An independent placement service built around ETSU's process
We help East Tennessee State University (ETSU) nursing students find preceptors and clinical sites, and everything we do follows the way ETSU runs precepted clinicals. You lead the search, your clinical faculty approve the preceptor, the College verifies credentials and the site needs a contract. We do the searching and make sure what reaches ETSU is complete.
Get your placement plan
Tell us your ETSU program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with the preceptor and site options that fit your ETSU course.
Who we are
We are an independent preceptor placement service, and ETSU's College of Nursing is our specialty. Our placement advisors search for preceptors and clinical sites for ETSU students in the communities where those students live, and prepare everything ETSU's reviewers need to see.
The service is built around ETSU's own rule for its online graduate programs: the graduate clinical coordinator offers contacts and past-preceptor names, and the student is expected to take the lead on finding a preceptor and a site. For a working nurse studying online, that search can take more time than any course in the program. Taking it on is our whole job, and we treat it as the most important part of your clinical year.
Why we focus on one school
Every nursing school runs clinicals its own way, and the details decide whether a placement clears the first time. ETSU's version has its own names and steps: the Preceptor Intent Form, the Preceptor & Clinical Agency Onboarding entry in ProjectConcert, the graduate clinical coordinator in the dropdown, a credential check by the Office of Student Services and a contract before day one.
It has its own course structure too. Each NP practicum carries a population focus that the form's patient-mix section tests, Nursing Administration pairs you with a nurse administrator, and the education practicums use experienced academic nurse educators. Knowing those rules course by course is what lets us match well and fast. Our placement process guide maps the whole path.
Who we work with
ETSU students we help most
- MSN students in all four concentrations (FNP, PMHNP, Nursing Administration and Nursing Education), including RN to MSN students once they reach their concentration.
- ETSU DNP students entering with a BSN or an MSN, through the residencies and the 40 interprofessional hours.
- ETSU-TTU joint DNP students, where ETSU describes placement as a shared effort.
- Post-graduate certificate students, whose coursework is online and whose clinicals are in person.
- RN to BSN students preparing for
NRSE 4026, the final practicum.
The College places BSN, Accelerated BSN and LPN to BSN students itself, so those students mostly use our guides. We also work with nurse practitioners, physicians and nurse leaders who want to teach; see precepting an ETSU student.
What we do on every placement
- Learn the courseWe start from your program, the NRSE course with its hours and population focus, your city and the term.
- Search in your communityWe look near you, in Northeast Tennessee or wherever ETSU approves your clinicals, for preceptors whose patients and credentials fit.
- Prepare the Intent Form detailsEvery license and certification number with its expiration date, degrees, supervision load, the agency's address and its patient mix, ready for your form and ProjectConcert entry.
- Flag the contractIf the site may need a contract with the College, we say so on day one, so it can be set up in time.
- Stay on callShould a preceptor pull out mid-term, the replacement search is ours.
The how it works page walks through each step in more detail.
How we work alongside ETSU
ETSU's roles stay exactly where ETSU puts them. The graduate clinical coordinator supports your search and onboards approved preceptors, your clinical faculty decide whether the preceptor suits the course, Student Services confirms credentials and the College holds the contract. Each of those decisions stays with ETSU. What we add is a submission that arrives whole and matches ETSU's requirements on the first pass, the quickest route to an approved start.
We also follow the Tennessee rule behind every precepted clinical in the state: a preceptor must be licensed, without encumbrance, at the level you are training for or higher, in the state where they precept, with competencies that match your course. Our who does what page lays out every ETSU role.
How we keep our information right
Every fact here is drawn from ETSU's own publications (the graduate catalog, the College of Nursing's pages, the plans of study and the ProjectConcert how-to guides) or from Tennessee's rules and health systems' own pages. Each page lists its sources and the date we checked them.
Where ETSU publishes figures that disagree, we show both: the Nursing Education plan states 429 clinical hours while its courses add to 420, and the DNP plans list 1,040 hours where the catalog lists 1,000. Where ETSU publishes nothing, such as a contract lead time, we say so and name who to ask. The final word always belongs to your plan of study, your syllabus, your course faculty and the coordinator, as the clinical hours hub shows.
Where we work
Many ETSU students live in Northeast Tennessee and the wider Appalachian Highlands, around Johnson City, Kingsport, Bristol and Knoxville, and that region is home ground for our searches. See Northeast Tennessee preceptors.
ETSU's online graduate students also live far beyond the region. Clinicals in another state must be cleared by the relevant regulators and are judged one student at a time, so for those students we pair the search with what ETSU publishes for their state. A student who moves partway through can stay enrolled only with the new state board's permission, after telling the College and the records office, and we rebuild the search around the new address. Our state guides cover all 50.
Questions ETSU students ask
Is this service part of ETSU?
We are an independent placement service that works for ETSU nursing students. Every preceptor is approved by ETSU's clinical faculty, credentials are checked by Student Services and the contract sits with the College. Our role is to find a preceptor and site that fit your course and to prepare everything those reviewers see.
Who approves the preceptors you find?
ETSU does. After reading the Preceptor Intent Form, your clinical faculty member decides whether the preceptor fits the course, and Student Services confirms the preceptor's credentials. We make sure the form and your ProjectConcert entry are complete and accurate, so that review can move quickly.
Do you help ETSU students outside Tennessee?
Yes. ETSU's online graduate students can live well outside Tennessee, and we search in their own communities. Out-of-state clinicals go through regulator approval and an individual review after admission, and ETSU's two licensure disclosures differ for some states, so we raise those questions early.
How do I start working with you?
Send your ETSU program, the NRSE course, your city and the term through the contact form, or open the chat on any page. A placement advisor replies with next steps and any details we still need before the search begins.
Do you work with preceptors too?
Yes. Nurse practitioners, physicians, nurse administrators and nurse educators who want to teach ETSU students can reach us through the same form by choosing the preceptor option. We explain what ETSU asks of a preceptor and introduce you to students whose coursework suits your practice.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-25
We check these pages against ETSU's own catalog, College of Nursing pages, plans of study and ProjectConcert guides. Your plan of study, your syllabus, your course faculty and the graduate clinical coordinator have the final word.
ETSU asks you to lead the preceptor search. We make it the fastest part of your program.
Tell us your ETSU concentration, where you live and which semester your next practicum starts. We find preceptors who fit the course's patient population and prepare everything your Preceptor Intent Form and ProjectConcert entry need.
- Preceptors matched to the course: young and middle adults for
NRSE 5012, older adults forNRSE 5014, women forNRSE 5022, children forNRSE 5024, psychiatric care forNRSE 5405 - Credentials, license numbers, certification dates and the site's patient mix ready for faculty approval
- In your own community, in Northeast Tennessee or wherever ETSU approves your clinicals
Start your placement plan
Program, city and semester is all we need to begin.