How we work with Samford nurse practitioner students, from first message to final clinical hour
You bring your Samford track, the clinical course coming up next and where you live. We find a preceptor in your own community whose practice fits that course, prepare the details Samford reviews, and keep compliance and site onboarding moving until your hours begin. Samford approves every preceptor and site, and each step below is built around that review.
Start with your next clinical course
Share your Samford track, the clinical course that opens next and your ZIP code. Your placement advisor replies with a search plan built around that course and its term.
Where we sit in Samford's own process
Samford's placement model for its online FNP and PMHNP students has three parts. Moffett & Sanders has agreements in place with hundreds of clinical agencies, concentrated in the Southeast. Samford reviews each clinical rotation request and approves the preceptor and the site. And the preceptor close to home arrives through the student's professional and personal connections, with Samford able to add an agreement when that preceptor practices at a site new to it.
Our work is the third part. For a nurse whose contacts do not yet include an NP or physician ready to teach a whole course, we become that connection, shaped to suit the first two parts. The connections guide reads Samford's wording line by line.
Six steps from first message to first clinical day
Each step rests on the one before it. A student whose course opens soon can join at any step, and we run the steps side by side rather than drop one.
- You tell us the course.Your track, the clinical course that comes next, its term, your home ZIP code and the longest drive you will accept. Send the course list from your plan of study, where Samford prints each course's clinical hours.
- We write a course brief.Your placement advisor turns the course into search terms: adult primary care for the 150 hours of
NURG 723, patients of every age for the 300 hours ofNURG 724, psychotherapy supervision forNURG 767, psychiatric practice fromNURG 788on. - We search your community.We approach nurse practitioners, physicians and other suitably licensed clinicians near you, confirm license, specialty and room for the term's hours, and bring you the options that fit. You pick the preceptor.
- We assemble the rotation details.Credentials, license state, specialty, practice name and address, a weekly schedule inside the term dates and, where a new affiliation agreement is likely, the site's contract signer, arranged to match what your NP Clinical Manual asks for.
- You submit and Samford decides.You send the clinical rotation request through the manual's route. Samford reviews it, opens an agreement with the site if needed and makes the approval decision.
- We clear the path to day one.Site onboarding (badges, orientation modules, added screening) is tracked beside your Samford compliance, so the Health Data Record, TB test, flu vaccine and AHA BLS card are current before registration.
What you send us and what you get back
| Stage | From you | From your placement advisor |
|---|---|---|
| Start | Track, next clinical course, term, ZIP code, driving limit | A course brief and a search plan timed to your term |
| Search | Prompt replies when a preceptor asks for a call or a resume | Preceptor options near home, each checked against the course |
| Request | The rotation request, sent through Samford's route | Preceptor and site details organized for it, plus agreement contacts where needed |
| Clearance | Current compliance documents and any extras the site adds | The site's onboarding steps, listed with due dates |
| Rotation | Hours logged under the manual's rules and early word of any problem | An advisor on call, and a replacement search if the preceptor steps away |
A preceptor who asks for a short call or a resume is usually close to yes, so make that request the priority of your week.
Timing: when each step should happen
Samford publishes no lead time for NP placements; any rotation request cutoff sits in the NP Clinical Manual. So we plan backward from the term. The 2026-27 graduate calendar starts spring classes on January 11, 2027 (January 4 for certain clinical experiences) and the 12-week summer term on May 17.
| When | What happens |
|---|---|
| Two terms before the course | Course brief written, search under way, especially for a 300-hour course or a site new to Samford |
| One term before | Preceptor confirmed, rotation details assembled, any new affiliation agreement started |
| The weeks before the start | Compliance brought current, site onboarding finished, schedule agreed |
| The first weeks of the term | Hours begin; your advisor checks that the schedule holds |
Some health systems set request deadlines a full term ahead; the academic calendar guide gives an example. If your course is already closer than this table allows, can't find a preceptor sets out the first week.
Programs we serve, and where Samford places you
Full placement support covers every online NP track: FNP by BSN to MSN, ADN to MSN, BSN to DNP, MSN to DNP and the post-graduate certificate, and PMHNP by MSN, ADN to MSN, MSN to DNP and the certificate. The clinical courses repeat across entry points, so our course briefs follow the course rather than the degree.
Nurse anesthesia and BSN students are placed by Samford. The Nurse Anesthesia DNP assigns students to clinical sites, some far from campus, and the undergraduate handbook says the school chooses BSN sites, units and preceptors. For them we help with planning, compliance timing and questions, while Samford makes the placement. Online RN to BSN students are encouraged to complete the practicum in their current health community, and we can help you weigh settings there while your course sets the requirements.
Why Samford students choose us
We work from Samford's own documents rather than a generic checklist, and we start early.
- Every search opens with your plan of study: the NURG course number, its hours and the patients it covers.
- Preceptors near your home come first, because Samford leaves clinical travel for the student to arrange and fund.
- Site details arrive ready for Samford's review, with the agreement question settled before it can hold up a start.
- Compliance and onboarding dates sit on one timeline with your term and get checked before registration.
- One placement advisor knows your file from the first message to the final practicum, replacement searches included.
The placement request form is the first step, and what shapes the cost explains how a quote is put together.
The most common mistake is waiting for the clinical course to open in Canvas. Access begins with the semester, and by then the preceptor, any new agreement and the rotation request should be settled.
Questions Samford students ask
Do I still submit the clinical rotation request myself?
Yes. The request is yours to send through the route your NP Clinical Manual describes, and Samford makes the call. Your placement advisor prepares the preceptor and site details that go into it, checks them against the course, and stays reachable in case Samford comes back with a question about the practice or the clinician.
What should I have ready before I contact you?
Your plan of study, the number and term of your next clinical course, your home ZIP code and an honest driving limit. Mention any clinicians you already know, however loosely, because a lead you hold can shorten the search. Your compliance status helps as well, since a lapsed BLS card or TB test can hold up a site.
Can you help Samford students who live outside Alabama?
Yes, in the states where Samford accepts NP applicants and where your RN license is valid. The graduate handbook requires a license valid in each state that hosts your clinical hours and warns that state rules can lead to a denied rotation request. Clinicals outside Alabama covers what we plan around.
How is the cost of a placement set?
Each quote is built around your program, the course, where you live and how much time remains before the term, and it states what it covers. Samford's tuition, fees and compliance costs such as background checks stay separate. The cost page walks through the factors in more detail.
Could the same preceptor take me for two Samford courses?
Sometimes. A family practice that sees adults and children may suit both NURG 723 and NURG 724, and a psychiatric practice may carry you from NURG 788 into NURG 789. Each course still needs its own rotation request, and your faculty judge whether one site gives the range a course needs.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-25
We check these pages against Samford's own program pages, plans of study, the 2026-27 Graduate Nursing Student Handbook and Alabama rules. Your course, your program coordinator and Graduate Student Services have the final word.
Samford says connections are essential. We are the connection.
Tell us your Samford track, where you live and when your next clinical course starts. We find preceptors near you who fit the course and prepare the details Samford needs to approve the rotation, including a new affiliation agreement where one is needed.
- Preceptors matched to the course: adult primary care for
NURG 723, family practice across the lifespan forNURG 724, psychiatric care forNURG 788 - Preceptor, license and site details ready for your clinical rotation request
- In your own community, anywhere Samford accepts you and your RN license is valid
Start your placement plan
Program, city and start date is all we need to begin.