Precepting a University of Cincinnati nursing student

Who UC accepts as a preceptor

UC's May 2026 Clinical Preceptor Guide sets the baseline. You need a master's degree or higher, national certification in your field and at least a year in the role, plus an active license without encumbrances in the state where the clinical takes place. A license with past discipline is reviewed case by case. For nurse practitioners the certifying bodies are ANCC, AANPCB, PNCB and AACN; UC also names NCC for women's health NPs and AMCB for nurse-midwives, and physicians (MD or DO) with relevant expertise can precept.

Tracks narrow this further. FNP students can't train with a clinical nurse specialist or a CPM, LM or CM, and midwifery students can't use LM or CPM holders. A PMHNP student's first internship needs a master's-level licensed therapist, for example an LCSW, a licensed counselor or a psychologist, before moving on to prescribers. PAs are accepted only in a short list of states, case by case, you can't precept a relative, and most tracks bar a student's own supervisor. Where a state board sets stricter preceptor rules, UC says those win. The preceptor requirements page has every track's list.

The application and the site agreement

UC's Preceptor Application has two halves. The student completes theirs first; you then add your license states, certifying body, years in practice, graduate education or a CV, the clinical site's details, the name of the site's administrative contact for agreements, and whether an agreement with UC is already active. Nurse-midwifery preceptors must attach a CV. You email the finished packet to the address the student's Clinical Site Coordinator gives, because UC's documents list more than one.

UC won't allow any clinical activity until an Educational Affiliation Agreement is in effect. The coordinator usually sends UC's standard agreement, already approved by UC's Office of General Counsel, to your site's administrative contact. If your organization insists on its own contract, both legal teams negotiate, which UC says can take six months or longer; even the standard route usually takes at least six weeks. UC can send your site a Letter of Good Standing, proof of the student's liability and malpractice coverage, and a compliance summary, and students are covered by UC's self-insurance and commercial insurance while enrolled. The affiliation agreement page goes deeper.

What a term with a UC student looks like

1. Welcome email. UC confirms your approval and adds you to eMedley, where access is limited to preceptors with a submitted application.
2. Faculty contact. The course faculty reach out to you and the student and send the syllabus and an introduction letter.
3. Clinical days. UC asks for one to two days a week, and hours count only inside the semester's official dates, the window in which the student's malpractice coverage applies.
4. Time logs. Sign in at he.emedley.com in Chrome and verify the student's time logs in eClas about every 14 days. You don't sign off case logs.
5. Conferences. You, the student and faculty confer at least twice a semester. The student schedules these.
6. Evaluations. The student sends you a midterm and a final evaluation to complete in eValuate. Faculty assign the grade using your feedback, and no grade is given until all evaluations and hours are in.

If something goes wrong during a clinical day, the student reports it to course faculty within 24 hours. The eMedley page shows what you'll see when you sign in.

What UC offers preceptors

UC is direct about pay: its preceptor FAQ states that the college does not currently compensate preceptors financially. What it does offer is continuing education webinars through the academic year, listed through the UC Alumni Association.

UC's preceptor training page also points to outside development resources, including the HRSA/ANEW online modules, NONPF video vignettes and the Ohio Primary Care Workforce Initiative's preceptor development series. The preceptor landing page links short teaching guides on the One-Minute Preceptor and SNAPPS models, which suit a busy clinic day.

Each year UC's APRN Preceptor Awards recognize one preceptor from the Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana tri-state region and one from outside it, each with a plaque and a cash award, and an Organization Award honors clinical sites. As a preceptor you're also expected to follow FERPA and HIPAA in how you handle the student's information.

Questions to settle before you say yes

• Will your organization sign UC's standard agreement, or does it require its own? Who is the administrative contact?
• Does your site charge an administrative fee? UC notes each site sets its own, and some agreements have UC collect it from the student.
• What onboarding system does your site run students through (ACEMAPP, MyClinicalExchange or another), and how long does it take?
• Is your system one UC coordinates centrally? UC asks students to contact their CSC before approaching Cleveland Clinic, Nationwide Children's, The Little Clinic, Summa Health, Norton, Allina, Essentia or Stanford Health Care.
• How many of the course's hours can you cover? A first FNP practicum, ANNP8070, totals 168 hours, which the student may split between preceptors.
• Is the student your employee, direct report or relative? Each can rule the placement out.

Where we come in

UC students come to our placement service to find their preceptors, and if one reached you that way, we make your paperwork simple. We walk you through the preceptor half of the application, gather the site details UC's coordinators ask for, including the administrative contact for the agreement, and check that the packet is complete before it goes in. UC's Clinical Site Coordination team then reviews you directly and gives the final approval.

If you'd be open to hosting UC nursing students in future, use the form on this page; it's already set to the preceptor option. Tell us your specialty, license state, practice setting and which days each week you could offer a student. For how the student side of the search works, see how it works.