Questions Rivier students ask us
Short answers to the questions Rivier University nursing students raise most often about working with us. Where one of Rivier's own rules drives the answer, we name the source and link the page that covers it in full.
Get your placement plan
Tell us your Rivier program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with the preceptor and site options that fit your Rivier course.
About the service
What do you do? We find preceptors for Rivier nursing students who must secure their own practicum placements, check each candidate against Rivier's rules for the track, and prepare the documents Rivier's request form calls for. You submit; Rivier reviews and decides.
How do you relate to Rivier? We are an independent placement service built around Rivier's clinical process. Rivier's graduate faculty have the last word on every site, and its Clinical Practicum Coordinator signs off on documents and site contracts. Our work is making sure what reaches them is complete.
Who handles my search? One placement advisor who learns your track, your course and your dates, backed by a placement desk that researches practices, contacts preceptors and follows up until someone says yes. The step-by-step version is on how it works.
Which Rivier students we help
Graduate students carry the search themselves, so they are who we work with most: the MSN Family Nurse Practitioner, Psychiatric-Mental Health NP and Adult-Gerontology Acute Care NP tracks, their post-master's certificates, and the fully online Nursing Education track and Leadership track. DNP students picking an external expert for NURS 895 can use us as well; that choice is made with a faculty guide and approved by the committee.
Undergraduates are in a different position. For the BSN, ABSN and ASN, Rivier assigns clinical agencies, which may sit anywhere within about 60 miles of the University, so there is no search to hand over. The online RN-BSN lists no practicum course, and neither does the 20-credit MSN APRN Degree Completion. The programs page shows each track's practicums.
Where and when
Can my practicum be where I live? In most states, yes. Each 2026 graduate program sheet lets you complete practicums near home, with an RN license for that state, provided your state is green or cleared for your track on the State Guide. A handful of states are marked red for the NP tracks, so check Rivier's State Guide first.
When should I start? The Handbook advises looking as early as a year ahead and having the placement locked in four months before your practicum term begins. The fall deadline is August 1 and the spring deadline December 1, and Rivier treats both as absolute.
How long does a search take? It depends on your track, your area and how quickly a qualified clinician agrees, which is why an early start helps. After you submit, the site contract alone takes 30 days by the Handbook's count; an older Rivier form spoke of twelve weeks or longer, so build in margin.
Paperwork and approval
What does the preceptor provide? A license, credentials and a CV or resume for the Preceptor Request Form. We gather those and the site details the contract needs; the Preceptor Request Form page explains the form itself.
What do I provide? Your own compliance records, uploaded to CastleBranch (myCB) four months before practicum courses. Graduate students also supply proof of RN licensure where the site is, an up-to-date resume and Rivier's Student Information Sheet for Clinical Experience. We plan around that checklist, and the uploads stay yours.
How do I record my hours? Rivier's documents name no logging system for graduate practicums. For the AG-ACNP practicums, the catalog says assigned faculty monitor clinical logs. Ask your course faculty at the start of term which record they expect.
During the semester
How many hours a week will I need? Rivier's NP practicums carry 250 hours inside each semester, and extra hours cannot be banked. Fall 2026 runs from September 8 to December 18, so spread evenly that is roughly 17 hours a week. The FNP figures differ between the Handbook and the catalog; see 750 vs 610 hours.
What if I miss a clinic day? Rivier's Handbook wants your preceptor told right away and your faculty told promptly after that.
What if my preceptor leaves? Tell us and your course faculty straight away. A replacement search starts as soon as we hear, and the preceptor dropped out page walks through the steps with Rivier.
Cost, privacy and getting started
What does it cost? Each quote reflects your track, the courses covered, your location and your timing; the cost page explains each factor. Rivier's own practicum charges, such as the clinical-course credit rate and the liability fee, are separate.
How are my details handled? We use them to run your search, and the privacy page explains in full what we collect and how it is kept.
How do I start? Use the form below with your track, course, city and practicum semester, or open the chat. Your placement advisor takes it from there.
Questions Rivier students ask
Can you find a preceptor for a Rivier summer practicum?
Yes. Rivier's Handbook states absolute deadlines for fall (August 1) and spring (December 1) only. If your plan of study schedules a summer practicum (the 2027 summer term is May 10 through August 26), confirm the due date with the Clinical Practicum Coordinator, and we plan the search at least four months ahead of it.
Do you help Rivier students who were asked to defer a semester?
Yes. Rivier asks students who arrive at the deadline without a confirmed site or with records missing to defer. A deferral resets the clock, so we plan the next semester's search from the new deadline, with the preceptor confirmed and documents ready well before it. See delayed graduation.
Can I switch preceptors between Rivier practicum courses?
Yes. Each NP practicum has its own focus, such as childbearing families and children in NURS 513 or critical care in the later AG-ACNP courses, so a new preceptor often suits the next course better. Every new preceptor goes through Rivier's request and approval steps.
What if Rivier's faculty turn down the site you found?
Graduate faculty decide whether each site suits the course, and starting a request or a contract is not the same as approval. If a site is declined, find out what fell short. We then look for a preceptor or setting that answers that point, and the new request goes through the same review.
Can I complete a Rivier practicum while working night shifts?
Tell us your pattern at intake. Most preceptors keep daytime clinic hours, so we look for ones whose clinic days line up with your days off and whose weekly schedule makes 250 hours in the semester realistic alongside your job.
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.