How we work with a YSU nursing student, one practicum at a time
Youngstown State University encourages its nurse practitioner students to line up their own preceptors, one for each of five 7-week practicums, with details in two months ahead. We take on that search: you tell us your track and next practicum, we locate a nearby preceptor who fits it and YSU's rules, and you receive what the preceptor request needs before the deadline, term after term.
Start your placement plan
Share your YSU track, where you live and when your next practicum starts. A placement advisor replies with the next steps.
What we ask you first
Every search begins with the facts that decide who can precept you. Your placement advisor asks for your YSU track, the NURS practicum coming next and the 7-week term it opens, where you live and how far you will drive, the state that issued your RN license, and the days you can give to clinical time.
We also ask where you work, on which unit and who supervises you. YSU allows practicum hours at your employer, but not on your own unit, not under your immediate supervisor and not during paid hours, so your job tells us which doors are open. Already have a lead, such as a clinic that said maybe? Mention it and we check it first.
The search, step by step
From the first conversation to your first clinical day, the work runs in this order.
- Map your datesWe count back from your practicum start to the 90-day point, when YSU wants to hear from students still without a preceptor, the two-month deadline for preceptor details and, before a first practicum, Exxat's 30-day deadline. We aim to confirm a preceptor before the earliest.
- Search near you, in the right settingFNP practicums call for primary care: adult, gerontology, pediatric or women's health. AGACNP practicums call for acute care, such as intensive care, internal medicine, emergency and trauma or specialty units. We look within your driving range for NPs and physicians whose work fits the course.
- Screen before you hear a nameEach candidate is checked against the YSU rules in the table below; only those who pass reach you, each with a note on the fit.
- Confirm the preceptor and the siteWe confirm the preceptor can commit to the full 7-week term, which days they offer and who at the site signs for clinical requests, and we ask at once whether the facility needs an affiliation agreement with YSU.
- Hand you the request detailsYou receive the preceptor's credentials, license and certification details and the site contacts called for by YSU's Student Preceptor Agreement and Clinical Site Request, ahead of the two-month mark.
- Keep Exxat movingBLS, immunizations, yearly drug screening and background checks, plus ACLS for AGACNP students, all live in Exxat. We track their dates beside your practicum dates so nothing lapses before a start.
- Open the next search earlyOnce one preceptor is confirmed, the search for the next practicum begins, so its details are ready while you log hours in the current one.
The YSU rules every candidate is checked against
YSU's rules sit in documents of different ages, so we work from the newest and flag where they disagree. Preceptor requirements and workplace rules cover each point in depth.
| YSU rule | Where YSU states it | What we confirm |
|---|---|---|
| FNP hours in primary care, AGACNP hours in acute care | Online FAQ site grid | The practice or unit suits your track and practicum stage |
| Not your own unit or patient care area, not your immediate supervisor, never on the clock | Online FAQ; 2026-27 graduate handbook | The site sits outside your job, and clinical time stays off the clock |
| Certified APRNs, CNMs and physicians may precept; physician assistants only in limited cases | 2026-27 graduate handbook (the older FAQ excludes PAs) | Education, license and national certification, with the PA conflict flagged |
| Online students complete the program in a state YSU accepts | Catalog, handbook and program pages (they differ on Michigan or Indiana) | An accepted state where you hold a current, unencumbered RN license |
| An affiliation agreement may not be finished by the start date | Online FAQ | Whether the facility needs one, and who signs for it |
| FNP mix of at least 200 adult, 100 pediatric and 75 women's health hours | Online FAQ (recommended minimums) | Which practicum each setting covers, scarce hours booked first |
Five practicums, planned as one
Each YSU nurse practitioner track ends in five 2-credit practicums, NURS 7061 to NURS 7065 for FNP or NURS 7071 to NURS 7075 for AGACNP, taken one per 7-week term, in order, with a B needed before the next opens. With the terms back to back, one practicum's two-month deadline falls while the previous one is still running, so we plan the full run at the outset.
For FNP students the plan covers YSU's recommended hour mix, securing pediatric and women's health preceptors first because they are the hardest to find (hour mix). For AGACNP students it follows the catalog's arc from direct supervision in NURS 7071 to indirect supervision in NURS 7075. Keeping one preceptor across two practicums is often simplest, and we raise it early; YSU still wants details before each rotation.
When a preceptor steps away
Preceptors change jobs, take leave and lose clinic days. YSU's FAQ asks you to let the Graduate Clinical Coordinator know promptly when that happens, and your clinical faculty set the path for the rest of the term. Our work runs alongside: once you tell your placement advisor, a replacement search begins for the same practicum.
Because YSU lets a practicum's hours be split among approved preceptors, a replacement can take over the hours that remain. We look first for someone who can step in quickly, such as another willing clinician where you already train, then widen to practices near you, and where a backup exists we keep it in view from the start. If your preceptor drops covers YSU's side of that week.
What stays with you and with YSU
Some steps belong to YSU and to you, and we build around them. You submit the site and preceptor request through YSU's process, keep your Exxat account current and log hours and encounters accurately. YSU's clinical faculty approve each preceptor and site, and clinical hours begin only after approval and compliance are complete. The Graduate Clinical Coordinator is there for the whole program, and your advisor holds your curriculum plan.
What we add is the search itself, started early and checked against YSU's own rules, so what reaches your clinical faculty is complete and fits the practicum the first time. Start your placement plan with your track and your next start date.
Send us the start date of your next practicum, not the date you hope to have a preceptor. Every YSU deadline counts back from the start.
Questions YSU students ask
How early should I contact you before a YSU practicum?
As early as you can, ideally near admission, the point at which YSU's FAQ wants the site and preceptor request opened. For a practicum already on your calendar, reach us well before the 90-day point so a preceptor can be confirmed ahead of the two-month deadline. If that point has passed, read what to do this week and contact us anyway.
Do you help YSU post-master's certificate students?
Yes. Both of YSU's post-master's NP certificates, FNP and AGACNP, including the advanced placement routes, end in the same five practicums as the MSN, and their clinical rules come from YSU's online FAQ as well. We plan those practicums the same way, with each preceptor checked against the course and YSU's rules.
Can you find me a preceptor at the hospital where I work?
Often, provided the preceptor is outside your own unit and patient care area, is not your immediate supervisor, and supervises you only off the clock. Time on the payroll never becomes practicum time, even in another department. We confirm your reporting line before suggesting anyone at your employer.
Do I still submit the preceptor request myself?
Yes. The request goes through YSU's own process in your name, and YSU's clinical faculty review it. We prepare the preceptor and site details it asks for and check them against YSU's rules first, so what you enter is complete. Exxat items and hour logs stay in your own account.
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.