Olivet preceptor requirements: what is published, what is in Canvas, what your state adds
For its graduate tracks, Olivet Nazarene University publishes one firm rule about preceptors: you select them and Olivet approves them. The detailed criteria sit in your Canvas requirements course, the RN-BSN handbooks spell out more, and some states layer their own rules on top. Here is what is known for each program, and how to close the gaps before you ask someone to precept you.
Get your placement plan
Tell us your Olivet program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with the preceptor and site options that fit your Olivet course.
The rule Olivet publishes for graduate preceptors
The MSN Family Nurse Practitioner, Post-Graduate APRN (FNP) certificate, MSN Nursing Education & Leadership and Post-Bachelor's NEL pages describe the preceptor the same way: approved, and chosen by the student. Hours happen in your local area under that preceptor. Past those words, Olivet's public pages do not set out a graduate preceptor's credentials, years of experience or student ratio, or say whether a physician or physician assistant may precept.
Those details are housed elsewhere rather than missing. By signing the handbook agreement, you accept the Canvas course for your track as the authority on practicum requirements, and that course is where Olivet keeps its preceptor criteria. Read it before you approach anyone. The requirements course page explains how you are enrolled, which differs between the new and current curricula.
What Olivet publishes, program by program
The undergraduate handbooks are more specific than the graduate pages. Together they give this picture.
| Program | What Olivet publishes about the preceptor | Where it appears |
|---|---|---|
| MSN FNP and PG-APRN (FNP) | Approved and self-selected; hours in your local area; site in an approved state | Program pages |
| MSN NEL and Post-Bachelor's NEL | Approved and self-selected, for both practicums | Program pages |
| RN-BSN, starts on or after Aug 23, 2026 | NRSG 364: hours with a hospice nurse; no other preceptor rule stated | RN-BSN handbook, fall 2026 |
| RN-BSN, core started before Aug 2026 | An RN with an unencumbered license and a BSN or higher, such as an MSN, APN or NP | Legacy RN-BSN handbook |
Legacy NRSG 326 and NRSG 443 | Works in or is linked to a community agency such as a school, clinic or pregnancy center; the same preceptor for both is highly recommended | Legacy RN-BSN handbook |
Legacy NRSG 467 | An RN with a BSN or higher in a current or past leadership or management role; may be at your workplace but not during your scheduled hours | Legacy RN-BSN handbook |
| Traditional BSN | Preceptors are assigned, and a capstone is never on the unit where you work | BSN handbook, Levels 1 to 4 |
The RN-BSN rules show what Olivet looks for when it does write criteria down: a clear license, education at or above the level the student is working toward, and experience that suits the course. They are not graduate criteria, but they make a sensible first screen for a graduate candidate while you wait for the Canvas course to open. The legacy courses are covered in more depth on the RN-BSN practicums page.
Questions to settle in the Canvas course
Because the graduate criteria are not public, go into the requirements course with a list. These are the points Olivet's public pages leave open for graduate tracks:
- Which credentials qualify: nurse practitioners only, or also physicians, DOs or physician assistants
- Any minimum years of practice for a preceptor
- How many students one preceptor may take at the same time
- Whether a relative, or a clinician at your own workplace, may precept you
- Whether one preceptor can cover more than one FNP clinical course
- What qualifies an educator or leader for
NRSG 620, and a population-health preceptor forNRSG 604
If the course leaves a point unclear, ask your course faculty or the SON Clinical Coordinator in writing and keep the answer. For clinicals at an employer, see working where you work for Olivet's published position.
State rules that sit on top of Olivet's
Olivet's out-of-state disclosure for APRN programs cautions that a state may impose its own APRN licensure rules on clinical hours, on who qualifies as a preceptor, or on documentation. A preceptor who satisfies Olivet can therefore still fall short of what the board in your licensing state expects. Check the board of the state where you plan to be licensed, not only the state where you study.
Location rules come first. FNP practicum hours count only in states Olivet has approved, and a student living in an approved state still cannot log FNP hours in a not-approved one, as the not-approved states page explains. Kansas is approved but adds state requirements, and Olivet points Kansas students to the FNPpracticum@olivet.edu mailbox. For Illinois, where Olivet is based, the Illinois APRN practice page explains how collaborative agreements and full practice authority shape who can precept.
Matching the preceptor to the course
Qualification is one test and fit is the other. Olivet's course titles tell you whose patients or learners each clinical is built around, and a preceptor whose everyday work matches the title gives you the encounters the course is designed for.
NRSG 636C, 240 hours: primary care of adults and older adultsNRSG 637C, 135 hours: women's health in primary careNRSG 638C, 135 hours: pediatric primary careNRSG 639C, 240 hours: primary care across the lifespanNRSG 604, 30 direct clinical hours: population healthNRSG 620, 120 hours: nursing education and leadership
Current-curriculum FNP students map NRSG 665A to NRSG 665F the same way, using the paired NRSG 667 to NRSG 672 titles, which run from acute and episodic adult care to complex pediatric and women's health. The FNP 750 hours page sets both curricula side by side.
Why Olivet students trust us to vet preceptors
Every preceptor we bring to an Olivet student is screened three ways before you see a name: against what Olivet publishes and what your requirements course asks, against the rules of your state, and against the population of your course. We confirm the license is active on the state board, the practice sees the right patients or learners, and the site sits inside a state Olivet approves.
Then we package the details Olivet will review, so the preceptor approval step moves in a single pass. The approval is Olivet's to give; our part is making sure the file it reads is complete and consistent with its rules from the first submission. Use the form below to start with your track and course.
Questions Olivet students ask
Can a physician precept an Olivet FNP student?
Olivet's public pages do not say which credentials qualify a graduate preceptor. The criteria are set in your Canvas Student Clinical or Practicum Requirements Course, and some state boards add their own preceptor rules for APRN licensure. Before approaching a physician, confirm in the course or with the SON Clinical Coordinator that the credential is accepted for the clinical you need.
Does my preceptor need a minimum number of years in practice?
No minimum appears on Olivet's public pages for graduate preceptors. If one exists, it will be in your Canvas requirements course. Also check the board rules of the state where you plan to be licensed, since Olivet's disclosure notes that some states set their own preceptor qualifications. A seasoned clinician in the right specialty remains the strongest candidate either way.
Can a nurse practitioner who supervises me at work be my preceptor?
Olivet's graduate pages do not address supervisors or employers as preceptors. The legacy RN-BSN handbook allowed NRSG 467 hours at the student's workplace, but not during scheduled work hours, which shows Olivet separates work time from clinical time. For a graduate course, ask the SON Clinical Coordinator in writing before you commit.
Who can precept the NEL practicum?
The NEL pages describe an approved preceptor you select for both practicums but do not publish qualifications. NRSG 620 covers nursing education and leadership over 120 hours in 8 weeks and needs a B- or better, so look for an experienced educator or nurse leader, and confirm the criteria in your Canvas requirements course.
Does a preceptor receive anything from Olivet for precepting?
Olivet's public pages do not describe what preceptors receive, whether continuing education credit, recognition or anything else. Preceptors who want to know should ask your course faculty or the SON Clinical Coordinator. Our page for clinicians who precept an Olivet student explains what the experience involves.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-25
We check these pages against Olivet's own handbooks, program pages, fee sheet and licensure disclosures. Your handbook version, your Canvas clinical requirements course, your faculty and the SON Clinical Coordinator have the final word.
Olivet asks you to start with your own network. We make the search the easy part of your program.
Tell us your Olivet track, where you live and when your next clinical course starts. We find preceptors whose patients fit the course, inside Olivet's approved states, and prepare everything Olivet's approval and the site's onboarding need.
- Preceptors matched to the course: adults and older adults for
NRSG 636C, women's health forNRSG 637C, children forNRSG 638C, education and leadership forNRSG 620 - Credentials, license and site details ready before your clinical course opens, with the drug screen timing on your calendar
- In your own community, in Illinois or any state Olivet approves for your clinicals
Start your placement plan
Track, city and start date is all we need to begin.