Questions YSU nursing students ask about us and YSU's process
Quick answers for Youngstown State University nursing students weighing a preceptor search: who we are, when to start, what YSU's rules require and what comes next. Each answer stays short and points to the page that covers the topic in depth, because YSU's documents vary in age and the details decide what works.
Get your placement plan
Tell us your YSU program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with preceptor and site options in your community that fit your YSU course.
About us and YSU
Are you part of Youngstown State University? We are an independent placement service built for YSU nursing students and organized around YSU's own clinical process. Every preceptor and site still needs approval from YSU's clinical faculty, and the Graduate Clinical Coordinator works with you through the program however your preceptor is found. About us explains how we work.
Who submits the preceptor request to YSU? You do. The Student Preceptor Agreement and the Clinical Site Request go in under your name through YSU's process, and your compliance items stay in your own Exxat account. We find and check the preceptor, then hand you the details the request asks for, so it reaches YSU complete and early. The placement process guide shows each step on YSU's side.
Timing
When should I contact you? As early as you can. YSU's FAQ asks students to begin the site and preceptor request at admission and warns it can take many months, with preceptor details due two months before each practicum. Starting a term or two ahead gives you more preceptors to choose from and leaves room for facility agreements and scarce settings (approval timeline).
My practicum starts in under two months. Is it too late? Contact the Graduate Clinical Coordinator and your advisor today, then send us your track, practicum and start date. The search turns to settings that can move quickly, such as small practices where the person who agrees can also sign for the site. No preceptor yet sets out this week's steps.
Programs and practicums
Which YSU students do you help? Mainly online FNP and AGACNP students, in the MSN and in the post-master's certificates, advanced placement options included. We also help with the Nursing Education practicum, NURS 7022 and NURS 7023, and with the RN to BSN leadership preceptor. Clinicals for the entry-level BSN, the ADN and the DNP Nurse Anesthesia are arranged by YSU and its partners (all programs).
Do I need a new preceptor for each of the five practicums? Not always. YSU wants preceptor details before each practicum, yet one preceptor can carry more than one when the setting fits, and several approved preceptors may share one practicum's hours. For FNP students, YSU's recommended pediatric and women's health minimums often call for extra settings beyond the main primary care preceptor (hour mix).
YSU's rules we plan around
Can I do clinical hours at the hospital that employs me? Yes, within limits. Your employer can host your practicum as long as the hours fall outside your own unit or patient care area, your preceptor is someone other than your immediate supervisor, and you stay off the clock the whole time. Hours worked as an employee never count toward a practicum (workplace rules).
How many hours does each practicum need? YSU's FAQ gives each of the five practicums 150 hours, 750 in all, the same total the online program pages show. The 2026-27 catalog lists lower totals (FNP 600, AGACNP 540), and a separate FAQ answer counts 180 hours in a 7-week term. Confirm the figure with your clinical faculty; the clinical hours guide compares the sources.
Where we search and what it costs
Do you find preceptors outside Ohio? Yes. Beyond all nine Ohio regions, from the Mahoning Valley to Cincinnati, we search in the other states YSU accepts for online nursing students. Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia appear on every YSU list, and YSU's pages differ on the fourth. You also need an RN license valid in the practicum's state (state rules).
What does a placement cost? It depends on your plan: the track and setting, how scarce the specialty is near you, where you live, how soon the practicum starts and how many practicums you want covered. Your placement advisor quotes your plan in writing, and YSU's own costs stay separate (what shapes the cost).
Questions YSU students ask
What do you need from me to start a preceptor search?
Four facts get a search moving: which YSU track you are in, the practicum you take next (course number and 7-week term), where you live, and when that practicum begins. Add your RN license state, your workplace and unit, how far you can drive and any preceptor lead you already have. The request form has room for each.
What happens if my preceptor leaves partway through a practicum?
Let the Graduate Clinical Coordinator know right away, as YSU's FAQ asks, and message your placement advisor the same day. A replacement search for the same practicum begins at once, starting with anyone who can take over the remaining hours quickly. YSU's clinical faculty decide how the practicum continues (if your preceptor drops).
Can you help me keep my Exxat compliance on track?
Yes, alongside you. Exxat is where YSU keeps clinical compliance, placement records and hour logs, and the account stays yours. We watch when BLS, immunizations, the annual drug screen and the background check expire and line those dates up with your practicum calendar, so you can renew each item in time. Items are due 30 days before a first practicum (Exxat guide).
Do you work with clinicians who want to precept YSU students?
Yes. Nurse practitioners, physicians and, where YSU's handbook allows, physician assistants can send their specialty, setting and available terms through the contact form by choosing the preceptor option. The guide for preceptors explains what precepting a YSU FNP or AGACNP student involves, from paperwork to evaluations.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-26
We check these pages against YSU's own catalog, graduate handbook, online program pages and FAQ, and Ohio rules. Your clinical faculty, the Graduate Clinical Coordinator and your advisor have the final word.
YSU asks you to secure your preceptor. We find one near you.
Tell us your YSU track, where you live and when your next practicum starts. We find preceptors near you who fit the practicum, check YSU's rules and hand you what the preceptor request needs, two months ahead, with the next term's preceptor already in view.
- Primary care preceptors for FNP practicums
NURS 7061toNURS 7065, acute care for AGACNPNURS 7071toNURS 7075 - Outside your own unit and away from your supervisor, in a state YSU accepts
- Across Ohio, from the Mahoning Valley to Cincinnati, and in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Michigan
Start your placement plan
Program, city and start date is all we need to begin.