Keiser's background check and drug screen, explained

Updated September 25, 2026 · Reviewed by the Keiser Preceptor placement team

Keiser screens graduate nursing students on two fronts: a clear Level 2 criminal background check when you apply, and a 10-panel drug screen before enrollment that can be run again whenever a clinical site or the University calls for it. Treat both as living parts of your file, because the sites where you train can ask for your report or add checks of their own.

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Level 2clear criminal background check at application for the MSN, FNP and WHNP (Graduate Catalog 2026-27)

10-paneldrug screen before enrollment (Keiser Graduate Nursing Program Policy and Procedure Manual, 2023)

Numbered steps. Timing both checks around your first practicum: 1 When you apply; 2 Before enrollment; 3 When a site agrees to host you; 4 Before your first clinical day; 5 At every new site. — Timing both checks around your first practicum: 1 When you apply; 2 Before enrollment; 3 When a site agrees to host you; 4 Before your first clinical day; 5 At every new site.

Screening across Keiser's nursing programs

Each Keiser nursing program with patient contact screens its students, yet the two 2026-27 catalogs word the rule a little differently from program to program. The graduate programs tie the background check to your application. The campus programs fold both checks into admission to the nursing courses. This is how the catalogs describe each program.

Background check and drug screen by Keiser program (2026-27 catalogs)
Program	Background check	Drug screen
MSN Family Nurse Practitioner	Clear Level 2 criminal background check at the time of application	Required; further checks may follow depending on the clinical site
MSN Women's Health NP	Clear Level 2 check at application, as for the FNP	Same admission rules as the FNP
MSN (Nursing)	Level 2 check at admission	Listed with vaccines in the catalog fee schedule
Doctor of Nursing Practice	Clear criminal background check at application (the catalog omits the Level 2 label)	Depends on the clinical site
Accelerated, FastTrack and Traditional BSN	Part of admission	Part of admission
Associate of Science in Nursing	At enrollment, and again before the nursing courses if needed	Before the nursing courses, together with immunizations

For graduate students, the 2023 Graduate Nursing Program Policy and Procedure Manual fills in what the catalog leaves out: the screen is a 10-panel test and its cost falls on the student. When a manual and the 2026-27 Graduate Catalog differ, the catalog governs, and your Clinical Coordinator confirms how a rule applies to your term.

The Level 2 check starts at application and follows you to the site

The Graduate Catalog puts the Level 2 check at the start: a clear result is part of applying to the MSN, FNP or WHNP. Students who expect the check to arrive later, with clinicals, are sometimes caught off guard. It returns at that stage anyway. Keiser's FNP program page lists a clear background check among the items that must be in place before your first practicum, next to medical clearance, immunizations, liability insurance, a contracted site and an approved preceptor.

Your report can also be requested by a site. Keiser's older Graduate Nursing Programs Clinical Manual says that when a clinical site asks for the full report, the student hands it over. Keep the complete document, not only a pass notice, so a site's student coordinator can have it the same day.

Keiser's public documents name no screening company for the graduate programs. An FNP forms page Keiser used to publish listed a Background Check form beside the application and an additional reference form, and the undergraduate fee schedule mentions a clinical background charge labeled TOPS without naming who runs it. Use the route Keiser's admissions team gives you.

The 10-panel drug screen, and why it can come back

Keiser's drug screening policy asks for a 10-panel screen before enrollment "and/or at any time throughout the duration of the program if required by the clinical site and/or University." The second half of that sentence matters most for FNP students. A negative result at admission settles admission; a site, or Keiser itself, can still ask for another screen before a practicum or partway through one.

The same policy places the cost of screening on the student and lets a clinical site require more than Keiser's own screen. A positive result is referred to the Program Chair and the Dean for review. The policy's public text stops there, so ask your Clinical Coordinator how that review runs if you have a question about your own situation.

Because the FNP moves through five practicums, often at more than one site, budget time for a possible repeat screen whenever you change sites. The clinical conduct guide covers the professional standards that surround a screening result.

What a clinical site can add to Keiser's checks

Keiser sets the floor, and the site where you train can build on it. The FNP admission rule itself says a drug screen or further checks may follow depending on the clinical site, and the catalog fee line for the FNP background check allows a different charge where the applicable agency requires one. Each site also signs an affiliation agreement with Keiser before your first day, and its own student onboarding usually runs alongside that paperwork.

Questions to put to a site before you commit

Will it accept the background check you completed for Keiser, or run its own?
Does it want a drug screen dated within a set window before your start date?
Does it want your full background report, and where should it go?
Who clears students there: the practice manager, an education office or the preceptor?
How long does its clearance take, so the time fits inside your planning window?

Clearing Keiser's screens at admission is not the same as being cleared by a site. Ask every new site what it needs well before the term opens.

Timing both checks around your first practicum

Keiser's guidance is to start work on each practicum roughly a quarter of a year out. Screening slots into that runway in five moves.

When you applyComplete the clear Level 2 background check the Graduate Catalog asks for, through the route admissions gives you, and save the full report.
Before enrollmentTake the 10-panel drug screen named in the 2023 policy manual and file the result with your report.
When a site agrees to host youAsk what the site adds: a newer screen, its own background check or a copy of your report. Note how long each takes.
Before your first clinical dayFinish any site-required screening, then confirm with the Clinical Coordinator that nothing in your clearance is still open.
At every new siteAsk the same questions again. A different practice or health system can set a different list.

The three-month lead time guide maps the rest of that runway, and the placement process overview shows where screening sits among Keiser's other approvals.

Why Keiser students choose us to line up the whole clearance picture

A preceptor who says yes is only part of a placement. Our search for your Keiser preceptor and site doubles as a clearance check: in the same conversation we learn what that site expects in screening, so your checks run in parallel with Keiser's approvals instead of trailing behind them. You get one checklist holding the Preceptor/Mentor Information Form details, the agreement contact and the site's clearance steps.

The approval decision belongs to Keiser's clinical faculty and Program Director. Our part is making sure the file they receive, and the one the site receives from you, has no gaps. Your immunization and health file and liability insurance belong on that same checklist. Tell us your practicum and start term in the form below.

Questions Keiser students ask

Is the Keiser FNP background check a Level 2 check?

Yes. The 2026-27 Graduate Catalog asks MSN, FNP and WHNP applicants for a clear Level 2 criminal background check at the time of application. The DNP admission line asks for a clear criminal background check without using the Level 2 label, so DNP applicants should confirm the exact type with Keiser's admissions team before ordering anything.

Will I need another drug screen before a Keiser practicum?

Possibly. Keiser's policy allows a screen at any point in the program when the clinical site or the University requires one, so passing at enrollment does not close the question. Ask each new site whether it wants a screen dated close to your first clinical day, and build that into your planning.

Who pays for the background check and drug screen at Keiser?

The student. Keiser's 2023 graduate policy manual puts the drug screen cost on you, and the Graduate Catalog fee schedule lists charges for the FNP background check and drug screen, noting the background charge can follow what the applicable agency requires. The current catalog shows the amounts for your program.

What happens if a Keiser drug screen comes back positive?

Keiser's drug screening policy refers a positive result to the Program Chair and the Dean, who review it. The public policy text does not spell out each possible outcome, so if you have a question about your own circumstances, raise it with the Clinical Coordinator or your course faculty before the screen rather than after.

Can a clinical site ask to see my full background report?

Yes. Keiser's graduate Clinical Manual says that when a site requests the full report, the student provides it. Keep a complete copy from the check you did at application so you can send it promptly, and ask the site who reviews it and how it should be delivered.

HealthImmunizations and health requirementsWhat Keiser asks of graduate nursing students before clinicals: the health assessment form, yearly TB testing, immunizations, CPR and health insurance.InsuranceLiability insuranceKeiser requires graduate nursing students to carry personal liability insurance before clinicals. What the manual says, the employer waiver, what to confirm.FNPClinical placement processHow a Keiser FNP practicum goes from a preceptor's yes to your first logged hour: the form, the approvals, the affiliation agreement, clearance and Typhon.ConductClinical conduct rulesKeiser's clinical conduct rules: attending as planned, no call/no show, incident reports within 24 hours, honest hours, supervision and site requests.AgreementAffiliation agreementsWhy no Keiser clinical hour starts without a signed affiliation agreement: Keiser's template or the agency's, who signs for each side, and how to speed it up.

Last checked 2026-09-25

We check these pages against Keiser's catalogs, graduate nursing manuals, licensure disclosures and program pages. Your course, the Clinical Coordinator and the 2026-27 Graduate Catalog have the final word.

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Tell us your Keiser program, your next practicum and where you live. We find preceptors who fit the course and prepare the CV, license and site details your Preceptor/Mentor Information Form needs, about three months ahead.

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