How we find and prepare your USI preceptor
You tell us your University of Southern Indiana track, your upcoming clinical course and your home city. We search for preceptors who meet USI's rules for that course, gather every detail the Preceptor Packet and agreement request ask for, and stay with you until USI's approval email arrives. Then we do it again for the next semester.
Start your USI placement
Your track, your next NRSG course and your city are enough for us to begin.
Seven steps from first message to green light
Our process follows the order of USI's own ten steps, with the search and the paperwork groundwork moved onto our desk.
- Tell us about your courseSend your USI track, the NRSG course and semester you need, your location and any practices you have already tried through the form.
- We map USI's rules for itYour placement advisor sets out what the course demands: its direct hours, the preceptor types USI allows, the setting, the weekly limit and any telehealth cap.
- We search near youWe approach practices and sites in your community, within the states your USI program accepts and your RN license covers.
- We screen every preceptorBefore you meet anyone, we confirm an unencumbered license, specialty certification, a year or more of advanced practice and no family or personal tie to you.
- We gather the packet detailsYou receive the preceptor and site details Form G asks for, the site survey answers and the site's agreement signer, typed and ready.
- You meet, sign and sendYou meet the preceptor, request the Preceptor Orientation Packet from usi1nursing@usi.edu, collect signatures and email both forms from your USI account.
- We follow throughWe stay in touch until the confirmation email arrives, then start on your next course and remain on call if anything changes mid-semester.
What we ask you for
Detail up front narrows the search quickly. Your placement advisor will ask for:
- Your USI program (MSN, post-master's certificate or BSN-to-DNP) and your track
- The course number and semester you need a preceptor for, such as
NRSG 643in Fall - Where you live, and the longest drive to a site you would accept
- Every state where you hold an unencumbered RN license
- Where you work, and whether anyone there could precept you
- Practices or systems you have already contacted, with their answers
- Days and times you can and cannot be at a site
Your contact list does double duty: our outreach skips anyone you have already asked, and the list is ready if USI's Nursing Clinical Coordinator ever requests it.
What you receive
For each placement, you get what you need to walk into the meeting and leave with signed forms.
- The preceptor's name, credentials and practice, screened against USI's rules for your track
- Everything Part Two of Form G asks about the preceptor, from license and DEA numbers to board certification and time at the practice
- Site details for Part Three, including whether the site belongs to a larger entity or offers telemedicine
- Answers for the Part Four site survey: patient volume, exam rooms, patient mix and EHR access
- The agreement signer for the Request for USI Clinical Education Agreement
- A meeting set up, and a checklist of what to bring
The Preceptor Packet guide shows where each detail lands on the form.
Who does what
Three parties share the work. This table shows where each task sits.
| Task | You | Our placement desk | USI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Finding and screening a preceptor | Share leads and preferences | Searches and screens | Approves |
| First meeting | Attend with packet and CV | Arranges it | Not part of this step |
| Preceptor Orientation Packet | Request it and pass it on | Reminds you | Sends it on request |
| Form G and agreement request | Complete with the preceptor; email from your USI account | Supplies the typed details | Verifies licenses; faculty approve |
| Clinical Education Agreement | Leave signing to the site and USI | Identifies the site's signer | Drafts, sends and signs it |
| Confirmation email | Wait for it before any hours | Follows up with you | Sends it |
| Typhon and DISA | Keep current and log hours | Reminds you | Monitors them |
Planned across all three specialty semesters
USI's NP tracks run their clinical courses Fall, Spring and Summer, with 200, 250 and 300 direct hours: NRSG 643, NRSG 645 and NRSG 647 for FNP, NRSG 633, NRSG 635 and NRSG 637 for AGACNP, and NRSG 653, NRSG 655 and NRSG 657 for PMHNP. See the clinical hours guide for every program.
The later courses ask more. FNP students may add specialty sites in the second course and, with faculty approval, in the third, where weekly hours may run past 30 but never above 40. AGACNP students may log up to 36 hours a week in the second and third courses, with critical care or hospitalist settings preferred in the last. We plan the three together so each preceptor knows what is coming, and each Preceptor Packet can go in early.
When plans change mid-semester
Preceptors sometimes change jobs, cut hours or fall ill. If yours has to stop, report it to your preceptor and course faculty at once, as USI's roles page requires, and we restart the search straight away with the same screening. An extra preceptor at your current site must have a separate Preceptor Agreement approved by USI, and moving to a different site means a fresh packet and agreement.
Rescheduled hours need course faculty approval, and clinical must continue weekly once it starts. The preceptor dropped out guide and the behind on hours guide cover the USI side of both situations. Tell us the moment you hear a preceptor may leave: early warning gives the replacement search the most room, and your faculty can plan any rescheduled hours with you.
Questions USI students ask
Can you work with a preceptor I have already found?
Yes. Send us the name and practice, and we check the lead against USI's rules for your course, then gather the Form G and agreement-request details just as we do for preceptors we find ourselves. If the lead falls short of a rule, you learn that before the meeting, and we move straight on to other options.
Who sends the Preceptor Packet to USI?
You do. USI asks for the Preceptor Packet and the agreement request by email to usi1nursing@usi.edu from your USI address, with your name in the subject line. We prepare the details that go into both forms and help you respond if the program comes back with a question.
Do you help DNP, NEL, HSL and RN-to-BSN students?
Yes. DNP students identify their own project practice partners, NEL and HSL students need sites for NRSG 661 and their practicums, and RN-to-BSN students choose sites for their three practice-experience courses, each with an RN preceptor of six months' experience or more. We search for each of those.
When is the right time to contact you?
As early as you can. Form G is due 6 weeks before the rotation starts, so for a rotation that begins with Spring 2027 on January 11, that point falls around November 30, 2026. Reaching out a full semester ahead gives the widest choice of preceptors and time for the site's agreement signer to act.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-25
We check these pages against USI's own bulletin, program pages and Graduate Nursing Handbook. Your handbook, course faculty and the Nursing Clinical Coordinator have the final word.
USI makes the search your job. We make it the easy part.
Tell us your USI track, your city and your next clinical semester. We find preceptors who fit the NRSG course and fill the Preceptor Packet and Clinical Education Agreement request with typed, complete details, well before USI's 6-week window.
- Preceptors matched to the course: family primary care for FNP, acute care teams for AGACNP, PMHNPs and psychiatrists for PMHNP
- Preceptor license, certification, years of practice and the site's agreement signer ready for the packet
- Fall, Spring and Summer planned together, close to home in a state USI enrolls
Start your placement plan
Track, city and clinical start is all we need to begin.