Your Rivier preceptor, secured well before August 1.
Rivier University's Nursing Student Handbook makes identifying a qualified preceptor the student's responsibility, and FNP and PMHNP students are required to secure their own placements. That search is what we do. We find preceptors near you who meet your track's rules and prepare everything the Preceptor Request Form asks for, four months ahead or sooner.
Start your placement plan
Tell us your Rivier track, your city and which semester your next practicum starts. Your placement advisor replies with preceptor and site options that fit.
What Rivier provides, and what it leaves to you
Rivier gives you a Clinical Practicum Coordinator who works with faculty to help you find an interested preceptor, contract resources to choose from, and graduate faculty who make the final decision on each site. The search itself is yours: the Handbook's Practicum Placement Policy says it is the student's responsibility to identify a qualified preceptor, and it encourages you to suggest clinicians you know.
We take that search off your plate. We line up preceptors who meet each track's rules, from an MD, DO or FNP in outpatient family practice for NURS 511 to a psychiatrist or PMH-certified nurse for the PMHNP practicums and a hospitalist or intensivist for the AG-ACNP practicums, and we check early whether the site can contract with Rivier.
Rivier's graduate faculty and Clinical Practicum Coordinator approve every site and preceptor. We make sure what reaches them is complete and fits Rivier's rules the first time.
Built around Rivier's deadlines
Rivier suggests securing your placement four months before the semester and sets absolute deadlines of August 1 for fall and December 1 for spring. Contracts need 30 days, and students without a confirmed placement or complete CastleBranch records are asked to defer a semester. Hours start on the first day of the semester, 250 of them inside each NP practicum.
We plan backward from your practicum semester, so the preceptor is confirmed, the Preceptor Request Form is complete and the contract has time to clear, whether you train in Nashua, Manchester or a state on Rivier's State Guide.
From the search to your first practicum day
In the same order Rivier's Practicum Placement Policy runs.
Track, the NURS course, your city and the semester your practicum starts.
Preceptors near you who meet your track's rules, with two years in practice where Rivier asks for it.
Preceptor license, credentials and CV for the Preceptor Request Form, with the site's details for the contract.
You start once Rivier confirms the contract, and a replacement is ready if a preceptor steps away.
Pick your Rivier program
Your practicum courses and hours, who can precept you, where, and when to start looking. From Rivier's own Nursing Student Handbook, program sheets and catalog.
- Who precepts
- An MD, DO or FNP in outpatient family practice with at least two years in practice; a PA may fill in but cannot be the primary preceptor
- Where
- Outpatient primary care in your own area (internal medicine for Practicum I and pediatric or women's health for Practicum II if family practice is not available)
- Start looking
- Right after NURS 516 Advanced Health Assessment; secure the placement four months ahead, and no later than August 1 for fall or December 1 for spring
- Who precepts
- A psychiatrist or a nurse certified in psychiatric mental health, with at least two years in practice
- Where
- Any age group, inpatient or outpatient, near you; no more than 300 of the 750 hours with a telehealth prescriber
- Start looking
- After the core APRN courses and NURS 520; the same August 1 and December 1 deadlines apply
- Who precepts
- An MD or certified AG-ACNP hospitalist for Practicum I; an MD or intensivist or AG-ACNP in critical care for Practicums II and III
- Where
- Acute care and critical care units near you; no telehealth hours
- Start looking
- A fall semester after the theory and skills lab year (NURS 630, 631, 635, 636)
- Who precepts
- A committee-approved external expert in your project topic, chosen with your faculty guide; a nurse leader for NURS 715
- Where
- The organization where your scholarly project is implemented, with an RN (and for Professional Practice, APRN) license in that state
- Start looking
- NURS 895 runs at least four semesters; NURS 715 applies only if you enter with fewer than 500 supervised master's hours
The Rivier pieces you will work with
Named the way Rivier names them, from its Nursing Student Handbook, program sheets and catalog.
Your track, your practicums
Every Rivier graduate nursing program with a practicum, and who you need for each course.
The FNP practicum sequence
Three FNP practicums with seminars, each with its own patient focus and preceptor.
When a practicum semester is at risk
Fast help for the weeks that matter most.
Before you start
Does Rivier find preceptors for NP students?
No. Rivier's Nursing Student Handbook says it is the student's responsibility to identify a qualified preceptor, and FNP and PMHNP students are required to secure their own placements. The Clinical Practicum Coordinator and faculty help, and graduate faculty make the final decision on the site.
When is the Rivier practicum placement deadline?
The 2026-2027 Handbook suggests securing your placement four months before the semester, with absolute deadlines of August 1 for fall and December 1 for spring. Contracts need 30 days, and students without a confirmed placement are asked to defer a semester.
How many practicum hours does Rivier's FNP need?
The Nursing Student Handbook says 750: 250 in each of three practicum semesters, with no carrying of extra hours forward. The 2025-26 catalog's course descriptions add up to 610, so confirm your cohort's figure with your Program Director.
Can I do Rivier practicums outside New Hampshire?
Yes, in your own area, with an RN license in that state. Rivier's State Guide says it cannot accept FNP or PMHNP students from Alabama, California, Iowa, Louisiana, Oregon, Tennessee, Washington or Wyoming, and asks students from Colorado, New York and South Dakota to call the Program Director.
Where do you find Rivier preceptors?
In your own community, wherever Rivier accepts you. We search practices that meet your track's rules, confirm the preceptor's license, certification and years in practice, and hand you what the Preceptor Request Form asks for.
Rivier asks you to identify a qualified preceptor. We make that the easy part.
Tell us your Rivier track, where you live and which semester your next practicum starts. We find preceptors who meet your track's rules, check early whether the site can contract with Rivier, and prepare everything the Preceptor Request Form asks for, well ahead of August 1 and December 1.
- Preceptors matched to the track: an MD, DO or FNP in outpatient family practice for
NURS 511, a psychiatrist or PMH-certified NP forNURS 521, a hospitalist or intensivist forNURS 638P - Preceptor license, credentials and CV ready for the Preceptor Request Form, with the site's contact details for the contract
- In your own area, in New Hampshire or any state Rivier's State Guide accepts
Start your placement plan
Track, city and semester is all we need to begin.