An independent placement service built around Rivier's process
Rivier Preceptor finds preceptors and practicum sites for Rivier University nursing students. Everything we do starts from Rivier's own rules: the track requirements in the Nursing Student Handbook, the State Guide, the Preceptor Request Form and the deadlines that decide whether a practicum starts on time.
Talk to the placement desk
Tell us your Rivier track, city and practicum semester. Your placement advisor replies with what we would do for you.
What we do
Rivier's Nursing Student Handbook says that "It is the student's responsibility to identify a qualified preceptor." Its FNP and PMHNP sections go further, saying students "are required to secure" their clinical placements. That search is our work. We find clinicians in your own area who meet your track's rules, confirm they can host a Rivier student for the semester you need, and prepare what Rivier asks for about them.
In practice that means four jobs. We run the search and the outreach. We screen every lead against Rivier's requirements before you meet them. We collect the licensing, credential and CV documents Rivier asks for about the preceptor, along with the organization details its contract requires. And we stay with you through the semester, ready to find a replacement if a preceptor withdraws or an organization changes its mind.
Why we focus on one university
Rivier's practicum rules are specific, and they reward a service that knows them in detail. FNP students need an MD, DO or family nurse practitioner who has worked two-plus years in an outpatient family practice. PMHNP students need a psychiatrist or PMH-certified nurse, with telehealth capped at 300 of 750 hours. AG-ACNP students need a hospitalist first and critical care after that, with no telehealth at all. Nursing Education and Leadership students need master's-prepared nurses in the right roles.
The calendar is just as particular: 250 hours inside each NP practicum semester with no banking, hours that begin on the semester's first day, a four-month lead time, August 1 and December 1 cutoffs, and 30 days for contracts. A service shaped around one school's process gets those details right on the first pass, and that is the difference between a name on a list and a site faculty can approve.
Who we work with
Most of the students we help are in Rivier's online, low-residency NP tracks and the matching post-master's certificates, along with the online Leadership in Health Systems Management and Nursing Education tracks. DNP students come to us as they look for an external expert for NURS 895 or a nurse leader for NURS 715.
Many live in New Hampshire and northern Massachusetts, within reach of the Nashua campus and Sylvia Trottier Hall. Others live in the many states Rivier's State Guide accepts and complete their practicums close to home, with an RN license in that state.
BSN, ABSN and ASN students receive their clinical agencies from Rivier, so their placements come from the school. Our guides still explain those programs, and we also work with clinicians who want to precept a Rivier student.
How we fit alongside Rivier
We work for the student, inside Rivier's process. Rivier's Clinical Practicum Coordinator and faculty help students find interested preceptors, graduate faculty decide whether each site is suitable, and the coordinator confirms every document and contract before hours count. Our role sits before those decisions: making sure the preceptor fits your track, the organization is ready to contract, and the request is complete.
That order matters. When a request arrives with the right preceptor, the right documents and time left before the deadline, the people who approve it can do their part without chasing missing pieces. Rivier's graduate faculty and coordinator approve every site; our job is to hand them one that fits Rivier's rules the first time. The who does what guide sets out each Rivier role.
How we keep our guides accurate
Every guide on this site is written from Rivier's own documents: the 2026-2027 Nursing Student Handbook, the 2025-26 academic catalog, the 2026 program sheets, the 2026-2027 academic calendar and Rivier's State Guide. Each page lists the sources it relies on.
Where Rivier's documents disagree, we say so rather than choosing one. The FNP hours are the best-known case: 750 in the Handbook and 610 in the catalog. Placement deadlines differ between the current Handbook and an older 2018 form, and the Leadership practicum course numbers differ between the 2026 program sheet and the catalog. In each case we point you to the people who can confirm your own plan: course faculty, your Program of Studies, the Clinical Practicum Coordinator and the Program Director.
What you can expect from us
- A placement advisor who knows your track's rules and your course number before the first call.
- Preceptors in your own area, screened for credentials, years in practice and a schedule that fits your hours.
- Plain updates at each step, including when a lead falls through and what comes next.
- Preceptor documents gathered for the Preceptor Request Form with time to spare before Rivier's cutoff.
- A replacement search if your preceptor or site withdraws during the semester.
- Care with your information, as set out in our privacy policy.
The best place to see the whole service is how it works, which follows a placement from the first message to the first day of the semester.
Questions Rivier students ask
Is Rivier Preceptor part of Rivier University?
Rivier Preceptor is an independent placement service that works for Rivier nursing students. Every practicum site is decided by Rivier's graduate faculty, and the coordinator checks documents and contracts. We prepare the placement so it arrives complete and consistent with Rivier's requirements.
Who will I work with?
Your placement advisor handles your search from start to finish, backed by the placement desk. You deal with one person who knows your track, your course and your semester, and who keeps you updated as preceptors are contacted, screened and confirmed.
Do you help Rivier students outside New Hampshire?
Yes. Rivier's graduate programs let students complete practicums near home, provided they hold an RN license there, as long as the State Guide accepts the state for their program. We search for preceptors where you live, within those limits, and check the state against the State Guide before the first call.
Do you also work with preceptors?
Yes. Clinicians who would like to precept Rivier students can join our network. We explain Rivier's expectations of preceptors track by track and introduce students whose course, schedule and location suit the clinician's practice. Each introduction arrives with the student's track, course number and semester dates, so a preceptor can decide quickly whether it fits.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-26
We check these pages against Rivier's own Nursing Student Handbook, program sheets, catalog, academic calendar and State Guide. Your program of study, your course faculty, your Program Director and the Clinical Practicum Coordinator have the final word.
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.