Can't find a preceptor for your ETSU practicum?

Updated September 25, 2026 · Reviewed by the ETSU Preceptor placement team

East Tennessee State University (ETSU) expects its graduate nursing students to drive their own preceptor and clinical site search, with the graduate clinical coordinator's contacts in support. When the calls go unanswered, the fix is rarely more calls. It is a narrower, better-prepared ask aimed at sites whose patients fit your course.

Get matched Chat now

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.

Numbered steps. Places ETSU students can look: 1 The coordinator's past-preceptor list; 2 ETSU's nurse-led clinics; 3 Your own employer; 4 Quillen's integrated behavioral health training (PMHNP); 5 APRNs eligible for the state incentive. — Places ETSU students can look: 1 The coordinator's past-preceptor list; 2 ETSU's nurse-led clinics; 3 Your own employer; 4 Quillen's integrated behavioral health training (PMHNP); 5 APRNs eligible for the state incentive.

Why ETSU preceptor searches stall

Most stalled searches come down to fit, not effort. Whoever reviews your Preceptor Intent Form is really asking one thing: can this preceptor, with this caseload, meet the course's population focus and outcomes?

The usual reasons a search stalls

The patients don't match the course. The form wants the site's patient breakdown across five groups, children through older adults, as percentages and daily counts. A practice that sees mostly adults is a hard sell for NRSE 5024.
The credential doesn't match the role. For NP courses the form's examples are FNP, ANP and MD, while NRSE 5502 calls for a nurse administrator.
The site has no agreement with the College. ETSU requires a contract before any clinical day, and it publishes no lead time for setting one up.
The door is at the system level. Ballad Health only accepts advanced practice students whose program already holds a current affiliation agreement with it, with requests routed through the school's clinical coordinator. Erlanger says it is not entering new agreements for these students.
The ask went out late. A request that lands weeks before the term is far harder to accept than one with a full semester of notice.

What ETSU expects of you, and where the coordinator fits

ETSU's online MSN FAQ puts the search squarely on the student, who is expected to be proactive about both the preceptor and the site, while the graduate clinical coordinator helps with many contacts and names of past preceptors. The ETSU DNP and certificate FAQs read the same way. The ETSU-TTU joint DNP calls it a shared effort, and BSN tracks have clinicals assigned by the College. Our guide to finding your own preceptor covers each program.

Use the coordinator early and specifically. Ask for past preceptors near your city who have taught your course's population, and ask whether any practices near you already hold an agreement with ETSU. That second answer can spare you the longest wait in the process.

Match the site to the course before you call

Every precepted ETSU course has a population or role focus, so filter for it before the first phone call. The hours below come from ETSU's plans of study dated 2020 to 2023; confirm them against your own catalog year.

Who each ETSU practicum needs (plans of study and the Preceptor Intent Form)
Course	Focus the preceptor and site must fit	Hours on the plan
`NRSE 5012`	Young and middle adults	120
`NRSE 5014`	Older adults	120
`NRSE 5022`	Women's health	120
`NRSE 5024`	Children and adolescents	120
`NRSE 5405`, `NRSE 5409`, `NRSE 5411`, `NRSE 6950`	Psychiatric and mental health care	120 each
`NRSE 5502`, `NRSE 5503`, `NRSE 5504`	A nurse administrator	180 each
`NRSE 5046`, `NRSE 5045`	Experienced academic nurse educators	180 each
`NRSE 6801` to `NRSE 6804`	A site that agrees to host your DNP project	125 each

A pediatric practice that is perfect for NRSE 5024 will not carry NRSE 5014, so build each search around the course in front of you. The patient population guide shows how faculty read the patient-mix section.

Places ETSU students can look

The coordinator's past-preceptor listThese preceptors already know the Intent Form and ProjectConcert, and their sites may have agreements on file.
ETSU's nurse-led clinicsThe College's Office of Practice considers students for rotations at clinics such as the Johnson City Community Health Center. Spring rotations can be requested from October 1, summer ones from March 1 and fall ones from May 1; requests sent before those dates are not considered. See the clinics page.
Your own employerThe Intent Form asks whether you work for the agency, and ETSU publishes no graduate rule either way, so check with course faculty first.
Quillen's integrated behavioral health training (PMHNP)Hours there apply to NRSE 5411 and NRSE 6950, but the program's page describes trainee slots only for 2021 to 2025, so ask whether it continues.
APRNs eligible for the state incentiveThe Tennessee Nurse Preceptor Incentive offers eligible Tennessee-licensed APRNs a tiered payment each cycle, a concrete reason for them to say yes. See our incentive guide.

Make an ask a preceptor can say yes to

A cold call asking "would you precept me?" is easy to decline. A short request that shows you know ETSU's process tells the preceptor exactly what they are agreeing to.

The course, its population focus and hours, for example 120 hours with older adults for NRSE 5014.
The term: fall 2026 classes run August 24 to December 3, spring 2027 classes January 19 to April 29.
What ETSU asks of them: their degrees and credentials, license and board certification numbers and when each expires, and how many students they already supervise.
How it runs: a Preceptor Welcome Email with a ProjectConcert login, hour review there, and the mid-term and final evaluations you schedule.
Your readiness: a current compliance record, exported from ProjectConcert as a Student Passport.

If the term is getting close

Put it in writing to your course faculty, copying the graduate clinical coordinator, as soon as you suspect the search will run late. ETSU publishes no submission deadline, so they are the people who can say what is still realistic for your term.

Census falls on September 6 this fall and February 1 next spring. It is the final day to drop with no W and the cutoff for requesting a leave of absence. Switching to part-time takes a request in writing to Student Services, and it hinges partly on clinical slots being open. See needing a preceptor fast and a delayed graduation.

Why ETSU students hand us a stalled search

A stalled search is the job we are built for. We go looking, in person and close to home, for a preceptor whose caseload and credentials suit your ETSU course, confirm interest and dates, and gather every detail the Intent Form and your ProjectConcert entry ask for, down to license expiry dates and the site's patient mix.

We raise the contract question on the first call, so the College can start an agreement early if the site needs one. The decision stays with ETSU: faculty weigh the preceptor against the course and Student Services checks the credentials. Our part is a packet with nothing missing, so the first review is the only one. If a preceptor later drops, we find the replacement. Start with the contact form.

Questions ETSU students ask

Does ETSU find preceptors for graduate nursing students?

ETSU helps, and the student leads. The graduate clinical coordinator has contacts and lists of past preceptors, but the MSN, DNP and certificate FAQs all place the search itself on the student. The joint DNP with Tennessee Tech describes a shared effort, and BSN clinicals are assigned by the College.

Can a physician precept me in an ETSU NP practicum?

ETSU's Intent Form lists MD among its credential examples, beside FNP and ANP, so physicians are expected as preceptors for NP courses. ETSU publishes no written minimum for years of practice, and Tennessee's board rule wants the preceptor's license at your target level or higher. Your clinical faculty make the final call for your course.

Is there a deadline to submit my preceptor to ETSU?

ETSU publishes none. The Intent Form lists what has to be finished before day one, including faculty approval, the credential check and the site contract, but attaches no dates to any of it. Since an unfamiliar site may still need its agreement drawn up, file early and ask the coordinator what is realistic.

Can I do my ETSU clinicals at the place I work?

Possibly. The Intent Form asks whether you work for the agency, but ETSU's graduate pages give no rule either way, so get your course faculty's view before counting on it. RN to BSN students are the clear case: full-time direct-care RNs can take NRSE 4026 at their current job.

Preceptor searchFinding your own preceptorETSU expects graduate nursing students to be proactive in the preceptor and site search. What that means for the MSN, DNP, joint DNP, certificates and BSN.RolesGraduate clinical coordinatorWhat ETSU's graduate clinical coordinator does: past-preceptor lists, the ProjectConcert dropdown, the preceptor welcome email, and how to work with the role.Intent FormPatient population mixHow ETSU's Preceptor Intent Form screens a site's children, adolescents, women, adults and older adults, and how to match each NP practicum's population.Placement helpNeed a preceptor fastYour ETSU practicum starts soon and no preceptor is approved. What must clear before day one, the 2026-27 dates to watch, and a fast-track plan that works.Placement helpHow it worksHow we place East Tennessee State University nursing students: course-matched preceptors near home, a complete Intent Form file, early contract flags, backup.Out-of-stateClinicals outside TennesseeHow ETSU nursing clinicals work in another state: regulator approval, case-by-case review after admission, SARA, and what nearby state boards ask of students.

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 for NRSE 5014, women for NRSE 5022, children for NRSE 5024, psychiatric care for NRSE 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.