How we place Bradley nursing students with preceptors, step by step
You tell us your Bradley track, the practicum course coming up next and your home city. Your placement advisor finds preceptors who fit that course in your approved state, confirms each one will host you, and hands you everything the DocuSign preceptor packet asks for well ahead of Bradley's deadline. Bradley then reviews and approves the preceptor and site, exactly as it does for every student.
Start your placement plan
Track, city and next course is enough for the first call.
Built on Bradley's own model
Bradley's online nursing pages promise students they can "Choose your preceptors" and do their clinicals close to home. The Graduate Student Handbook matches that by making each student responsible for arranging every practicum, the admission pages ask NP and DNP applicants to name possible preceptors or mentors, and Bradley approves the facility and the preceptor. It is a model built for working nurses who want to train where they live.
The freedom comes with a job attached: finding people who say yes, who meet Bradley's rules, and who can host the hours a course demands. That is the work we take on. You keep the choice, you meet every preceptor before anything is signed, and the packet goes to Bradley under your name. More on what the model asks of you is on choosing your own preceptor.
The placement steps
- Tell us where you areYour track and entry route, the next NUR course and its semester, your city and approved state, the days you can train, and any names you listed on your application.
- We match the course to a settingFNP and AGPCNP courses call for primary care; AGACNP calls for hospital-based acute care teams; PMHNP calls for psychiatric and mental health settings; the leadership practicums call for seasoned nurse leaders;
NUR 407calls for a community setting; DNP project work calls for a practice mentor. - We search and screenYour placement advisor contacts practices and hospitals near you and checks each candidate against Bradley's published rules: an active, unencumbered license, the right credential for your track, and no family ties.
- You meet and decideYou speak with the preceptor, agree on days and start date, and choose. Nothing moves forward without your yes.
- We assemble the packet detailsYour preceptor's license and CV, their malpractice coverage, the practice address and the course number, assembled for the DocuSign packet you file at the prior semester's midpoint.
- Bradley reviews and approvesBradley decides on the preceptor and facility, the agency agreement is set up on Bradley's side, and course faculty approve the preceptor record in Typhon.
- We plan the next oneWhile this practicum runs, your advisor is already lining up the next course, and stays on call in case anything changes.
What you bring to the process
A few pieces only you can supply. Having them ready before your advisor starts calling means a preceptor who says yes can move straight to the packet instead of waiting on you.
- Your own clearance: Viewpoint Screening complete by the middle of your first semester, and any notice answered within 24 hours
- An RN license that is active wherever your rotation takes place
- Honest availability, including work shifts, the FNP Bootcamp in October or the AG skills bootcamp
- Quick replies when a preceptor asks to talk
- Your clinical packet from MyOnline, so we match its current rules
If you already have a preceptor for one course, tell us. We plan around what you have and fill the gaps.
Timing that matches Bradley's calendar
Online nursing at Bradley runs on 15-week fall and spring semesters, each halved into 7-week terms, and a 13-week summer halved into 6-week terms. Current welcome sites set the preceptor packet deadline at the middle of the semester preceding the clinical course, so a spring practicum needs a finished packet partway through fall. The precise date sits in MyOnline's academic calendar.
We like to start a full semester before that deadline, because some hospitals add their own reviews and agreements that take weeks or months. Starting early also leaves room to meet two or three preceptors and pick the best fit. Late starts still happen, and our urgent placement page shows how a short timeline is handled. The dates themselves are gathered on clinical deadlines.
Who does what
Clear roles keep a Bradley placement on track. The student, Bradley and the placement desk each own part of the path, and none of it is duplicated.
| Task | Who handles it |
|---|---|
| Search, outreach and fit checks | Your placement advisor |
| Choosing the preceptor | You |
| Preceptor details for the packet | Your placement advisor, with the preceptor |
| Submitting the DocuSign packet | You |
| Approving preceptor and facility | Bradley |
| Agency or affiliation agreement | Bradley's Office of Online and Distance Education and the site |
| Logging hours in Typhon within 7 days | You |
| Grading and course decisions | Course faculty |
Keeping these lines clear protects you: Bradley hears from you directly, and your record shows your own submissions. The full Bradley path from application to first clinical day is on the placement process page. Ready to begin? Send us your track and next course.
If a preceptor steps away
Plans shift: a preceptor changes employers, a clinic loses staff, a hospital pauses student rotations for a season. Bradley's public documents do not lay out a replacement process, so the first move is to tell your course faculty. Hours with a replacement count only after Bradley approves the new preceptor.
The second move is to call us. Your advisor starts a replacement search straight away, prioritizing preceptors who can pick up mid-course, and prepares the new packet details so approval is not held up by missing paperwork. Where a course is already underway, your advisor also helps you work out with course faculty how many hours remain and how many weeks are left to earn them. The preceptor dropped out page covers the steps in full.
Questions Bradley students ask
Which Bradley students do you work with?
Online graduate students in every track: FNP, PMHNP, AGACNP and AGPCNP at the MSN, DNP and certificate levels, the MSN Nursing and Healthcare Leadership, the DNP Nursing Leadership, and RN-entry students who need a NUR 407 community preceptor. Campus BSN and accelerated BSN clinicals are arranged by Bradley's faculty.
Do I still submit the preceptor packet myself?
Yes. The packet goes through DocuSign as Bradley instructs, from you and your preceptor. We make sure everything the packet asks for is gathered and accurate first, so the submission is complete the first time and approval is not delayed by a missing CV or an expired document.
What if I live outside Illinois?
That works well. We search in your home state as Bradley has approved it, and check Bradley's state table for your track first. The state guides cover each state's board, compact status and local health systems.
Can you help if my practicum starts soon?
Yes. Tell us the course, the start date and whether the packet deadline has already passed. Your advisor focuses on preceptors who can be approved quickly and are ready to host, and you get an honest read on the timeline in the first conversation.
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.