Who can precept a Samford nurse practitioner student
Samford approves every NP preceptor, and the detailed credential rules sit in the NP Clinical Manual inside Canvas rather than on a public page. What anyone can read is Alabama's definition of an APRN preceptor and the title and hours of each clinical course. Choose a preceptor who satisfies both, then confirm the rest with your course before a rotation request goes in.
Find a preceptor who fits your course
Tell us your track, your town and the course number. We match the practice to the course.
What Samford publishes about NP preceptors
Less than most students expect. The 2026-27 Graduate Nursing Student Handbook sends every NP student to the NP Clinical Manual, which lives in the Nurse Practitioner Homeroom in Canvas and is not posted publicly. No public Samford page lists NP preceptor credentials, a preceptor agreement or a preceptor evaluation form. Once you have Canvas access, read the manual before you approach anyone, because it outranks anything written elsewhere, this page included. Our guide to the NP Homeroom and Clinical Manual explains what is public and what is not.
The one public Samford phrase on preceptor approval appears in the graduate catalog's description of NURG 767 Psychotherapeutic Frameworks and Modalities, which asks for therapy hours with "a Samford approved preceptor." That phrase sums up the system for every NP course: you may bring the name, and Samford decides. Faculty stay in charge once the rotation starts, too. The handbook gives the faculty member the right to remove a student from the clinical setting when behavior suggests the student may not be able to give safe care.
Alabama's definition of an APRN preceptor
Samford is an Alabama program, so the Alabama Board of Nursing's education rules in chapter 610-X-3 frame who counts. Rule 610-X-3-.01(9) defines the preceptor for an advanced practice program as "an advanced practice registered nurse, a physician, or other appropriately licensed, population-focused clinician." The same rule describes the job: guiding the student, modeling the role, serving as a resource and teaching in the clinic.
Two words carry most of the weight. Licensed means a current license for the place where you will see patients. Population-focused means the preceptor's practice matches the population your track prepares you for: individuals and families across the lifespan for FNP students, psychiatric and mental health patients for PMHNP students. A gifted clinician outside that population can still be the wrong match for a Samford course.
The definition sits among other standards for APRN programs that Samford's own pages do not cite. Our page on Alabama Board of Nursing rules walks through them in plain words.
Matching the preceptor to each Samford clinical course
The course decides fit, not the preceptor's job title. Samford's plans of study, dated December 2025, name each clinical course and its hours. The practice types in the right-hand column are our reading of those course titles; your syllabus has the final word.
| Course | Hours in the plan | Practice that usually fits |
|---|---|---|
NURG 723 FNP Clinical: Adult | 150 | Primary care for adults, with an NP or physician managing acute and chronic problems |
NURG 724 FNP Clinical: Across the Lifespan | 300 | Family practice that sees children as well as adults |
NURG 716, NURG 717, NURG 718 (FNP BSN to DNP) | 225, 225, 300 | Family primary care; each syllabus sets the patient mix |
NURG 730 NP Practicum | 300 | Family primary care for the final FNP rotation |
NURG 767 Psychotherapeutic Frameworks and Modalities | 75 (catalog: at least 60) | A clinician providing psychotherapy whom Samford approves |
NURG 788 and NURG 789 (PMHNP) | 150, 225 | Psychiatric care in one of the mental health settings Samford's PMHNP pages describe |
NURG 790 PMHNP Practicum | 300 | Psychiatric practice for the final PMHNP rotation |
The clinical hours page sets the hours out by program, including the plan-versus-catalog conflict on NURG 767.
What to confirm before the name goes on your rotation request
A yes from a preceptor starts the process; it does not finish it. Before you submit a clinical rotation request, settle each of these with the preceptor and the practice, in writing where you can:
- License: an active license in the state where the rotation takes place, in a role Alabama's definition covers.
- Population: patients who match the course, such as adults for
NURG 723or psychiatric patients forNURG 788. - Schedule: enough clinic days to reach the course hours at the 10 to 20 hours per week Samford's program pages describe.
- Agreement: whether Samford already holds an affiliation agreement with the site or its health system, or whether you will ask Samford for a new one.
- Onboarding: the site's own student steps, such as orientation modules, a student badge or record access.
- Commitment: that the preceptor can keep you for the whole semester, not only the first few weeks.
A preceptor across a state line needs one more check, because Samford's handbook allows clinical rotation requests to be denied on state rules.
Students often treat a willing preceptor as an approved one. Samford reviews and approves every preceptor and site, so keep a second candidate who fits the course until your approval comes through.
What health systems ask about your preceptor
Large systems put the preceptor question near the top of their forms. According to its student page, Huntsville Hospital Health System registers graduate NP students only from programs with a current affiliation agreement and asks directly whether you have identified a preceptor. East Alabama Health's ACEMAPP pages tell students not to move forward until a preceptor has confirmed willingness, and they set preceptorship deadlines months before each term.
Infirmary Health in Mobile, per its 2024 student guidelines, has schools request placements by set deadlines and requires a signed student and preceptor contract. None of these systems replaces Samford's approval; they add their own layer on top of it.
The practical order for a Samford student is simple: secure the preceptor, then run the system's student process and Samford's review side by side. Our Alabama regions guides cover the student steps health systems publish in each part of the state.
Where Samford chooses the preceptor
Nurse anesthesia works differently. Samford assigns CRNA students to clinical sites, and the Class of 2029 nurse anesthesia handbook restricts clinical supervision to CRNAs or anesthesiologists who hold staff privileges and can be reached at once, and it caps the ratio at two students per preceptor. The Clinical Coordinator at each site keeps records showing every preceptor holds a current RN license and NBCRNA certification.
BSN and second-degree BSN students do not choose preceptors either. The undergraduate handbook says all sites, units and preceptors are chosen by the Moffett & Sanders School of Nursing, and Alabama's separate preceptor definition for RN programs asks for a licensed nurse with a year or more of experience. For both groups, our help is planning, compliance and questions, not a preceptor search. Our Nurse Anesthesia DNP guide goes deeper on that program.
How we find a preceptor who fits the course
Samford's program pages make personal and professional connections the route to a placement near home, and we are that connection. Your placement advisor starts from the course number, your town and your semester, then searches for APRNs and physicians whose practice matches the course population.
Before we introduce you, we confirm the license, the patient mix, the clinic days and the site's student steps, and we gather the preceptor and site details into one packet for your rotation request. When an Alabama preceptor works in a medically underserved rural area, we explain the state's preceptor tax credit, which depends on the school being registered with the AHEC office. If a preceptor drops mid-semester, we stay on call and search for a replacement. Share your track and start date through the form below.
Questions Samford students ask
Can a physician precept a Samford FNP or PMHNP student?
Alabama's advanced practice rule names physicians alongside APRNs, and Samford's older FNP pages, captured between 2016 and 2021, described precepting with nurse practitioners and physicians. The current credential rules sit in the NP Clinical Manual, so confirm there. Fit still decides it: a family physician suits NURG 724, while a psychiatrist suits the PMHNP clinicals.
Does my NP preceptor need a minimum number of years in practice?
Samford publishes no experience minimum for NP preceptors; if one applies, it is in the NP Clinical Manual. The one-year experience rule in Alabama's chapter 610-X-3 belongs to the preceptor definition for RN and LPN programs, not the advanced practice definition. Ask your course faculty before you rule a newer NP in or out.
Can a physician assistant or licensed therapist supervise my hours?
Alabama's definition leaves room for other appropriately licensed, population-focused clinicians, but Samford names no such roles publicly. For NURG 767, the catalog asks for a Samford approved preceptor. Raise a PA or therapist with your course faculty or the Coordinator of Clinical Education in the Nurse Practitioner Department before you build a rotation around one.
Does my preceptor have to practice in Alabama?
No. Samford's NP pages place clinical experiences in your own community, anywhere in the United States it accepts students. The preceptor needs a license where the clinic is, your RN license must be valid there as well, and that state's rules can affect approval. Our page on clinicals outside Alabama covers the details.
Who approves my preceptor at Samford?
Samford does not name the office publicly. The nursing directory includes a role titled Coordinator of Clinical Education, Nurse Practitioner Department, and approval runs through your clinical rotation request under the rules in the NP Clinical Manual. Your course faculty and program coordinator can tell you who signs off for your track and course.
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.