Faculty site visits and phone conferences in a Keiser practicum
Keiser's clinical faculty keep in touch with your placement in two set ways: at least one site visit clinical evaluation per semester, done on site or virtually, and at least one telephone clinical conference per 8-week term. Before either one, faculty assess the site itself, in person or remotely, ahead of your first clinical day.
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Keiser's contact minimums, as written
The older Graduate Nursing Programs Clinical Manual sets the floor: "KU Clinical Faculty will complete a minimum of one site visit clinical evaluation per semester and a minimum of one telephone clinical conference per term. The clinical site evaluation may be performed on-site or via virtual resource." The 2023 Policy and Procedure Manual repeats the commitment in its own words, saying students will be visited at their clinical placement site during practicum experiences by a KU faculty member or appointed designee.
Both documents describe a minimum, not a ceiling. Course faculty may reach out more often than that, and the 2023 wording leaves room for a designee rather than your own instructor to carry out the visit. Treat every contact as part of your clinical grade, because the visit is itself called an evaluation.
A virtual visit is still a clinical evaluation. Prepare for it the way you would for an on-site one: preceptor available, log current, questions ready.
Semester or term: how the two minimums line up
The two minimums use different calendar units, and Keiser's graduate calendar explains the difference. Each 16-week semester splits into two 8-week terms, Term A and Term C, and each FNP practicum fills a single term alongside its didactic course.
| Calendar unit | Length | Minimum faculty contact (older Clinical Manual) |
|---|---|---|
| Semester (Winter, Summer or Fall) | 16 weeks, split into Term A and Term C | One site visit clinical evaluation, on site or virtual |
| Term (A or C) | 8 weeks, one practicum with its didactic course | One telephone clinical conference |
Read together, any single practicum term includes a phone conference, while the semester's site visit can land in either of its two terms. Students taking practicums in both Term A and Term C of a semester may see one visit cover both. The graduate calendar page lists the 2026-27 term start dates.
The site check before your first hour
Faculty look at the site before they look at your work. Keiser's 2023 clinical sites policy says every site must be approved by the Program before students attend, that the Program may reject a site that does not meet its criteria, and that faculty assess each site either in person or remotely prior to a student's practicum experience.
This pre-practicum review runs alongside the paperwork: the signed affiliation agreement, the Preceptor/Mentor Information Form and the clinical faculty's approval of the arrangement. Because it happens before the term's first clinical day, build it into your timeline rather than assuming a site is cleared the moment a preceptor agrees. A new site adds the agreement to the queue as well. The approvals and roles page shows which Keiser title clears each piece.
What the visit and the call are for
Keiser's manual calls the visit a site visit clinical evaluation, which puts it in the same family as the preceptor's week 4 and week 8 ratings on the Clinical Evaluation Form. The public manuals publish no script or checklist for the visit, so ask course faculty at the start of the term what they will look at, who should be present, and whether your visit will be on site or virtual.
The telephone clinical conference is the term-level check-in. Bring your Typhon log up to date beforehand, since the 2023 manual has students document every patient encounter within 7 days for review by Program Faculty. Raise preceptor scheduling problems on the call, while there is time to fix them, instead of letting them surface in week 8. The evaluations guide covers the two preceptor ratings, and the Typhon page covers the log.
Virtual visits and students far from campus
Because the evaluation may be performed through a virtual resource, a placement far from Keiser's Florida campuses can still be evaluated without anyone traveling to it. For an online program with students across Florida and in other states, that option is what makes a distant placement workable for faculty and for the site. A virtual visit still needs a quiet space, a working connection at the clinic and a preceptor who can step away from patients for the call, so settle those details with the site early.
Distance brings a licensing layer too. Keiser's 2023 manual expects its faculty to hold a Florida RN license or a compact license, and several states add their own rules for the faculty who supervise students training there. If you plan clinicals outside Florida, read the out-of-state guide before you commit to a site.
Getting your preceptor ready for faculty contact
Keiser's preceptors are volunteer clinicians, and a faculty visit is time taken out of a working clinic. Keiser gives each preceptor the Preceptor/Mentor Agreement with the course objectives and evaluation criteria, and clinical faculty orient new preceptors to the role. Share the likely visit window and the phone conference with your preceptor in week 1, so neither lands as a surprise on a full schedule.
The 2023 manual also requires preceptors to supervise directly at all times and says any stand-in must hold the same credentials and experience. If your preceptor will be away on the day faculty choose, tell course faculty early and let them decide how to handle it. A short note to the practice manager about the visit date helps too.
Placements built to pass faculty review
A placement that goes well at the visit starts with a site that fits the course and a preceptor who knows what Keiser will ask of them. When we match a Keiser student, we confirm the site can host the practicum for the whole 8-week term, brief the preceptor on the visit, the phone conference and the week 4 and week 8 evaluations, and set out your clinical days early for the plan that goes to course faculty.
Keiser's clinical faculty run the visit and give the evaluation. Our part is making sure the placement they walk into, on site or on screen, is ready for them and documented from the start. Use the form below to begin a search.
Questions Keiser students ask
Does Keiser faculty visit clinical sites in person?
They can, but it is not required. Keiser's older Clinical Manual calls for at least one site visit clinical evaluation per semester and says it may be done on site or through a virtual resource. The 2023 manual adds that a KU faculty member or an appointed designee visits students at their placement during practicum experiences.
How many faculty site visits happen in a Keiser practicum?
The manual sets a minimum of one site visit per 16-week semester and one telephone clinical conference per 8-week term. Since each FNP practicum lasts one term, a single practicum always includes the phone conference, while the semester's site visit may fall in either of its two terms. Course faculty confirm the schedule.
Does Keiser check my clinical site before I start?
Yes. The 2023 clinical sites policy says every site must be approved by the Program before students attend and that faculty assess each site in person or remotely before the practicum. The Program can reject a site that falls short of its criteria, so leave room for that review when you plan your start.
Can someone other than my instructor do the Keiser site visit?
Yes. The 2023 manual says students are visited by a KU faculty member or an appointed designee, so the person on the visit may not be your course instructor. Either way, the evaluation feeds into how clinical faculty judge your practicum, alongside your preceptor's week 4 and week 8 ratings.
Do out-of-state Keiser students get site visits?
Yes. The manual lets the site visit clinical evaluation happen through a virtual resource, which suits placements far from Keiser's campuses. Students placed outside Florida should still plan for a phone conference every term and a visit every semester, and check that state's own rules for clinical training before choosing a site.
Related pages
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.
Keiser asks you to find your own preceptor. Let us run that search.
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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NUR602AandNUR603A, pediatrics forNUR604A, women's health forNUR605A - CV, license, certification and site contact ready for Keiser's review and the affiliation agreement
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