An independent placement service built for UNCW nursing students
We exist because UNCW asks its nurse practitioner students to seek out their own clinical sites and preceptors, and that search is hard to run alongside a nursing job and a doctoral course load. We specialize in UNCW's clinical process, from the North Carolina rule to the Graduate Clinical Coordinator's review, and we carry the searching, matching and paperwork for you.
Get your placement plan
Tell us your UNCW program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with the preceptor and site options that fit your UNCW course.
Why a service for UNCW students
UNCW's DNP FAQ says the school offers help with clinical placement while placing great weight on students finding placements themselves, and the clinical handbook makes FNP, AGPCNP and PMHNP students responsible for locating and securing their own sites and preceptors. That is a clear, reasonable expectation, and it lands on people who are already busy.
UNCW's BSN-DNP students arrive as practicing registered nurses, since the concentrations require 600 hours of RN work before any clinical course, and the coursework is delivered online. Cold-calling practices between shifts, chasing a CV with the right dates and tracking which office said maybe is the part that falls behind. We built this service to take that part on, so students can put their energy into the program and their patients.
Built around UNCW's own process
Everything we do follows the way UNCW runs clinical placement. Our searches for NP students stay inside North Carolina, as the DNP Student Handbook requires. We match to the specific practicum course, in either the new sequence or the one earlier cohorts follow. We gather the preceptor and agency details UNCW's Clinical Placement Packet asks for, plan to the earlier of the handbook's two submission dates, and keep an eye on the limits that trip students up: four preceptors per course at most, one PMHNP student per preceptor on a clinical day, and site fees that go only through the UNCW student account.
UNCW's Graduate Clinical Coordinator approves every site and preceptor, and our job is to make sure each submission arrives complete and in line with UNCW's rules. The UNCW clinical placement process page shows the whole path.
How we work across North Carolina
Our outreach covers the whole state. Around Wilmington that means the Cape Fear counties of New Hanover, Brunswick, Pender, Onslow and Columbus, where NP supply varies sharply from county to county. Farther afield it means the Triangle, Charlotte, the Triad and eastern North Carolina, for students who live there or can stay with family near a site, an option UNCW's own FAQ encourages.
Large health systems each run their own student process, from Atrium Health's Center for Advanced Practice to Novant Health, where the school submits rotation requests. Many strong placements come from independent practices and community health centers instead, so we look well beyond the hospital systems. Regional detail lives on NP preceptors in Wilmington and North Carolina NP preceptors.
Who we help
Our core work is for UNCW's nurse practitioner students: BSN-DNP FNP, AGPCNP and PMHNP, the MSN-DNP PMHNP pathway, and the new PMHNP Post-Doctoral Certificate. We also find nurse educator preceptors for the MSN Nurse Educator and the Nurse Educator Post-Graduate Certificate, in the state where the student holds a license.
Some UNCW programs work differently. BSN and ABSN students receive clinical assignments from the School of Nursing, RN-BSN practice experiences carry no set clinical hours, and Post APRN and Nurse Executive Leadership students log immersion hours without an assigned preceptor. For those programs, our guides explain UNCW's rules clearly, and the placement desk answers questions about how each one fits with the rest of a student's plan. The programs guide covers every one.
How we work with you
- One placement advisor follows your placement from intake to the last clinical day.
- You see real options and make the choice; the preceptor is someone you agree to work with.
- We state UNCW's rules as UNCW writes them, and where its sources disagree we show both versions and name who settles the question.
- Every CV, license number and agency detail is checked before it reaches your packet.
- Preceptors' time is treated with care, which keeps North Carolina clinicians open to the next UNCW student.
That last point matters more than it looks. A well-prepared student and a tidy set of paperwork are why a busy NP says yes again next semester, and every UNCW student who follows benefits from that goodwill.
Talk to the placement desk
The placement desk is easy to reach. Send your program, practicum course, term and city through the form on any page, open the chat, or use the WhatsApp and text buttons, and a placement advisor replies with the next step. Clinicians who would like to host a UNCW student can reach the same desk. Preceptors, clinic managers and site coordinators are welcome too.
It helps to say where you are in the program: planning a first practicum, midway through a course, or facing a submission date that is close. The contact page lists what to include so the first reply can already be specific to your course.
Questions UNCW students ask
Who will I work with?
Your placement advisor, one person at the placement desk who handles your intake, runs the North Carolina search for your course, prepares the preceptor and agency details, and stays in touch through approval and the rotation. If a preceptor steps away, the same advisor reopens the search, so your course, dates and history are already known.
Do you only place students near Wilmington?
No. UNCW's NP coursework is online, so students can live anywhere in North Carolina, and our outreach follows them from the Cape Fear coast to the Triangle, Charlotte, the Triad and the eastern counties. The only boundary is UNCW's: NP clinical hours stay inside the state, while nurse educator searches follow the student's license.
Why focus on one university?
Because UNCW's details decide whether a placement works. The North Carolina rule, the two live course sequences, the packet fields, the site-fee policy and the PMHNP rotation rules are UNCW's own. Knowing them thoroughly means preceptors UNCW can approve and packets that move through review without a round of corrections.
Do you work with preceptors as well as students?
Yes. North Carolina NPs, physicians, PAs and nurse educators who are open to a UNCW student can tell the placement desk their specialty, county and availability. We match them with students whose course fits their practice and prepare the paperwork, so hosting a student takes as little of their time as possible.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-24
We check these pages against UNCW's catalog, handbooks and School of Nursing pages. Your course, your cohort's handbook and UNCW's Graduate Clinical Coordinator have the final word.
UNCW asks you to find your own North Carolina preceptor. Let us run that search.
Tell us your UNCW program, your practicum course and where in North Carolina you can travel. We find preceptors who fit the course and prepare the CV, license and agency details UNCW's Graduate Clinical Coordinator reviews, well before the deadline.
- Preceptors matched to the course: primary care, pediatrics and women's health for
NSGL 650toNSGL 653, adult and older-adult care for AGPCNP, psychiatric care for PMHNP - Preceptor CV with dates and site, license number and agency details ready for your submission
- In Wilmington, the Cape Fear region or wherever in North Carolina your clinicals can happen
Start your placement plan
Your program, city and next practicum term is all we need to begin.