Precepting a Rivier University nursing student
Rivier University's graduate nursing students arrange their own preceptors, so the request usually comes from the student rather than the school. Here is what Rivier asks of a preceptor in each track, what the paperwork involves and how a practicum semester runs, plus how to join our network of clinicians who precept Rivier students.
Join our preceptor network
Tell us your credentials, setting and state, and the semesters you could host a Rivier student.
Why the request comes from the student
Rivier's 2026-2027 Nursing Student Handbook places the job of finding a qualified preceptor squarely on the graduate student. The Clinical Practicum Coordinator and faculty support that search, and graduate faculty have the last word on each site, but the first conversation is usually between you and the student.
Most of Rivier's graduate nursing tracks are online, and practicums may be completed where the student lives. The student asking you may be in New Hampshire, northern Massachusetts or another state Rivier accepts. Rivier invites students to propose clinicians they know from work, so a request may come from someone you once trained or practiced beside.
Who can precept, track by track
Rivier sets each preceptor's credentials and experience by track, and every row below comes from the Handbook. Our guides give the detail for FNP, PMHNP and AG-ACNP preceptors.
| Track | Practicum courses | Who qualifies |
|---|---|---|
| FNP | NURS 511, NURS 513, NURS 515 | MD, DO or FNP in outpatient family practice with at least two years in practice; a PA may fill in but not serve as primary preceptor |
| PMHNP | NURS 521, NURS 523, NURS 525 | Psychiatrist or PMH-certified nurse with at least two years; any age group, inpatient or outpatient |
| AG-ACNP | NURS 638P, NURS 639P, NURS 640P | MD or certified AG-ACNP hospitalist for Practicum I; MD/intensivist or AG-ACNP in critical care for II and III |
| Nursing Education | NURS 559P | RN with a master's degree in a nurse educator role |
| Leadership | NURS 571P (2026 sheet) | RN with a master's degree, business accepted, in a nurse leadership role |
| DNP | NURS 895, NURS 715 | Committee-approved external expert in the project topic; a nurse leader for NURS 715 |
What the Preceptor Request Form asks of you
Once you agree, the student submits Rivier's Preceptor Request Form, which travels with a copy of your license, proof of your credentials and your CV. The current Handbook also names the preceptor's resume among the documents it expects. The form starts the affiliation agreement between Rivier and your practice or facility, along with Rivier's review of you as a preceptor. The form guide walks through it.
Rivier's current Handbook allows 30 days for the contract with a site, and the older 2018 form warned that processing could run twelve weeks or more. That older form also says an approved preceptor fills in Rivier's required forms, and that where your facility's rules differ from Rivier's, the facility's rules win. The student's hours only begin to count after the Clinical Practicum Coordinator has confirmed the full set of documents and the signed contract.
A practicum semester with a Rivier student
FNP and PMHNP students owe 250 hours within each practicum semester, and surplus hours do not roll over to the next. The catalog gives each AG-ACNP practicum 250 hours as well. No hour counts if it falls before the semester begins (September 8 is day one of fall 2026, and January 18 of spring 2027). The 250-hour page explains why a steady weekly schedule matters so much to the student.
For FNP students, the Handbook suggests a patient load per eight-hour day that rises with each practicum, shown in the table below. If a student has to miss a scheduled day, Rivier expects them to tell you right away and to let their faculty know soon after.
| Practicum | Patients per 8 hours |
|---|---|
NURS 511 Practicum I | 4 to 6 |
NURS 513 Practicum II | 6 to 8 |
NURS 515 Practicum III | 8 to 10 |
Your feedback and Rivier's faculty
Course faculty remain responsible for the student's grade, and your observations feed into it. On AG-ACNP practicums, the catalog has the assigned faculty member watch the student's clinical logs and read what the preceptor reports. It also lists evaluations of clinical and preceptorship performance among the measures Rivier uses to assess its programs.
Those evaluations carry weight: a practicum finished below 84% ends the student's place in that graduate track under the Handbook. Honest, specific feedback during the semester gives a struggling student time to improve, and the student's course faculty member is the person to contact if you have concerns.
The DNP external expert
Rivier's DNP students need a different kind of partner. In NURS 895, taken for at least four semesters at 3 credits each, every student's Scholarly Project Team pairs them with a faculty guide plus an external expert in the project topic. The student and guide pick the expert together, the committee signs off, and faculty orient the mentor to the role.
The role suits clinicians and leaders who know a practice problem deeply and can advise a doctoral project across several semesters. Systems Leadership students short of 500 supervised master's hours also take NURS 715, where a nurse leader supervises them. The external expert page describes the team in full.
Students arrive with their records in order
Rivier requires its clinical students to be compliant before the first practicum day. Graduate students upload their records to CastleBranch (myCB) four months before practicum courses.
- Immunizations, a TB test each year and an annual physical, itemized on the CastleBranch requirements page
- A yearly background check and drug screen, run through the agency the Division contracts with
- BLS certification, current at all times, from either the American Red Cross or the American Heart Association
- Coverage under Rivier's professional liability policy (see liability and BLS)
- A current RN license for your state
Each August the student also completes the online Centralized Clinical Placement (CCP) orientation, plus any orientation your facility runs, and prints a Clinical Assignment Ticket before every clinical experience; your agency may issue the student an ID badge too. If records lapse, Rivier can keep the student out of clinical and put a graduate practicum on hold until the paperwork is whole.
Join our preceptor network
We are the placement service built around Rivier's process, and preceptors are at its center. When you join, we match you with Rivier students whose track fits your credentials and setting, share their semester dates and hour requirements up front, and prepare the license, credentials and CV details the Preceptor Request Form needs so the paperwork moves quickly.
If a semester stops working for you, tell us early and we find the student another preceptor. Every site and preceptor still needs sign-off from Rivier: its graduate faculty and the Clinical Practicum Coordinator. Use the form below, choose "I'm a preceptor (not a student)", and tell us your specialty, practice setting, state and the semesters you could take a student. Read how it works to see the student side.
Questions Rivier students ask
Can a physician assistant precept a Rivier FNP student?
A PA can fill in, but Rivier's Handbook says a PA cannot be the primary FNP preceptor. Rivier wants the lead preceptor to be an outpatient family practice clinician, a physician or an FNP, who has practiced for at least two years. A PA colleague can still work with the student on days the primary preceptor is away.
How long before a Rivier student can start with me?
Allow time for the paperwork. The current Handbook gives the site contract 30 days, while Rivier's older form spoke of twelve weeks or longer. Students also face the December 1 (spring) and August 1 (fall) placement deadlines, and the semester's opening date is the earliest their hours can count.
Can I precept a Rivier student by telehealth?
It depends on the track. PMHNP students may complete up to 300 of their 750 hours with a telehealth prescriber. For FNP students, telehealth is an approved alternative setting only in NURS 515, within the 120-hour cap on alternative settings. AG-ACNP practicums allow no telehealth at all.
What if I can no longer host a student mid-semester?
Tell the student and us as soon as you know. Rivier's FNP and PMHNP students must finish 250 hours inside the semester, so every week counts. We look for a replacement preceptor who meets the same track rules, and Rivier's faculty review the new site and preceptor before the student's hours continue there.
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.