UNCW preceptor placement: frequently asked questions
Short answers to the broad questions UNCW nursing students ask most, each pointing to the page that covers the topic in depth. Where a rule depends on your cohort, your course syllabus, the handbook for your cohort and the Graduate Clinical Coordinator have the final word.
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.
Who finds the preceptor at UNCW?
It depends on the program. In the three BSN-DNP nurse practitioner concentrations (FNP, AGPCNP and PMHNP), the search belongs to the student, and UNCW's Clinical Placement Team backs it with site lists and advice. UNCW's DNP FAQ frames this as help offered alongside a strong push for students to find placements on their own. Finding your own preceptor explains what that means day to day.
Educator students pick a practicum site and a nurse educator to guide them, with faculty input. The School of Nursing assigns clinical placements to its BSN and ABSN students. The RN-BSN has practice experiences rather than a set number of clinical hours, and in the Post APRN and Nurse Executive Leadership concentrations the hours are immersion hours with no preceptor assigned. The programs guide covers each one.
Can my clinical hours happen outside North Carolina?
For nurse practitioner students, no. The 2025-26 DNP Student Handbook keeps every practicum hour in the three NP concentrations inside North Carolina, and UNCW's preceptor pages call for clinicians practicing or licensed in the state. Admission also calls for an NC or compact RN license so that clinical hours can be completed there. UNCW publishes no exception process for NP hours outside the state.
Other programs follow looser wording. An educator preceptor needs a license in whichever state hosts the practicum, RN-BSN students may use their current workplace for practice experiences, and Post APRN and NEL projects follow the student's state of licensure. The North Carolina clinical rule page covers students near the state line and those living elsewhere.
When should I start looking, and when is the paperwork due?
Earlier than most students expect. UNCW's placement process map tells students to begin searching half a year to a year ahead of the course. For submission, the handbook's narrative sets a floor of eight weeks before the semester, while its map says 90 days before the course begins, so plan to whichever date arrives first.
Two more timing facts catch students out. Contracts requested by a site may need six weeks or longer to process, and UNCW works through submissions in arrival order, sorted by semester start. Sites that charge an honorarium must also be submitted inside the application window UNCW posts in Canvas. The 8-week submission deadline page shows how the dates line up for spring and fall.
Which course numbers apply to me?
Students admitted from Fall 2025 onward follow new practicum sequences, and earlier cohorts finish on the previous ones. FNP students take NSGL 650 to NSGL 653 or the earlier NSGL 620 to NSGL 622; AGPCNP students take NSGL 660 to NSGL 663 or the earlier NSGL 636, NSGL 638 and NSGL 639; PMHNP students take NSGL 646 to NSGL 649 or the earlier NSGL 643 to NSGL 645.
The new sequences add a fourth practicum and change the split between patient care and other hours, and UNCW has published no end date for the old ones. Check your cohort's handbook to confirm your own sequence; the curriculum transition sets the two versions next to each other.
How does your service work, and what does it cost?
Our placement desk finds a North Carolina clinician suited to your UNCW course, collects the preceptor and site facts UNCW's packet asks for, supports you through approval, and restarts the search if a preceptor steps away. Approval always rests with UNCW's Graduate Clinical Coordinator, and our part is a submission with every field right. The full sequence is on how it works.
Quotes are individual, because the track, the hours, the specialty, your region and your timing all change the size of the search. UNCW's own charges, including any site honorarium billed through your student account, sit outside our quote. The cost page explains what moves a quote.
I'm a clinician. Can I precept a UNCW student?
Yes, if you meet UNCW's standard for the track. UNCW looks for clinicians practicing in North Carolina with board certification and a year or more as a provider. Nurse practitioners and nurse midwives also hold an RN license and NC Approval to Practice, and physicians and PAs hold a North Carolina license. Psychiatric rotations draw on psychiatric NPs, psychiatrists and psychiatric PAs, with therapy hours alongside licensed counselors, social workers and psychologists.
In return UNCW offers library resources, documentation of precepting hours and a potential adjunct appointment, and clinicians can also sign up through UNCW's own interest form. Precepting a UNCW student explains the commitment and how to tell us you are open to a student.
Questions UNCW students ask
Can I use a preceptor I already know?
Often, yes, as long as their credentials satisfy UNCW for your track and their patients suit the course. The exception is personal: UNCW's handbook rules out family members and friends as preceptors. A colleague from your nursing job, or an NP you met through an association, can work well once the credentials check out.
Can I do clinical hours where I work as a nurse?
It depends on the program. PMHNP students are barred from training in their own department. Most Post APRN and Nurse Executive Leadership students log immersion hours at their employer, and RN-BSN practice experiences can happen on the job. FNP and AGPCNP students should check with the Graduate Clinical Coordinator before planning around an employer.
Do you help students who have already started a practicum?
Yes. We take on mid-semester searches when a preceptor leaves, when a site runs short of the right patients, or when encounter minimums are falling behind. A clinical course can have as many as four preceptors under UNCW's rules, so a second site can often close the gap. Tell us the course, the hours logged and the encounter categories still short.
What should I have ready before I contact you?
Your program, your practicum course and curriculum, the semester, where you live and how far you would travel inside North Carolina, and the hours you still owe. Add any clinicians you have already contacted. If you are not sure of your course number yet, say so, and your placement advisor will help you work it out from your plan of study.
How do I reach the placement desk?
Fill in the form at the top or bottom of this page, start a chat, or tap the WhatsApp or text button. Each route reaches the same placement desk, and your advisor answers with what happens next. If your start date is close, choose that option in the form's clinical start field so the urgency is clear.
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.