Finding your own preceptor as a Keiser FNP student

What Keiser's FNP page says

The answer sits in the questions-and-answers section of Keiser's FNP program page. Asked how students get assigned a clinical preceptor, Keiser answers: "Students identify their own clinical sites and preceptors. Getting a preceptor can take some time, depending on where you live." The same text ran on the older FNP FAQ page before that page was retired.

Keiser's 2023 Graduate Nursing Program Policy and Procedure Manual is blunter: students in the MSN-FNP "must acquire all clinical sites for the program in which they are enrolled." The older clinical manual describes a partnership instead, with the student working alongside clinical faculty or the Clinical Coordinator to secure an agreement with a qualified site. The sources differ in tone and agree on substance: you propose, Keiser vets.

What the search involves

"Find a preceptor" sounds like one task. In practice it is several smaller ones, and any of them can stall. You need a clinician Keiser will accept, at a site that will sign, with patients of the right ages and enough open days to fit your hours inside one 8-week term.

1. Build a target listKeiser's FNP page points toward health department primary care, physician offices, retail and urgent care clinics, and fast track clinics. Start close to home, since your preceptor has to practice at the site where you train.
2. Screen before you askCheck each clinician against Keiser's rules on type, license and experience before making a request. The preceptor requirements guide sets out the full list.
3. Make the request specificName the course, the term dates and the weekly load, about 15 to 16 hours for a 120-hour practicum. A clear, bounded request is easier to say yes to.
4. Confirm the site will host youA preceptor's yes is not the practice's yes. Ask who handles student agreements and whether the site has hosted Keiser students before.
5. Collect documents and submitGather the CV or resume and license details, then send in the Preceptor/Mentor Information Form.

Start with your workplace and your network

Many Keiser students look first at the clinic or hospital where they already work. Keiser permits it with conditions: you train outside your usual department, under someone other than your direct boss, during hours you are not on shift, and never on your own unit. The workplace clinical rules cover the insurance waiver and the rest.

Colleagues, former instructors and clinicians you have worked beside make up the next circle. A warm introduction tends to get a faster answer than a cold message to a front desk. Keep a simple record of whom you contacted and when; the same list will serve your next practicum.

The search, handled by specialists

Finding your own preceptor is Keiser's rule; doing it alone is optional. Keiser FNP students choose us because this search is our specialty. We look for an in-person preceptor near where you live, test the fit against Keiser's rules and your exact practicum, settle clinic days that work in an 8-week term, and put together the credentials and site details your form needs.

You still submit to Keiser, and Keiser still decides. What changes is that your file arrives early and complete, with a preceptor who already fits the rules. If a preceptor drops later in the program, we are on call to find the next one.