Who can precept an FIU nurse practitioner student

FIU's baseline for every NP preceptor

The 2025-2026 Graduate Nursing Student Handbook sets three minimums before FIU looks at anything else.

What the graduate handbook asks for

• At least one year of professional experience in the field or specialty you are training in.
• Active professional licensure.
• National certification.

Beyond those minimums, FIU reviews each prospective preceptor on educational background, professional experience, state and national certification as an NP and/or CNS, nursing philosophy and willingness to precept. The last item is the one you can influence directly: explain the time and the paperwork involved before the preceptor commits, so the yes is an informed one.

These checks attach to the clinician who supervises you, not just to the practice. If a practice offers to rotate you among several clinicians, each one who precepts you should meet the same minimums, so ask your faculty how to list them on the request.

Nurse practitioners, physicians and the master's rule

The handbook expects nurse practitioners to supervise the bulk of your rotations and allows physician preceptors as well; the MSN Clinical Education page names both NPs and physicians. Florida's rule also counts MDs and DOs as qualified preceptors.

There is a catch FIU leaves unresolved. The same handbook states that a master's degree in nursing is required of preceptors, which a physician would not hold. FIU does not explain how the two statements fit together, so if your strongest candidate is a physician, get your clinical faculty's view before the Preceptor Request Form goes in rather than after.

Physician assistants are not mentioned in FIU's handbook or preceptor manual. Raise a PA candidate with your faculty and with the clinical education office before approaching them, and treat the answer you get as the rule for your rotation.

DNP mentors and RN to BSN preceptors

DNP residency hours use an organizational mentor rather than a clinical preceptor. Ideally, per the handbook, the mentor holds a doctorate and is expert in your area. Your usual work supervisor cannot be the mentor of record, and residency hours at your job site count only when they sit outside your normal duties and scheduled shifts. The organizational mentor guide covers the approval step.

RN to BSN preceptors follow the BSN handbook: a nurse with a BSN, at a site holding a current NWCNHS contract, approved by faculty with no conflict of interest. The preceptor cannot be at your exact work location or unit, paid time does not count toward clinical hours, and nurse practitioners or clinical nurse specialists working solely as primary care providers are not approved for NUR 4945L.

How we vet preceptors for FIU students

Before you hear a preceptor's name from us, we have already screened them against this list: years in the specialty, an active Florida license with its expiration date for a Florida site, national certification, and a patient mix that fits NGR 6201L or NGR 6301L. We confirm there is no family or workplace conflict and that the preceptor understands FIU's paperwork, from the folder at the first meeting to the evaluations and faculty visits.

When a candidate touches one of FIU's open questions, such as a physician under the master's rule, we flag it so you can raise it with your faculty before the request is filed. Every preceptor still needs approval from FIU's faculty and clinical education office; ours arrive already matched to FIU's rules. Clinicians thinking about hosting a student can read precepting an FIU student.