120 women's health hours only with the instructor's approval.
If your best contact is a PA in one of the four states, look to the physicians and nurse practitioners in the same practice instead. The same goes when a PA is your only link to women's health: ask whether an OB/GYN physician or a certified nurse midwife in that practice can take the hours.
The wrong specialty for the course
In the adult-gerontology acute care courses, NRS 861 through NRS 864, the AGACNP sheet says every NP preceptor must be acute care certified and that FNPs cannot be used. An FNP working in an emergency department is an easy one to miss. Physicians and PAs stay eligible in those courses, and an FNP could still fit NRS 830, which the sheet places in family practice or internal medicine settings.
FNP students face the reverse. Hospitalist hours do not count toward an FNP clinical; the track's settings are outpatient primary care and rural health clinics that see all ages, and aesthetic dermatology is not accepted as a specialty. Specialists who see children or women can fill part of NRS 840 and NRS 842, but only within the specialty caps set for each course.
Your own unit, a third preceptor, an unsigned partner
Working students may train at their employer, but not in their own department, which rules out your own unit's providers for that reason alone. A provider you know from work in a different department can still qualify if they meet the rest of the rules. The workplace guide covers the rest of that arrangement.
A third preceptor in one course needs written faculty approval; the default ceiling is two. And every clinician you see patients with needs a signed agreement, partners in a practice included, so a partner who steps in on a busy day without one is, in Clarkson's terms, someone who cannot precept you yet.
The education and leadership practicums are narrower still: one preceptor per course, and that preceptor needs a master's in nursing or higher plus two years in an educator or administrator role.
How we screen these out for you
Every candidate our placement desk brings to a Clarkson student has already passed this list. We check for family ties, verify the license in your clinical state and the years in practice, match the credential to the course (acute care certification for AGACNP, psychiatric practice for PMHNP, all-ages primary care for FNP) and apply the PA rules for your state and track.
The result is a preceptor who clears Clarkson's review with no surprise at the Compliance or faculty step, and a plan for the specialty courses where a second provider is needed. Start with the form on this page, and tell us about any candidate you already have in mind so we can check them too. If a name falls short, you hear it early, along with an alternative who fits.
Questions Clarkson students ask
Can a family friend precept me at Clarkson?
The handbook's rule names family members, extended family included, and says nothing about friends. A friend who meets every other requirement may be approved, since Clarkson reviews each preceptor individually, but disclose the relationship to your advisor when you file so the decision is made with the full picture.
Can an Iowa-licensed nurse practitioner precept me at a Nebraska clinic?
Only with a Nebraska license as well. Clarkson's sheets require a license in the state where the clinical happens. The Nurse Licensure Compact covers RN licenses rather than NP licenses, and the APRN Compact has not taken effect, so the preceptor would need a Nebraska APRN license.
Can a psychologist precept a Clarkson PMHNP student?
For part of one course. Clarkson's PMHNP sheet set aside 50 hours of NRS 856 for a licensed master's-prepared therapist and listed a psychologist among the examples. The rest of the psychiatric clinical hours must be with a psychiatrist or a PMHNP, as the PMHNP site guide explains.
What if I learn my preceptor is ineligible after hours have started?
Stop logging and tell course faculty at once. Hours with a family member do not count, and the 2021-22 handbook said no hours count before final approval, which an ineligible preceptor would not receive. The handbook's route for a lost preceptor then applies, as our dropped preceptor guide describes.
Can an FNP precept me in the AGACNP program at all?
In NRS 830, possibly. The AGACNP sheet lists NPs among the preceptors for that course, in family practice or internal medicine settings, and adds the acute care certification rule only from NRS 861. For NRS 861 through NRS 864, an FNP is ruled out, so plan a different preceptor for those four courses.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-27
We check these pages against Clarkson College's own catalog, program pages and published nursing documents. Your course faculty and Graduate Nursing advisor have the final word.
- Clarkson College Graduate Nursing Student Handbook 2021-22 (archived copy)
- Clarkson College FNP Clinical Rotation Information, revised November 2023 (archived copy)
- Clarkson College Graduate Nursing Resources page, July 2025 (archived copy)
- Clarkson College 2026-27 catalog: NRS 861 Introduction to Acute Care Concepts
Clarkson asks you to find your preceptor. We make the search the easy part.
Tell us your Clarkson track, your city and your next clinical course. We line up preceptors who fit the NRS course and Clarkson's rules, gather the details the site and preceptor agreement asks for, and flag early whether the site needs a new affiliation agreement.
- Preceptors matched to the course: all-ages primary care for FNP, acute care units for AGACNP, psychiatric providers for PMHNP
- License, experience and site details checked against Clarkson's rules before the agreement is filed
- Every clinical course planned in sequence, close to home in a state where Clarkson's graduate nursing meets requirements
Start your placement plan
Track, city and next clinical course is all we need to begin.