Your preceptor dropped out in the middle of an Olivet course
A preceptor who leaves mid-course takes more than a schedule with them. The Olivet Nazarene University course keeps running, the hours you owe stay the same, and anyone who replaces them needs Olivet's approval before you work together. What you do in the first two days decides how much of the course you keep.
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 first 48 hours
- Lock in what you have already doneCheck that every encounter and competency from your time with the departing preceptor is recorded in Project Concert, and ask them, while they are still reachable, whether anything is waiting on their confirmation.
- Tell your course facultyFaculty evaluate your outcomes, so they need to hear it the day it happens. Write from your Olivet email, the channel Olivet requires, and ask how the course will treat the hours already logged.
- Tell the SON Clinical CoordinatorThe coordinator helps graduate students who are without a preceptor and is the person to ask how a mid-course replacement is approved. The MSN handbooks point to the GraduateNursing@olivet.edu mailbox.
- Write down four numbersThe course end date, the hours logged, the hours left and the full weeks remaining. Every decision after this starts from them.
- Start the replacement searchSend us your course, location and remaining hours through the form, and the search for someone to finish the course with you begins at once.
What happens to the hours you logged
Olivet's handbooks do not describe a change of preceptor partway through a course. There is no published rule that hours with a departed preceptor are lost, and none that says they carry over by default. What Olivet does publish is the pass standard: each clinical or practicum course requires an average of 83% on graded work, with every hour documented as satisfactory. Properly documented hours are your strongest footing.
For FNP students the clinical grade is Satisfactory or Unsatisfactory; in the NEL track, NRSG 604 and NRSG 620 each require a B- or better. Ask your faculty to confirm in writing how the hours you already have will count toward the course, and keep that reply with your records.
If your former preceptor is willing, a short note confirming the dates you worked together can help faculty if a question comes up later.
How much room you have, by track
Olivet gives different courses different room to finish, so look up your own row before you plan.
| Track and course | What Olivet's handbook allows | Where the limit sits |
|---|---|---|
MSN-NEL and PB-NEL, NRSG 620 (120 hours over 8 weeks) | An X grade and 8 more weeks when hours are unfinished | 16 weeks in all; then a non-passing grade and a charged retake |
| MSN-FNP and PG-APRN clinicals | An Incomplete, granted by the instructor with Program Director approval for serious illness or an unavoidable late delay | Ask 7 or more business days before the final day; up to 60 days, then an F |
| RN-BSN, starts on or after August 23, 2026 | Missed hours made up within the course timeframe | The grade stays Incomplete until every hour is done |
| A failed FNP population-focused course | A retake of that course and an audit of its paired course | An audit may repeat up to 50% of the clinical hours |
Whether a preceptor's departure counts as an unavoidable delay is your instructor's decision, so raise it early. Retakes and audits are covered on the grades and progression page.
A replacement clears the same gates as the first
A new preceptor means a new approval. Olivet approves every preceptor, the replacement's practice has to match the same course population, and for FNP students the site must be in an approved state. If the new site is across a state line from the old one, check Olivet's approved states before you agree to anything.
The site side starts over too. A new site may run its own onboarding, sometimes through MyClinicalExchange with charges of its own, and may ask for items beyond Olivet's list. Your compliance must be current on every clinical day, so a TB result or flu shot that expired since the course began needs renewing before the first shift. The preceptor approval page lists what to prepare.
Hold off on logging hours with a replacement until Olivet confirms the approval. Hours earned with an unapproved preceptor are the easiest ones to lose.
Protecting the rest of your program
A mid-course loss rarely stays inside one course. In the FNP track the clinicals come one after another, each alongside its didactic course, so extra weeks spent finishing NRSG 637C press on the start of NRSG 638C. Line up the next course's preceptor while you finish the current hours, not after.
If the gap is too wide for this session, a leave of absence is available for any reason, and the Return Form has to be in two weeks ahead of your return to clinical work. Disappearing is the one move to avoid, since more than 29 days away without contact ends in administrative withdrawal. FNP students thinking about the coordinator's help should read how the 30-attempt rule is worded, and delayed graduation shows what a slip does to your finish.
Why students call us when a preceptor leaves
Replacing a preceptor in the middle of a course is the hardest search there is: fewer weeks, a fixed hour count and a fresh approval in the way. It is the situation our placement desk is built for. We look for a preceptor who can take you for the weeks that remain, at a pace that finishes the hours, in a practice that fits the course and inside Olivet's approved states.
We prepare the replacement's details for Olivet's approval straight away, flag any onboarding the new site requires and check your compliance dates against the new schedule. Students we place stay on our radar through the course, so if a preceptor steps away we go straight to the next match. Approval stays with Olivet; we make certain the replacement's file arrives complete and in line with Olivet's rules, so the review moves without delay.
Questions Olivet students ask
Will the hours I logged with my old preceptor still count?
Olivet's handbooks do not address a preceptor leaving mid-course. They require every hour to be documented as satisfactory, so hours properly recorded in Project Concert are your best evidence. Ask your course faculty to confirm in writing how those hours will be treated, since faculty are the ones who evaluate your outcomes.
Can I get an Incomplete because my preceptor quit?
Possibly. Olivet limits Incompletes to serious illness or a delay late in the course that could not be avoided. The instructor decides with Program Director approval, and you must ask seven or more business days ahead of the course's final day. Whether a preceptor's exit qualifies is their call, so bring it up the day it happens.
Does a replacement preceptor need Olivet's approval again?
Yes. Olivet describes every graduate preceptor as self-selected and approved, and a replacement is a new preceptor. Until that approval is confirmed, hours with them are at risk. Gather the new preceptor's details the same day they agree so Olivet's review can begin right away.
Can my replacement be at a different site or in another state?
A different site can work once Olivet has approved the new preceptor and you have completed that site's onboarding. Another state matters for FNP students: the hours must sit in an Olivet-approved state, and the 13 on the Not Approved list stay off limits wherever you live. Tell the Online Advising Team if you are also moving.
What if my NEL preceptor leaves during NRSG 620?
NRSG 620 is a 120-hour practicum set over eight weeks. Unfinished hours at the end earn an X grade and eight more weeks, and a practicum still open after 16 weeks is retaken and charged again. A replacement found in the first weeks usually keeps you inside the original eight.
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.