Precepting a Jacksonville State University nursing student
JSU's nurse practitioner and DNP students learn alongside experienced clinicians across Alabama and neighboring states, and a well-made match makes that teaching rewarding on both sides. Here is what precepting a JSU student involves, from the practicum or residency itself to JSU's clearance, and how we take the coordination off your desk.
Offer to precept a JSU student
Share your specialty, your town and the semesters that suit you. A placement advisor replies with students whose course fits your practice.
Who the students are
JSU's School of Nursing, part of the College of Health Professions and Wellness in Jacksonville, Alabama, prepares nurse practitioners through an online BSN-DNP with two tracks: Family Nurse Practitioner, and Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner, which uses the ANP course prefix. Every student is a registered nurse, and the NP tracks consider applicants living in Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi or Tennessee.
Students reach their first practicum after advanced pathophysiology, pharmacology and health assessment. They earn an MSN after the fourth practicum and continue into three DNP residencies. JSU's Post-Master's DNP students, who arrive with a master's in nursing already complete, take the same residencies.
JSU also runs its own Request a JSU DNP Student page, which invites community partners to welcome FNP and ANP students and DNP projects; the clinical partner requests guide explains how it works.
The NP practicums: four semesters, four courses
Each NP practicum runs for one full semester, is paired with a lecture course and carries its own hours. You can host a single semester or several, and each course brings its own patient focus. Each practicum runs alongside its paired lecture course, so Practicum I on the family track sits beside Advanced Family NP I.
| Practicum | Term | FNP hours | AGACNP hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Practicum I | Spring | 120 | 70 (110 on the plans of study) |
| Practicum II | Summer | 210 | 210 |
| Practicum III | Fall | 250 | 250 |
| Practicum IV | Spring | 250 | 280 |
The family track's final practicum, FNP 7877, spans pediatric, adult, obstetric and geriatric patients. The acute care courses serve late adolescents, adults and older adults. Course-level details are on the FNP practicums and AGACNP practicums pages.
Hosting a DNP resident for 16 months
The DNP residency is a longer partnership built around a project. JSU's timeline has students matched with a preceptor and site in late May, then working with that same preceptor and site for 16 months across three residencies of 210 hours each. Contract paperwork goes in at the start.
The work centers on a quality-improvement project inside your organization. The timeline sets four meetings each semester, first to plan and later to carry out the project, with implementation starting in January and running 8 to 10 weeks. Preceptors are asked to suggest content for the student's Executive Summary, results are shared at your site in July, and JSU's Dissemination Day invites project facility staff to campus to discuss the projects.
Who can precept, and how JSU clears you
Alabama's nursing education rules define an advanced practice preceptor broadly: an APRN, a physician or another appropriately licensed clinician whose practice centers on the relevant population. JSU's own timeline says only that students work with a licensed preceptor. Alabama nurse practitioners practice in collaboration with a physician, and the Alabama practice guide explains what that means for teaching. Nurse practitioners, physicians and other qualified clinicians are all welcome to offer their time.
JSU's faculty clear every preceptor and site, and Alabama's rules keep them responsible for planning and evaluating the student's clinical learning. What they review is your license, certification and practice details, along with the site information a contract needs. We gather all of it with you in one organized file, so the request reaches you once rather than piecemeal.
What a JSU student brings to your site
Students arrive with their own clearance done before the first clinical day. JSU's graduate handbook requires, among other items:
- Malpractice coverage purchased through the JSU School of Nursing and approved before any site is contacted.
- A CastleBranch record with immunizations, TB testing, a yearly flu shot and physical, AHA CPR for healthcare providers, health insurance and a current RN license.
- A background check completed before admission, with results shared with administrative staff at assigned clinical sites.
- Drug screening before clinicals, plus random and for-cause testing.
- A JSU School of Nursing ID badge worn in the clinical setting.
JSU also asks students to notify their course faculty before missing any scheduled day with a preceptor, so your clinic schedule is respected.
How we make precepting easy
Our role is to take the coordination off your plate. You decide how much you teach, and we handle the matching and the paperwork around it.
- Students matched to your practice: the right track, the right course and patients your clinic already sees.
- Your availability respected: tell us the semesters and clinic days that suit you, and we match to them.
- One complete file for JSU's faculty, prepared with you once.
- Students whose CastleBranch and malpractice items are confirmed before your site is contacted.
- A single placement advisor as your contact, on call through the semester.
To offer your time, choose "I'm a preceptor (not a student)" on the form and tell us your specialty, your town and the terms that work for you.
Questions JSU students ask
How much of my week does precepting a JSU student take?
It depends on the course. FNP Practicum I carries 120 catalog hours across a spring term, while Practicum IV on the acute care track carries 280. Spread evenly over a full term, most practicums work out to roughly 8 to 18 hours a week by our own arithmetic. You and the student set clinic days that fit your schedule, and your advisor helps you pick a course that suits your capacity.
Can I precept for a single semester?
Yes. Each JSU practicum is a one-semester course with its own hours, so hosting one term is a complete commitment on its own. JSU's partner intake form even asks hosts how many contact hours or semesters they can offer. Tell us which terms suit you, and we match a student whose course falls in that window. DNP residencies differ, running 16 months with one preceptor.
Who evaluates the student during the practicum?
JSU's course faculty are responsible for planning and evaluating clinical learning, as Alabama's nursing education rules require of every program. JSU's graduate preceptor evaluation forms are not public, so the course faculty explain what they need from you at the start of the term. Your placement advisor makes sure that introduction happens before the first clinical day.
Which students would you send to my practice?
Only students whose JSU course fits what your practice does and who live within reach of it. A family practice seeing children, adults and older adults suits the FNP track, while a hospital unit or acute care group suits the AGACNP track. The preceptor needs a license valid in the state where the student's hours take place, and we confirm that as part of the match.
What does my organization commit to by hosting a student?
For a practicum, the commitment is one semester of supervised hours, plus the site details JSU needs for a contract. For a DNP residency it is larger: the same preceptor and site for 16 months, project meetings each semester and support for a quality-improvement project. We explain the specific course before you agree, so the scope is clear from the start.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-27
We check these pages against JSU's 2026-27 catalog, nursing handbooks, program pages and licensure disclosures. Your course faculty and your plan of study have the final word.
Whether JSU helps or you start alone, we find the preceptor.
Tell us your JSU program, your next practicum or residency and the town you train near. We find preceptors and sites that fit the course and gather what JSU's faculty need to clear them, early enough for the semester.
- Preceptors matched to the course: family practice across the lifespan, adult-gerontology acute care, DNP residencies
- License, certification and site details ready for JSU's clearance, with your CastleBranch and malpractice items in order
- Across Alabama and in Georgia, Florida, Mississippi and Tennessee
Start your placement plan
Your program, your town and your next clinical semester is all we need to begin.