ETSU clinical systems and rules, guide by guide

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

East Tennessee State University's clinical process comes apart into distinct tasks, and every one has a guide on this site: securing a preceptor and getting that preceptor approved, the Preceptor Intent Form, ProjectConcert, compliance and licensure, each NRSE practicum course, and the state-by-state rules tied to where you reside. The research draws on ETSU's catalog, College of Nursing pages, plans of study and ProjectConcert guides, and any conflict among them is flagged in the guide concerned.

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ETSU clinical systems and rules, guide by guide. East Tennessee State University's clinical process comes apart into distinct tasks, and every one has a guide on this site: securing a preceptor and getting tha — Every ETSU clinical guide in one place: preceptor approval, the Intent Form, ProjectConcert, compliance, NRSE practicum courses and state rules.

Where ETSU's official detail lives

ETSU's 2026-27 graduate catalog fixes the program rules, the grade standard of B or better, and the DNP's clinical requirements. Clock hours for every practicum course appear in the College of Nursing's plans of study. For the hands-on steps of placement, the College posts the Preceptor Intent Form and a set of ProjectConcert guides for students that run from the onboarding entry through hour logs and evaluations.

ETSU has stopped publishing some of its older preceptor documents, and a number of its pages give different answers on hours and state rules. When a guide hits one of those gaps, it names the right person to ask, whether that is the graduate clinical coordinator, your course faculty or the Office of Student Services. Starting clinicals at ETSU for the first time? The placement process guide comes first, and the guide to who does what comes second.

How your placement advisor uses these guides

The same ETSU rules steer our matching work. For NRSE 5012, a psychiatric practicum or a leadership practicum, your advisor measures a candidate preceptor's credentials and the site's patient mix against what the course demands before proposing anyone. That way, the ProjectConcert entry you submit is already a fit when ETSU faculty open it.

Preceptors and approval

Clinical placement processThe ETSU graduate placement path in order: preceptor search, Intent Form, ProjectConcert entry, approvals, contract, schedule, hour logs and evaluations.Finding 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.Graduate 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.Preceptor Intent FormThe ETSU Preceptor Intent Form explained field by field: what it asks, what clinical faculty read in it, and the outdated course numbers still printed on it.Preceptor requirementsWho can precept an ETSU student: what ETSU's Intent Form and catalog show by course, and Tennessee's rule that a preceptor's license is at or above yours.Preceptor approvalThe ETSU sign-offs before your first clinical day: faculty approval, the credential check, the contract, your own requirements, and fixing a rejection.Clinical contractsETSU needs a contract with your clinical site before clinicals start. What that means for new sites, the missing lead time, and how to plan around it.Patient 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.Clinicals where you workWhat ETSU's Intent Form asks when you work for the clinical agency, the RN to BSN employer rule, and how graduate students make an employer placement work.College nurse-led clinicsETSU's Office of Practice clinics as rotation sites: the Johnson City, Sneedville and Mountain City clinics, the Oct 1, Mar 1 and May 1 windows, and documents.PMHNP integrated behavioral healthQuillen's Institute for Integrated Behavioral Health has trained ETSU PMHNP students toward NRSE 5411 and NRSE 6950 hours. What it offers and what to confirm.Who does whatEvery ETSU role in a nursing clinical: graduate clinical coordinator, clinical faculty, Office of Student Services, Office of Practice and DNP project chair.Who pays for whatWho pays for background checks, malpractice insurance, immunizations, CPR, travel and overnight stays in ETSU nursing clinicals, from ETSU's own pages.

ProjectConcert, hours and evaluations

Clinical hours by programClinical hours for every ETSU nursing program from ETSU's plans of study, the places ETSU's own figures disagree, and who confirms your number.ProjectConcert at ETSUWhat ETSU nursing students do in ProjectConcert: clinical requirements, preceptor entries, schedules, hour logs and evaluations, and how to sign in.Submitting a preceptorStep by step: filing the Preceptor & Clinical Agency Onboarding entry in ETSU's ProjectConcert, what to upload, and how to fix a rejection and resubmit.Hour logs and patient journalHow ETSU nursing students schedule clinical days, log hours and keep the patient journal in ProjectConcert, and how preceptors review what you enter.Preceptor evaluationsHow ETSU nursing students send mid-term and final preceptor evaluations through ProjectConcert, use Ad Hoc evaluations, and how DNP hours are verified.FNP clinical hoursETSU's MSN FNP plan of study lists 540 clinical hours in five practicums. See each course's hours, patient population and full-time or part-time timing.DNP clinical hoursETSU's DNP plans list 1,040 clinical hours, the catalog says 1,000, and MSN-to-DNP lists 500. See how residencies and the 40 interprofessional hours fit in.Clinical hours per creditAt ETSU a 3-credit practicum can mean 60, 120, 180 or 125 clinical hours. See the ratios behind ETSU's plans and what each means for your weekly schedule.Summer clinical semesterSummer is a full clinical semester in ETSU's graduate nursing plans. See which practicums land there, Summer 2027 session dates and the March 1 clinic window.2026-27 calendar for clinicalsETSU's 2026-27 dates that matter for clinicals: fall and spring term dates, parts of term, census, withdrawal deadlines, finals and campus closures.

Compliance and licenses

Clinical health requirementsHow ETSU nursing's clinical health requirements work in ProjectConcert: the requirement list, status and due dates, and the Student Passport export for sites.Background checksHow background checks work for ETSU nursing clinicals: a specified vendor, clinical agencies make the decision, the College keeps only proof, BSN drug screens.Immunizations, TB and CPRThe immunizations, yearly flu and TB tests, CPR and ETSU trainings nursing students need for clinicals, item by item, and how each one maps to ProjectConcert.Malpractice insuranceMalpractice insurance for ETSU nursing clinicals: the NP-student coverage the College sets, liability insurance on the Intent Form, timing and what sites ask.RN license for clinicalsWhich RN license ETSU nursing clinicals need: Tennessee or the clinical state for the MSN, compact rules for the DNP and certificates, and reporting changes.Grades and progressionETSU graduate nursing needs a B or better in every course, allows one repeat, and limits WF grades and probation. What it means when a practicum goes badly.Incompletes, leave and time limitsETSU rules for graduate nursing students on Incompletes (one year), leave (up to three terms), part-time switches and the six- and seven-year time limits.Nursing accreditationWhat ETSU says about nursing accreditation: CCNE for its bachelor's, master's, DNP and APRN certificate programs, Tennessee Board of Nursing approval and dates.

Practicum courses

NRSE 5010 Health AssessmentETSU's NRSE 5010 practicum: 60 clock hours in semester 1, lab practice plus clinical placement, and what to settle with faculty before you line up a preceptor.NRSE 5012 Young and Middle AdultsNRSE 5012 Nurse Practitioner I Practicum at ETSU: 120 hours with young and middle adults, which summer it falls in, and what faculty look for in a preceptor.NRSE 5014 Older AdultsNRSE 5014 Older Adults Practicum at ETSU: 120 hours in a fall term, the patient mix faculty expect, preceptor rules and the syllabus questions to settle early.NRSE 5022 Women's HealthNRSE 5022 Women's Health Practicum at ETSU: 120 summer hours in rural, urban and underserved settings, who can precept it, and how the women's share is read.NRSE 5024 Children and AdolescentsNRSE 5024 Children and Adolescents Practicum at ETSU: 120 spring hours, pediatric preceptors, school-based options and why it often decides graduation timing.PMHNP practicums (5405, 5409, 5411)ETSU's three psychiatric practicums, NRSE 5405, 5409 and 5411: 120 hours each, when they fall, the title conflicts in ETSU's plans, and who can precept them.NRSE 6950 PMHNP InternshipETSU's NRSE 6950 Internship in Advanced Nursing Practice: the final 120-hour PMHNP practicum, final-spring timing, the Quillen option and what to confirm first.NRSE 5502-5504 leadership practicumsETSU's Executive Leadership Practicums NRSE 5502, 5503 and 5504: 180 hours each with a nurse administrator near you, when they fall, and the DNP hour conflict.NRSE 5115, 5046, 5045 education practicumsETSU's Nursing Education practicums: NRSE 5115 in your clinical specialty, NRSE 5046 and 5045 with academic nurse educators, and the 429 vs 420 hours gap.NRSE 6801-6804 DNP residenciesETSU's four DNP residencies, NRSE 6801 to 6804: 125 hours each, when they fall, the practice-site agreement, supervised hours and who verifies your hours.DNP interprofessional hoursEvery ETSU DNP needs at least 40 interprofessional practicum hours inside the total. The two routes ETSU names, what it leaves open and how to plan them.NRSE 4026 R.N. PracticumETSU's NRSE 4026 R.N. Practicum, the in-person part of the online RN to BSN: doing it at your employer, setting it up with the College, and the 4062 number.Joint DNP PNP practicumsPediatric NP-Primary Care in the ETSU-TTU joint DNP: the precepted practicums NRSE 5312 and 5317, the NRSE 5314 preceptorship, timing and preceptor fit.

Where you live and study

ETSU licensure disclosures by stateETSU posts two state licensure disclosures for nursing that disagree. See both side by side, the Hawaii and Maryland conflicts, and what not determined means.Clinicals 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.Moving during your programMoving mid-program as an ETSU nursing student: the new state's board must allow it, who to tell at ETSU, your license, and what the move does to your clinicals.ETSU student systemsGoldLink, MyETSU, D2L, ETSU email, Degree Works, Navigate, ProjectConcert and Sherrod Library: which ETSU system holds each part of your nursing clinicals.Campuses and clinical sitesWhere ETSU nursing clinicals happen: Nicks Hall in Johnson City, Kingsport, Sevierville, the LPN to BSN regions, nurse-led clinics and online graduate study.

Questions ETSU students ask

Where are ETSU's clinical placement rules written down?

In three places: the graduate catalog (program rules, grades, clinical requirements), the College of Nursing's program pages and plans of study (hours, courses, state rules), and the ProjectConcert guides and Preceptor Intent Form (the placement steps). Your syllabus and course faculty add course-level detail.

Which system does ETSU use to log clinical hours?

ProjectConcert. ETSU nursing students use it for their clinical compliance file, preceptor and site onboarding entries, schedules, hour logs, the patient journal and preceptor evaluations.

Who approves my ETSU preceptor?

Your clinical faculty approve the preceptor for the course, and the College of Nursing's Office of Student Services verifies the preceptor's credentials. A contract with the site must also be in place before clinicals start.

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

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