Questions Bradley nursing students ask about preceptor placement
Short answers to what Bradley students ask before starting a search with us. Anything specific to one course, one deadline or one Bradley system has its own page, and each answer below links to it.
Get your placement plan
Tell us your Bradley program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with the preceptor and site options that fit your course.
Does a placement service fit Bradley's process?
Yes, and it fits closely. Bradley's graduate model already puts the search in your hands: its online pages advertise choosing your own preceptors, the handbook makes you responsible for arranging each practicum, and Bradley's role is to approve the preceptor and facility and handle the agreements. Bradley's public pages say nothing about placement services either way.
Working with us changes who does the legwork, not how Bradley's process runs. You still meet and choose your preceptor, the DocuSign packet still goes in under your name, and Bradley still makes every approval decision. Bradley's rules still apply in full: no relatives as preceptors and no pay to you for practicum work. For questions about your own program, your academic advisor has the final word. The decision is weighed in more depth on your placement options compared.
Which Bradley students do you help?
We work with Bradley's online graduate students across every track: Family, Psychiatric Mental Health, Adult-Gerontology Acute Care and Adult-Gerontology Primary Care nurse practitioners at the MSN, BSN-to-DNP and post-master's certificate levels; the MSN Nursing and Healthcare Leadership; and the post-master's DNP Nursing Leadership, where the need is a practice mentor. RN-entry students who need a community preceptor for NUR 407 are included too.
Bradley's campus BSN and accelerated BSN students are in a different position. Their clinicals are planned and supervised by Department of Nursing faculty at Peoria-area agencies, so they do not search for preceptors themselves. How those rotations work is on the campus BSN page.
What do you need from me to begin?
Very little at first. A first conversation needs only the basics, and your placement advisor asks for the rest as the search takes shape.
- Your track and entry route, for example BSN-to-MSN FNP or post-master's PMHNP
- The next NUR course you need a preceptor for, and its semester
- Your home city and the state Bradley approved for your clinicals
- The state where your RN license is active
- Days of the week you can train around work and family
- Any preceptor names you listed on your application or already contacted
If your clinical packet from MyOnline is handy, share the preceptor section too, so the search follows the current rules for your track. Send the details through the form below or the contact page.
How early should I reach out?
Earlier is always easier. Bradley's welcome sites want the preceptor packet by the middle of the semester before each clinical course; clinical deadlines lays out the dates. Hospital systems can add weeks or months of their own review on top. Two semesters ahead of a practicum gives you a relaxed search and a real choice between preceptors.
If you are closer than that, reach out anyway. A search with a few weeks left is still workable, and your advisor will tell you plainly what the timeline allows in the first conversation. For FNP students, remember that the October bootcamp in Peoria has to fit into the same months.
Who handles what with Bradley?
You stay the student of record for everything Bradley tracks. You submit the DocuSign preceptor packet, answer any Viewpoint Screening notice within 24 hours, and record hours and patient data in Typhon no more than a week after each clinical day. Bradley's Office of Online and Distance Education coordinates packets, clinical agency agreements and onboarding, and your course faculty approve the preceptor in Typhon.
Our part sits before and around those steps: finding the preceptor, confirming fit, gathering the preceptor's documents, and keeping the next practicum moving. That division keeps your record clean and your communication with Bradley direct. The full sequence is on the placement process page.
What if I move during the program?
Tell your academic advisor before the next semester starts. Bradley's handbook asks students to raise a move to an unapproved state, clinicals in a bordering state, or a military deployment before a new semester, because state approval, site agreements and liability coverage can all affect your progress. A license in the new state may be required too.
Once your advisor confirms where you can train, tell us and we restart the search around your new home, carrying over any course plans that still fit. Bradley's state table lists which tracks meet licensure requirements where; the relocation page explains what else changes.
Questions Bradley students ask
Can a friend or coworker be my preceptor?
A coworker can be a good lead, and Bradley's own 2017 preceptor webinar suggested asking coworkers and acquaintances. Relatives are different: the Graduate Professional Behaviors Policy lists family members as preceptors as a conflict of interest. Any preceptor still has to meet your track's rules and be approved by Bradley.
Do Bradley NP preceptors have to be nurse practitioners?
Not every one. Bradley's 2017 webinar let physicians (MD or DO) precept alongside nurse practitioners, kept PAs, CNSs and CNLs out, and expected NPs to supervise the larger share of hours. Current rules for each track are in its clinical packet in MyOnline; our preceptor requirements page collects what Bradley has published.
Can you find preceptors in rural areas?
Yes. We search around your home wherever it is in the state Bradley approved for you, including small towns where the nearest practice may be a drive away. Rural searches reach further, so your advisor may suggest two or three sites and let you weigh the travel against the schedule.
Do you help DNP students find a practice mentor?
Yes. BSN-to-DNP students need a practice mentor for the DNP Project courses NUR 841 to NUR 844, and DNP Nursing Leadership students need one for their practice-change project. We look for mentors whose setting suits your project question, and Bradley's DNP Project Practice Mentor Packet covers the approval.
Can I use your service for only part of my program?
Of course. Some students have a preceptor lined up for one course and need help with the next; others want the whole sequence planned. Tell us what is already in place and your advisor fills the gaps around it.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-25
We check these pages against Bradley's own catalog, online program pages and Graduate Student Handbook. Your clinical packet, course faculty and academic advisor have the final word.
Bradley lets you choose your preceptors. We find the ones worth choosing.
Tell us your Bradley track, your city and your next practicum course. We line up preceptors who fit the NUR course and gather the license, CV and malpractice details the DocuSign packet asks for, well before the midterm of the semester before you start.
- Preceptors matched to the course: primary care for FNP and AGPCNP, acute care teams for AGACNP, mental health settings for PMHNP
- Preceptor license, CV, malpractice coverage and the site address ready for the packet
- Every practicum in your sequence planned together, close to home in your approved state
Start your placement plan
Track, city and next practicum is all we need to begin.