When your Keiser preceptor or site falls through

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

Keiser's manuals give two answers when a placement collapses. The 2023 policy manual says an alternate site, once one is judged necessary, is arranged by Keiser's Program Coordinator and Clinical Coordinator together with the agency; the older Clinical Manual warns that a preceptor cannot be assumed to continue past the term, and that failed clinical hours mean retaking the whole course. Speed inside the 8-week term is what protects you.

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Numbered steps. The first days after the news: 1 Tell faculty and the Clinical Coordinator the same day; 2 Bring your Typhon log up to date; 3 Ask about a qualified stand-in; 4 Restart the search that week; 5 Prepare the replacement packet. — The first days after the news: 1 Tell faculty and the Clinical Coordinator the same day; 2 Bring your Typhon log up to date; 3 Ask about a qualified stand-in; 4 Restart the search that week; 5 Prepare the replacement packet.

What Keiser's documents actually say

Keiser's graduate nursing policy manual, in its 2023 revision, has one sentence on replacement sites: "If the determination is made necessitating an alternate site/agency for students' clinical practice, this will be coordinated by the Program Coordinator and the Clinical Coordinator in collaboration with agency representatives." It names who coordinates once Keiser decides an alternate is needed. It stops short of describing Keiser sourcing a new preceptor for an FNP student.

That fits the rest of Keiser's FNP policy, where students identify their own sites and preceptors from the start. Keiser's public documents hold no promise to replace a lost FNP site, so plan as though the next search is yours while keeping the Clinical Coordinator informed from day one. WHNP students training in South Florida are the exception to check: the catalog promises assistance in obtaining a site there, as the WHNP placement page explains.

The clock: extensions cannot be assumed

The older Clinical Manual is direct about time. If you cannot complete the required clinical hours for the term, you cannot expect the preceptor or mentor to keep going, and an extension of the clinical period with the preceptor "cannot be assumed". Failing the clinical hours "means that the class must be taken over in its entirety, including the clinical hours."

Each FNP practicum is one 8-week term. In a 120-hour course paced at 15 to 16 hours a week, losing a preceptor at the end of week 4 leaves about 60 hours for the last four weeks, and every week without an approved replacement pushes another 15 or so hours onto the weeks that remain.

Keiser holds an FNP student at the current theory-and-clinical pair until both are finished and graded, so one repeated practicum moves every later course back. The grades and progression page covers the B rule and repeats.

Raise a shortfall with faculty while the term still has weeks left. Keiser's older manual treats extra time with the preceptor as something you cannot count on, so waiting until week 8 leaves nothing to negotiate.

A short absence is not a lost preceptor

Not every gap is a collapse. The 2023 manual expects direct supervision throughout, and it accepts a stand-in only when that clinician matches the designated preceptor's credentials and experience. A preceptor's week of leave, covered by a qualified colleague at the same site, may keep your term intact, provided course faculty agree before you log hours under anyone new.

A lost placement is different: the practice closes, the agreement lapses, the preceptor leaves the organization or withdraws, or the site asks you to go. Each of those needs a new approved preceptor, and sometimes a new approved site, before hours resume. Keiser's undergraduate catalog has a separate rule for pre-licensure students (the program attempts to re-assign a student a site removes), and that rule describes the BSN and ASN programs, not graduate practicums.

The first days after the news

Tell faculty and the Clinical Coordinator the same dayPut it in writing: what happened, your last clinical date and the hours logged so far. Keiser's coordinators handle any alternate site, and they can only act on what they know.
Bring your Typhon log up to dateEnter every encounter you have completed, since Keiser expects documentation within 7 days. Ask course faculty how hours already logged at the first site carry into the rest of the term.
Ask about a qualified stand-inIf the absence is temporary, ask whether a clinician at the same site with the same credentials and experience can supervise, and get faculty approval before logging hours with them.
Restart the search that weekWork your network, earlier leads and the outpatient settings Keiser suggests on its program page, such as urgent cares, physician offices and retail clinics. Ask the Clinical Coordinator whether any nearby site already holds a Keiser agreement.
Prepare the replacement packetA new preceptor needs their own Preceptor/Mentor Information Form, backed by a current CV and license information, then Program Director approval and the clinical faculty's sign-off before hours begin.
Settle timing with course facultyIf the remaining hours may not fit the term, raise it well before week 8. What faculty decide shapes whether you finish this term or retake the course.

A replacement goes through every approval again

A mid-term replacement gets the same review as the original. The new preceptor goes through the Preceptor/Mentor Information Form and Program Director approval, and a new site needs its affiliation agreement fully signed before you arrive as a student. The Program also approves each site before students attend, with a faculty assessment in person or remotely.

That is why the fastest replacement is often a second clinician at a site already approved for you, or a site that already holds a Keiser agreement. A replacement needing a brand-new agreement, signed by the agency's executive of record and Keiser's Associate Vice Chancellor, takes the longest, so start it alongside everything else rather than after. Keep a running list of which documents each candidate has already sent.

Build the backup before you need it

The easiest rescue happens before the term. When you line up a preceptor about three months ahead, ask the site whether a second qualified clinician could step in, and keep your second-choice lead warm instead of turning it down. A backup who has already sent a CV turns a crisis into a form. Note your backup's license details and availability in the same file as your main preceptor's.

Plan the whole sequence too. Losing a preceptor in NUR602A affects NUR603A, since each practicum lists the earlier pairs as prerequisites. If your preceptor has already quit and the term is under way, the preceptor dropped out guide walks through the recovery, and the delayed graduation guide covers what a retake does to your finish date.

How we step in when a Keiser placement breaks

Replacement is part of our service from the first day, not an extra. When a Keiser student's preceptor or site drops, we search for a replacement near you right away, screen each candidate against Keiser's preceptor criteria, and prepare the CV, license details and agreement contact so the Clinical Coordinator and Program Director can review without delay. We stay on call through the rest of the term.

Keiser's faculty approve any replacement. Our part is getting a complete, rule-ready file in front of them fast, so the weeks you have left go to patient care rather than paperwork. If this has already happened to you, use the form below and choose "Already started, behind on hours".

Questions Keiser students ask

Will Keiser find me a new preceptor if mine drops out?

Keiser's public documents make no promise to replace an FNP preceptor. Under the 2023 policy manual, an alternate site Keiser deems necessary is arranged by its two coordinators with the agency, while the FNP program page leaves the search to students. Tell the Clinical Coordinator at once and restart your search in parallel.

Can I get an extension if my Keiser preceptor quits mid-term?

The older Clinical Manual tells students not to count on the preceptor staying past the term, and it treats failed clinical hours as a full course retake. Ask course faculty early, well before week 8, what options exist in your case, and keep your Typhon log current so every completed hour is documented.

Do I need a new affiliation agreement for a replacement site?

If the replacement is a different site, yes. Any site where you train needs a fully signed affiliation agreement with Keiser before your first clinical day there. A new preceptor at a site that already holds one still goes through the Preceptor/Mentor Information Form, Program Director approval and clinical faculty sign-off before you resume hours.

Can another clinician cover while my Keiser preceptor is away?

Keiser's 2023 manual accepts a substitute only if that clinician matches your approved preceptor in credentials and experience, and it expects direct supervision throughout. Ask course faculty before logging any hours with a stand-in, so those hours are recorded under an arrangement Keiser has approved.

What happens to my Keiser graduation date if I retake a practicum?

Keiser requires each FNP theory-and-clinical pair to be finished and graded before the next one opens, and each practicum lists the earlier pairs as prerequisites. A retaken practicum therefore moves every later course back by at least one 8-week term. Plan the rest of the sequence with your advisor as soon as a retake looks likely.

Placement helpPreceptor dropped outYour preceptor backed out before or during a Keiser practicum. Who at Keiser to tell, how to protect logged hours, and how a replacement search runs.ApprovalWho approves whatClinical Faculty, the Clinical Coordinator, the Program Director and the chairs: what each Keiser title clears before your practicum hours can begin.FormPreceptor/Mentor Information FormWhat goes with Keiser's Preceptor/Mentor Information Form, the CV or resume and license details it needs, who receives it and who approves your preceptor.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.Placement helpBehind on clinical hoursBehind on hours in a Keiser 8-week practicum? Do the catch-up math, use the moves Keiser's rules allow, bring faculty in early, and add an approved preceptor.

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.

Preceptors matched to the course: adult and older-adult primary care for NUR602A and NUR603A, pediatrics for NUR604A, women's health for NUR605A
CV, license, certification and site contact ready for Keiser's review and the affiliation agreement
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