NP Preceptor Requirements: What You Need to Know

NP preceptor requirements are the rules your program uses to approve the clinician who supervises your clinical hours. Your faculty approve every preceptor before you start, so it’s worth checking those rules before you commit to one. Here’s what the national standards ask of a nurse practitioner (NP) preceptor, the rules schools add, what a preceptor sends your school and how to check a preceptor’s license and certification. If you’re a clinician wondering whether you qualify to precept, you’ll find your answers here too.

TL;DR

• The 2022 national standards ask NP programs to document each preceptor’s degree, unencumbered license, national certification and a CV that shows their current qualifications. Your faculty approve every preceptor.
• Nurse practitioners, physicians, physician assistants, nurse midwives and other licensed, certified clinicians can precept NP students. Your program may require you to spend part of your hours with an NP.
• Schools can add their own NP preceptor requirements, such as at least one year of experience and certification that fits your specialty.
• A preceptor typically sends your school a CV, license and certification details, and the clinical site needs an agreement with your school.
• Look up an NP’s license for free on Nursys QuickConfirm. Your school verifies the rest before it approves your preceptor.

What are the NP preceptor requirements in the national standards?

The national standards ask every NP program to document each preceptor’s education, license, national certification and current expertise. Your faculty set any other eligibility rules.

These nurse practitioner preceptor requirements come from the 2022 Standards for Quality Nurse Practitioner Education, written by a national task force that the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties (NONPF) and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) convened. The standards “apply to all NP education programs.” Under “Required Evidence for Clinical Preceptors,” they ask each program for:

• “Relevant biography/curriculum vitae of clinical preceptors that addresses current qualifications.”
• “Documentation of degree(s), unencumbered license or other state authorization to practice in the state or territory in which they practice, and national certification of preceptor, including but not limited to NP, physician, physician assistant, clinical nurse specialist, certified registered nurse anesthetists, certified nurse midwife, social worker, or other healthcare providers.”
• “Documentation of formal orientation for new preceptors, which can be written, verbal, virtual, or face-to-face.”

In plain terms, your preceptor needs a degree, an unencumbered license (one with no restrictions) in the state where they practice, national certification and a CV that shows they’re current in their field. New preceptors also receive an orientation from your program.

The standards define a preceptor as a clinician who “meets eligibility criteria set by the faculty,” so your school decides everything else. They also say: “Faculty assess and approve all clinical placements for appropriateness for meeting course objectives, including those sites and preceptors identified by the students or others.” That includes a preceptor you find on your own.

The standards don’t set a minimum number of years in practice. Their sample preceptor form does ask programs to record each preceptor’s years of practice in their specialty and how many students they precept at the same time. If you’re new to the role itself, start with what a clinical preceptor is.

Who can be an NP preceptor?

A licensed, nationally certified clinician who meets your program’s criteria can precept you. The national standards name nurse practitioners, physicians, physician assistants, clinical nurse specialists, certified registered nurse anesthetists, certified nurse midwives and social workers, along with other healthcare providers.

Your program decides how much of your clinical time a clinician other than an NP can supervise.

Can a physician or PA precept NP students?

Yes, when your program approves them. AACN’s Clinical Preceptor Guide says “Advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs), physicians, and physician assistants, and other health professionals are all partners in the clinical education of APRN students.”

Your program may still require you to spend part of your hours with a nurse practitioner. At United States University, for example, an FNP student’s preceptor can be a board-certified NP or a licensed physician (MD or DO), and students can rotate with a certified nurse midwife for women’s health hours. The program recommends spending the majority of your clinical time with family nurse practitioners and expects at least 135 hours with an NP preceptor. Before you accept a physician or PA as your preceptor, ask your clinical coordinator how many of your hours they can supervise.

What NP preceptor requirements do schools add?

Schools can add rules about experience, specialty certification and personal relationships. Here’s what two programs ask for.

United States University’s FNP program asks that each preceptor:

• Has “at least one year of work experience at or above the level of licensure of the student’s program”
• Holds current national board certification in an area appropriate for FNP students, if the preceptor is an NP
• Is actively involved in clinical practice
• Isn’t your spouse, domestic partner, first degree relative or direct supervisor
• Precepts no more than two students at a time, or one in New Jersey, counting NP students from other schools

Rutgers School of Nursing says on its preceptor page: “Preceptors must have at least one year of experience in their population-focused field and have the capacity to mentor students each week, with some flexibility in scheduling.”

Every program writes its own NP preceptor requirements, so read your clinical handbook or ask your coordinator for them before you contact preceptors. A preceptor who meets one school’s rules may not meet another’s.

What does a preceptor send to your school?

A preceptor typically sends your school a CV or resume and their license and certification details, so your faculty can confirm they meet your program’s NP preceptor requirements. The clinical site and your school usually sign an agreement, too.

At United States University, the field experience office collects “preceptor licensing, credentialing, CV/Resume and certification information (as applicable),” and the program director approves or denies the preceptor. Rutgers asks preceptors for “a copy of your CV, resume, or the NONPF Preceptor Form,” and its practice sites need a finalized affiliation agreement with the school. If you’re not sure what that contract covers, here’s what an affiliation agreement is.

When you match with an NP preceptor through Clinical Match Me and your school requires an affiliation agreement, we handle it using your school’s existing template.

What does the preceptor role involve?

A preceptor orients you to the site, supervises your patient care, verifies your hours and completes your evaluations. Your faculty stay responsible for your education throughout the rotation.

The 2022 standards include a checklist that NONPF and the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) developed for faculty and preceptors. Faculty expect a preceptor to:

• Orient you to the clinical site, its policies, the electronic health record and the clinical team before you see patients
• Plan your progression “from observing to conducting visits with minimal intervention”
• “Be present to observe all student clinical activities”
• Verify your clinical hours
• Complete evaluation forms at the intervals your course sets, and discuss them with you
• Share feedback with your faculty and be available for site visits

In return, preceptors can expect your faculty to send them your syllabus, course objectives and clinical hours requirement, and to “assume primary responsibility for the student throughout the clinical experience.”

The time commitment depends on the course. At Rutgers, precepting typically means one to four days a week, for 50 to 300 hours a semester. Across a whole program, the 2022 standards set a minimum of 750 direct patient care hours, and ANCC and AANPCB (which now operates as NPCB) certification require at least 500 faculty-supervised clinical hours.

A simple teaching structure helps a preceptor teach during a busy clinic day. Rutgers includes the One Minute Preceptor microskills in its preceptor resources, and our guide to the One Minute Preceptor model shows how to use it with a student.

How can you check a preceptor’s license and certification?

Look up a nurse practitioner’s license for free on Nursys QuickConfirm or the state board of nursing’s website. For national certification, rely on your school’s review or on the certifying board’s own verification.

Nursys, run by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing, lets you “look up a nurse’s license and discipline status for free.” Confirm that the license is active and free of restrictions in the state where you’ll train. Some boards of nursing don’t take part in QuickConfirm, so check with those boards directly. If your preceptor is a physician or PA, check their license with the licensing board in their state.

Certification takes one more step. ANCC and AANPCB both caution against relying on a copy of a certificate or wallet card, and ANCC says these documents “can be altered after leaving ANCC.” AANPCB sells primary source verification instead, which the NP can order and send to you, or which you can order with the NP’s consent.

Your school checks these credentials too, since the standards require faculty to evaluate every preceptor who’s new to the program “prior to NP student placement.” Ask your coordinator what they need from the preceptor and when. If you find your preceptor through Clinical Match Me, we verify preceptor credentials before matching. Before you commit to anyone, use our questions to ask a preceptor to find out whether they’re the right teacher for you.

Do you qualify to precept NP students?

If you have a degree, an unencumbered license and national certification, you meet the baseline in the national standards. Each school confirms the rest when it reviews your CV, license and certification.

Check each program’s own NP preceptor requirements for experience and specialty, too. Schools such as United States University and Rutgers publish them on a preceptor page or in a clinical handbook. Precepting is a great way to improve care in your specialty, and it can count toward your own recertification. If you’re certified by AANPCB, up to 120 hours of precepting can count toward as many as 25 non-pharmacology continuing education contact hours each certification period.

As a Clinical Match Me preceptor, you’ll earn $1,000+ per rotation, and you decide which students to send offers to and how many to take. We pay your honorarium when your student starts their rotation. If you’re considering it, here’s how to become a preceptor with us.

NP preceptor requirements: common questions

Does an NP preceptor have to be certified?

Yes, in programs that follow the 2022 national standards. They document each preceptor’s national certification, and some schools, such as United States University, also require an NP preceptor’s certification to fit your specialty.

How many years of experience does an NP preceptor need?

It depends on your program, since the national standards don’t set a minimum. United States University and Rutgers both ask for at least one year of experience.

Can a relative or your manager be your preceptor?

Your program decides. United States University, for example, won’t approve a spouse, domestic partner, first degree relative or your direct supervisor as your preceptor. Read your school’s handbook before you ask someone you know.

Do NP preceptors get paid?

It depends on the arrangement. Some schools don’t pay preceptors, and Rutgers, for example, recognizes them in other ways, such as documenting their hours for certification renewal. Through Clinical Match Me, preceptors earn $1,000+ per rotation. If you’re a student, the price you pay us includes their honorarium, and you’ll never pay a separate fee to the preceptor.

How do you find a preceptor who meets your school’s NP preceptor requirements?

Start with your school’s list of approved sites and preceptors, then search on your own or use a preceptor placement service. Our guide on how to find NP preceptors has ideas to try.

Clinical Match Me is a preceptor placement service for NP and PA students in every clinical specialty. Our founder is a nurse practitioner who struggled to find a preceptor as a student, and since 2014 we’ve helped more than 10,000 students find preceptors.

To find a nurse practitioner preceptor with us, submit a placement request with your specialty and rotation dates. Choose the states you’re willing to travel to, or enter your zip code and how far you’re willing to travel. We’ll match you with preceptors in those areas. Preceptors review your placement request and send you offers, so you choose your preceptor instead of being assigned one. Our AI preceptor outreach also contacts qualified providers near you, even when there are no matching preceptors in our network.

Many students receive their first preceptor offer within 24 hours of registering. Still, try to submit your placement requests as early as possible.

Free to join and no credit card required. Pay nothing until you accept an offer. Once you do, you’re protected by our Money Back Guarantee. If your school rejects your preceptor for any reason, or your preceptor cancels, you get a full refund or a replacement preceptor at no extra cost.

Sign up free and submit your first placement request today.