How Cincinnati health systems take NP students

Read this before you contact a system

UC expects graduate students to find their own preceptors and encourages networking with local organizations from the first semester. Its 2026–27 handbook also says all placement communication runs through your assigned Clinical Site Coordinator, and that the college holds clinical partnerships across Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. So you can build contacts at these systems, but the agreement, the approval and anything official go through your CSC.

UC keeps a short list of organizations students must clear with their CSC before approaching, and none of the six Cincinnati-area systems below is on it. Each still needs an Educational Affiliation Agreement with UC before hours count, and some add a contract or onboarding of their own. The agreement is explained on UC's affiliation agreement, and onboarding platforms in general on UC site onboarding.

The six systems side by side

This summary draws on each system's student pages and on The Health Collaborative's regional pages. Where a cell says not stated, the public pages didn't say.

UC Health and TriHealth

UC Health lists nurse practitioner students among the disciplines it hosts. Its placement page says an affiliation agreement must be established with the student's school and that students meet compliance requirements as that agreement sets them. You can ask for a specific department or preceptor, though the page warns that availability may be limited. It names no onboarding platform.

TriHealth's student resources ask for the school's name, the preceptor's name and the dates, and require the school to hold an existing student affiliation agreement and certificate of insurance with TriHealth. Students complete Annual Mandatory Education, a social media module and a Student Orientation Attestation, with at least 80% on the quizzes. The page says prelicensure nursing students use Clinician Nexus. A 2025 vendor announcement described Clinician Nexus for rotations across TriHealth's four acute-care hospitals and more than 140 locations, without mentioning NP students.

The Christ Hospital and Mercy Health

The Christ Hospital Health Network's own clinical education and advanced practice pages don't describe a student placement process. Its page on The Health Collaborative's site does hold paperwork: a cover letter for clinical students marked for nurse practitioner students only, a clinical student acknowledgement form, a confidentiality and data security agreement, a code of responsible conduct and parking instructions.

Mercy Health's Cincinnati hospitals (West, Fairfield, Anderson, Clermont, The Jewish Hospital and Kings Mills) appear on the regional page with a 2026 nursing student placement guide. Bon Secours Mercy Health's January 2026 instructions send students through Bridges EXP, then Workday modules and Epic access, and are written for undergraduate nursing students. Bridges EXP now says its placement solution is no longer available, and we found no Mercy page for NP or advanced practice students. Ask your CSC how Mercy onboards graduate students today.

Cincinnati Children's

Cincinnati Children's runs a Nurse Practitioner Clinical Practicum with a published process. You need an active Ohio RN license and enrollment in an affiliated program; UC is among the more than 30 programs listed. You submit the APRN Clinical Placement Interest Form. The application usually goes out three to four months before the semester, and decisions follow two to three months before it starts.

The page is candid that requests exceed the available placements and that Cincinnati Children's own staff get priority. Treat it as one option and keep a second search running alongside it. Other graduate nursing practicums there use a Graduate Nurse Experience Form, due at least six weeks ahead.

If you're planning a pediatric acute care practicum, the course sequence and preceptor rules are on UC PNP-AC clinicals.

St. Elizabeth Healthcare in Northern Kentucky

St. Elizabeth lists the University of Cincinnati among its eight partner nursing programs. Its student guidelines, dated September 2025, split two routes. Hospital placements are requested through the regional placement system. Nurse practitioner students follow the St. Elizabeth Physicians (SEP) process, and a separate contract with SEP is needed alongside the hospital's affiliation agreement. Note both on the Preceptor Application's site and agreement questions so your CSC sees the full picture.

For rotations with providers credentialed through medical affairs, St. Elizabeth's Graduate Medical Education office onboards students through Clinician Nexus at least 14 days before the start date, and that office supports advanced practice providers. The system's 2026 onboarding modules, covering HIPAA, infection control and more, take 80% to pass. Because this site is across the river, Kentucky's rules apply; see Kentucky and Indiana clinicals.

The Health Collaborative, and why UC students search with us

The Health Collaborative runs a Centralized Clinical Placement System chosen by the region's nursing programs and member hospitals. Its page describes prelicensure placement and no APRN process, though its sub-page for each system holds forms and modules NP students can use, such as The Christ Hospital's cover letter. Don't expect it to find you an NP preceptor.

Cincinnati is UC's home market, and we know how its systems work: which publish an NP route, which onboard through Clinician Nexus, where St. Elizabeth needs its separate SEP contract. We search these systems and the independent practices around them for a preceptor who fits your UC practicum, then hand your CSC a complete packet: the Preceptor Application, license and certification details, and the site's administrative contact for the agreement. Your CSC makes the final call; we make sure nothing is missing when it arrives. If you've applied to Cincinnati Children's, we keep a second search running alongside it. Ohio's rules for these rotations are on Ohio NP clinical rules.