Questions USU students ask before getting placement help
Short answers, grouped by topic: what we do, what USU decides, timing, preceptors, virtual hours and price. Under all of them sits one rule. You stay responsible for USU's requirements, and USU approves every preceptor, site and agreement.
Get your placement plan
Tell us your USU track and where you live. A placement advisor replies with what a USU-ready preceptor and site look like for you.
About the service
What do you actually do? We search for a preceptor and clinical site that fit your USU course and USU's preceptor rules, mainly in person near where you live. We help you assemble what the Office of Field Experience (OFE) and Program Director review, and we search again if a preceptor drops.
Are you part of USU? No, we're an independent service. USU's own placement office is the OFE, and your Clinical Placement Coordinator (CPC) is your USU contact.
Which programs do you cover? The MSN FNP practicums (FNP592, FNP594, FNP596 and FNP597), the Nurse Educator and Health Care Leadership residencies (MSN578 and MSN587), the RN-to-BSN practicum, and DNP practice immersion with a Project Mentor. If you're finishing an MSN track USU has closed to new students, you can ask as well.
USU's rules and approval
What makes your search different? It's built only for USU. Every lead is checked against USU's preceptor rules for your course and state before it reaches you, so the name on your Appendix H is one the Program Director can review as a real fit.
Am I still responsible for USU's requirements if I use you? Yes, fully. The catalog asks students who use a placement service to pass USU's requirements along to it. Deadlines, Complio, submissions, hour logs and conduct all stay yours.
Who approves my preceptor? USU's Program Director, who reviews each preceptor against the handbook, while the OFE runs the agreement and compliance checks. We put forward preceptors who meet USU's published criteria, so each one reaches that review as a strong candidate.
Who sends the paperwork to the OFE? You do, from your USU email. We help you gather and check it first.
Timing
When should I get in touch? More than six months before the clinical course, if you can. USU wants three qualified preceptors named by then, and every approval on file 16 weeks before the course starts.
My course starts in under 16 weeks. Is it too late? Not always, but the options narrow. A site that already has an agreement with USU skips the wait for a new one, and USU says same-day or urgent requests can't be handled. Talk to your CPC the same day.
How long does USU's approval take once I have a preceptor? Program Director review takes 4–16 weeks on average, and USU's FNP handbook allows at least four to six months for a brand-new Affiliation Agreement. Both run on USU's side, so start them together.
Preceptors and sites
Will my preceptor be near me? In person near you is the main route, and every search starts close to home. USU's catalog says you must be willing to travel anywhere in your state, so the nearest fit may still be a drive.
Can my preceptor work at my own workplace? For FNP students, USU allows it if you disclose it in writing to your CPC and clinical instructor, keep clinical hours separate from your job and aren't paid during them. See clinicals at your employer.
Can you place me in a hospital? Not for FNP hours. USU says inpatient settings never count, in any rotation.
What if my preceptor drops out? Let your CPC know that day, and let us know too. We search again while the OFE makes every reasonable attempt on its side, and the replacement needs USU's approval like the first. The preceptor dropped out guide covers the rest.
Virtual and telehealth
Can my clinical hours be virtual? Only a small part, and only within USU's rules. FNP students can count at most 40 telehealth hours across the whole program, with the preceptor physically beside them, video required and patients in the state of their address on file.
Can a preceptor supervise me remotely? No. USU doesn't approve teleprecepting, where you and your preceptor are in different places, and it lists telehealth-only sites as inappropriate for FNP students.
Do telephone visits count as telehealth? No. USU requires video, so phone-only visits don't count toward the 40 hours, even with your preceptor in the room.
Do immersion hours count? No. The MSN572 immersion, virtual for students admitted from 05/06/2024, and lab hours are required but add nothing to your 540 clinical hours. More on virtual clinical options.
Cost and getting started
How much does it cost? That depends on your program, the hours you need covered, your state, your timeline, whether any time is virtual and how much paperwork help you want. You get a written quote before you commit; the cost page explains each factor.
How do I start? Use the contact form or the chat. The placement desk replies by chat, text or email and talks through your program, course number, session and state before sending the quote and terms.
Can I compare you with other routes first? Yes. Read the quote, ask your CPC about OFE help and weigh both. What the best placement service does sets out the standard we work to.
Is there a phone number? No. We work in writing, through the form and the chat, so you have a record of everything agreed.
Questions USU students ask
Is it allowed to use a paid preceptor service as a USU student?
USU's catalog plans for it: preceptors and sites may set their own fees, which USU doesn't regulate, and students who use a placement service must pass USU's requirements along to it. The approval steps are the same whichever route you take, so a preceptor found through a service goes through the same Program Director review.
What's the difference between OFE placement help and a paid service?
The OFE is USU's own office. It partners with every student, and if your leads fall through it may offer a placement, with priority for students whose documents were on time. Decline or miss the 24-business-hour window and you place yourself. A placement service like ours runs a dedicated search for you under written terms, alongside the OFE. See the routes compared.
Do you help DNP students find a Project Mentor?
Yes. DNP practice immersion needs a doctorally prepared Project Mentor, with a DNP strongly recommended, at a site such as a health system, hospital, clinic or public health agency. The mentor can't be a relative, and can be your direct supervisor only if no other doctorally prepared mentor is available. USU approves the mentor.
Can I get help if USU has told me to self-place?
Yes, you can still ask. USU's handbook lets the Program Director or OFE Director require self-placement after a Code of Conduct violation, clinical probation or a jeopardized placement, and refusing required health documents or asking for a medical waiver has the same effect. The search is then entirely yours, and outside help is one way to run it. The approval steps don't change.
What happens to my hours if a preceptor leaves mid-course?
If the OFE can't find an alternative, USU's catalog says you may have to withdraw and retake the course at your own cost, and that course's hours are lost. FNP hours also don't roll over between courses. That's why a replacement search needs to start the day you hear the news.
Do you help students in every state?
We help USU students in the states where USU enrolls them. USU doesn't offer its FNP to residents of Kansas, New Hampshire, New York, Maryland or DC, and it encourages clinicals in your state of residence. Your RN license must be active wherever you train. See out-of-state clinicals.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-23
We check these pages against USU's own catalog, handbooks and disclosures. USU's current handbook and your Clinical Placement Coordinator have the final word.
Six months out is USU's rule. We start now.
Tell us your USU program, your state and when your next practicum opens. We look for preceptors who meet USU's rules and help you build the packet the Office of Field Experience and Program Director review.
- Preceptors matched to the course: family practice, pediatrics, women's health, urgent care within USU's caps
- Appendix H, license, CV and board certification gathered the way OFE asks
- In person near you; telehealth only inside USU's 40-hour limit
Start your placement plan
A placement advisor replies with what a USU-ready preceptor and site look like for you.