Rasmussen University Preceptor FAQ

Rasmussen helps, but the placement defaults to your own community. Rasmussen provides a clinical practicum coordinator who, per its own pages, helps find and secure the clinical site and preceptor. You are not left without support. At the same time, Rasmussen's practicums are completed in your own community, possibly at your own organization, so the working expectation is that you bring a qualified site and preceptor from your own network.

That is where the gap appears for many students. The coordinator manages agreements and documentation, but if there is no graduate-prepared nurse in your immediate network who is willing and available, sourcing one falls to you. Our independent service exists to close that gap, working alongside the coordinator rather than replacing them.

Your preceptor must be a Master's or Doctoral degree-prepared nurse, and they must clear a background check. This rules out RNs who do not hold a graduate nursing degree, no matter how experienced they are.

The preceptor should also practice in a setting that matches your track. Primary care NP tracks call for a preceptor in an outpatient or community primary care setting, while the Psychiatric Mental Health NP track requires a graduate-prepared nurse working in behavioral or mental health care. Verifying the credential and the setting fit before your course starts is the surest way to avoid a placement being rejected mid-term.

It depends on your track, and the hours are split across four sequential preceptor-supervised practicum courses. Rasmussen's NP specializations are 69-credit MSN programs.

Beyond the four NP specializations, the MSN non-NP Professional Specializations embed smaller preceptor-supervised practicum hours, the RN-to-BSN includes community clinical courses, and the DNP requires a minimum of 1,000 post-baccalaureate practice hours.

Yes, and Rasmussen explicitly frames the practicum as something completed in your own community, possibly at your own organization. If your employer has a Master's or Doctoral prepared nurse who is willing to precept and can clear a background check, your workplace can be your clinical site.

Using your own organization is often the most efficient path because you already know the staff and the setting. If your workplace does not have a qualified preceptor available, you will need to look to your wider network or to an outside placement service.

The NP tracks combine online coursework with an in-person community practicum and one weekend on-campus residency. The academic portion is delivered online, which lets you study from where you live, while the clinical portion is completed locally under your preceptor.

The single weekend on-campus residency is a required in-person component of the NP experience. The bulk of your hands-on training, however, happens in your own community across your four practicum courses, which is why securing a reliable local preceptor is so central to finishing on time.

Yes. Rasmussen's baccalaureate, master's, DNP, and post-graduate APRN certificate programs are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE). This is the accreditation that applies to the MSN, NP, and DNP tracks relevant to preceptor placement.

Note that Rasmussen also offers campus-based pre-licensure PN and ADN programs that are accredited by ACEN, but those are a separate, entry-level, campus-based pathway. The MSN, NP, and DNP programs are not ACEN-accredited; they are CCNE-accredited.

Yes. Rasmussen's NP specializations do not meet the APRN licensure educational requirements in Alabama, Idaho, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. If you live or intend to practice in one of these states, confirm your situation directly with Rasmussen before enrolling.

State licensure rules change, and program approvals can vary, so treating this as a starting point for your own verification rather than a final answer is the safest approach.

We source and vet a qualified preceptor and clinical site for you in your own community, and you pay only when you are matched. We are independent and not affiliated with Rasmussen University. We work alongside your Rasmussen clinical practicum coordinator, doing the finding and vetting faster and where your own network comes up short.

Pricing runs 1,500 to 2,500 per rotation, payable when you are matched. Our vetting confirms that the preceptor is a Master's or Doctoral prepared nurse practicing in the right setting for your track and able to clear a background check, so you can hand the coordinator a placement that is ready to formalize.