Your ETSU preceptor, lined up before the semester starts.

East Tennessee State University (ETSU) gives graduate nursing students a coordinator with contacts, then says plainly that "the student is responsible to be proactive in the preceptor and clinical site search." That search is what we do. We find preceptors near you whose patients fit your course, and we prepare everything your Preceptor Intent Form and ProjectConcert entry need before faculty review it.

Get matched How it works

Start your placement plan

Tell us your ETSU concentration, your city and which semester your next practicum starts. Your placement advisor replies with preceptor and site options that fit.

540clinical hours in ETSU's MSN FNP and PMHNP plans of study

4FNP population practicums of 120 hours: adults, women, older adults, children

3things in place before your first clinical day: faculty approval, credential check, contract

What ETSU provides, and what it leaves to you

ETSU gives you a graduate clinical coordinator who keeps contacts and lists of past preceptors, clinical faculty who approve each preceptor for the course, an Office of Student Services that verifies the preceptor's credentials, and a College of Nursing that puts the contract in place. Leading the search is yours: the MSN, DNP and certificate FAQs all say so.

We run that search for you. We line up preceptors whose patient mix matches each course, from NRSE 5012 with young and middle adults to NRSE 5024 with children and the PMHNP practicums, and we raise the contract question early so it never holds up your first day.

Your clinical faculty approve the preceptor and the College verifies credentials. We make sure what reaches them is complete and fits ETSU's rules the first time.

Built around ETSU's own paperwork

ETSU's process runs through two documents: the Preceptor Intent Form, which asks for the preceptor's degrees, license and certification numbers with expiry dates and the share of children, adolescents, women, adults and older adults the site sees, and the ProjectConcert onboarding entry that carries it to faculty. A missing number or the wrong patient mix sends the entry back.

We collect every item before you submit, whether you train in Johnson City, Kingsport, Knoxville or a state ETSU approves for your clinicals, and we keep your clinical health requirements on the calendar so nothing lapses mid-semester.

From your plan of study to hours in ProjectConcert

In the same order ETSU's graduate clinical process runs.

Your concentration and course

Concentration, the NRSE course, your city and the semester your practicum starts.

The search

Preceptors near you whose patients fit the course: adults, women, older adults, children, psychiatric care, leadership or teaching.

Intent Form and ProjectConcert

Credentials, license and certification numbers and the site's patient mix, ready for faculty approval and the credential check.

Hours logged

You schedule and log in ProjectConcert from day one, and a replacement is ready if a preceptor steps away.

Pick your ETSU program

Your practicum courses and hours, who can precept you, where, and when to start looking. From ETSU's own catalog, College of Nursing pages and plans of study.

540clinical hours in ETSU's FNP plan of study

NRSE 501060 h NRSE 5012120 h NRSE 5022120 h NRSE 5014120 h NRSE 5024120 h

Who precepts: An FNP, adult or family NP, or physician whose patients match each course: young and middle adults, women, older adults, then children and adolescents
Where: Primary care in rural, urban and underserved communities, in Tennessee or, with case-by-case approval, the state where you live
Start looking: NRSE 5010 runs in your first semester; full-time students start the 120-hour practicums in their first summer

Plan my MSN FNP placement MSN FNP guide

540clinical hours in ETSU's PMHNP plan of study

NRSE 501060 h NRSE 5405120 h NRSE 5409120 h NRSE 5411120 h NRSE 6950120 h

Who precepts: A psychiatric mental health NP or psychiatrist who sees patients across the lifespan, for individual, group and family care
Where: Outpatient psychiatry, community mental health, integrated primary care and inpatient units
Start looking: Full time, the first psychiatric practicum (NRSE 5405) comes in your second semester, a spring

Plan my MSN PMHNP placement MSN PMHNP guide

540clinical hours: three executive leadership practicums of 180

NRSE 5502180 h NRSE 5503180 h NRSE 5504180 h

Who precepts: A nurse administrator, at a location near you
Where: Hospitals and large health care organizations, from unit leadership to the executive suite
Start looking: Practicum I (NRSE 5502) comes in your first summer, semester 3, full or part time

Plan my MSN Administration placement MSN Administration guide

420clinical hours by course sum (the plan of study states 429)

NRSE 511560 h NRSE 5046180 h NRSE 5045180 h

Who precepts: A clinical expert in your specialty for NRSE 5115, then experienced academic nurse educators for the two education practicums
Where: Your clinical specialty (adult, mental health, women's health and perinatal, or pediatric), then a school of nursing or clinical education setting
Start looking: NRSE 5115 comes in semester 3, then the two 180-hour practicums in semesters 4 and 5

Plan my MSN Education placement MSN Education guide

1,040clinical hours in the BSN-DNP FNP and PMHNP plans (the catalog says 1,000)

NRSE 5010-5024hours: see course page NRSE 6801125 h NRSE 6802125 h NRSE 6803125 h NRSE 6804125 h

Who precepts: NP or physician preceptors for the specialty practicums, then a practice site and partners for your DNP project residencies
Where: Primary care or psychiatric care in your home community when approved, with a focus on rural and underserved care
Start looking: Specialty practicums in semesters 1 to 5 full time, then Residency I in the summer of semester 6

Plan my BSN-DNP placement BSN-DNP guide

500residency hours in four DNP project courses

NRSE 6801125 h NRSE 6802125 h NRSE 6803125 h NRSE 6804125 h

Who precepts: A practice site that agrees to host your DNP project, and a site-based project team member; a supervising preceptor if you are changing specialty
Where: The organization where your DNP project will run, often in your own community
Start looking: Residency I (NRSE 6801) in your first summer full time, or your second summer part time

Plan my MSN-DNP placement MSN-DNP guide

Noneclock hours published: one R.N. Practicum in the final semester

NRSE 4026hours: see course page

Who precepts: A nurse at your own workplace if you work full time in direct patient care; otherwise the College sets up the clinical with you
Where: Your current employer, or a Tennessee institution or agency if your state's rules require it
Start looking: The R.N. Practicum comes in the final semester of the three-semester track

Plan my RN to BSN placement RN to BSN guide

The ETSU pieces you will work with

Named the way ETSU names them, from the catalog, College of Nursing pages and ProjectConcert guides.

OverviewClinical placement processThe ETSU graduate placement path in order: preceptor search, Intent Form, ProjectConcert entry, approvals, contract, schedule, hour logs and evaluations.Preceptor searchFinding your own preceptorETSU expects graduate nursing students to be proactive in the preceptor and site search. What that means for the MSN, DNP, joint DNP, certificates and BSN.Intent FormPreceptor Intent FormThe ETSU Preceptor Intent Form explained field by field: what it asks, what clinical faculty read in it, and the outdated course numbers still printed on it.ProjectConcertProjectConcert at ETSUWhat ETSU nursing students do in ProjectConcert: clinical requirements, preceptor entries, schedules, hour logs and evaluations, and how to sign in.ApprovalPreceptor approvalThe ETSU sign-offs before your first clinical day: faculty approval, the credential check, the contract, your own requirements, and fixing a rejection.State licensureETSU licensure disclosures by stateETSU posts two state licensure disclosures for nursing that disagree. See both side by side, the Hawaii and Maryland conflicts, and what not determined means.

All ETSU clinical systems

Your concentration, your practicums

Every ETSU nursing program with clinical hours, and who you need for each course.

FNPMSN Family Nurse PractitionerETSU's online MSN FNP: 51 credits, 540 clinical hours over five practicums, fall or spring start, and how to plan a preceptor for each population.PMHNPMSN Psychiatric Mental Health NPETSU's online MSN PMHNP: 48 credits, 540 clinical hours, fall start only. The psychiatric practicum sequence, two plan conflicts and when to find preceptors.AdministrationMSN Nursing AdministrationETSU's online MSN Nursing Administration: 45 credits, 540 hours in three 180-hour practicums with a nurse administrator near you, starting in your first summer.DNP FNPDNP Family Nurse PractitionerETSU's BSN-to-DNP Family Nurse Practitioner: 83 credits and 1,040 clinical hours, five lifespan practicums, then four residencies over nine semesters.Joint DNPETSU-TTU joint DNPThe ETSU-TTU joint DNP: six concentrations, May and August intensives, unpublished clinical hours, and a placement search the two schools call shared.CertificatesPost-graduate certificatesETSU's post-graduate FNP, PMHNP, post-DNP AGPCNP and Nursing Administration certificates: online courses, in-person clinicals and how to plan preceptors.

All ETSU programs

The FNP practicum sequence

Each FNP practicum is built around one patient population, and the preceptor's practice has to match it.

FNP and PMHNPNRSE 5010 Health AssessmentETSU's NRSE 5010 practicum: 60 clock hours in semester 1, lab practice plus clinical placement, and what to settle with faculty before you line up a preceptor.FNPNRSE 5012 Young and Middle AdultsNRSE 5012 Nurse Practitioner I Practicum at ETSU: 120 hours with young and middle adults, which summer it falls in, and what faculty look for in a preceptor.FNPNRSE 5022 Women's HealthNRSE 5022 Women's Health Practicum at ETSU: 120 summer hours in rural, urban and underserved settings, who can precept it, and how the women's share is read.FNPNRSE 5014 Older AdultsNRSE 5014 Older Adults Practicum at ETSU: 120 hours in a fall term, the patient mix faculty expect, preceptor rules and the syllabus questions to settle early.FNPNRSE 5024 Children and AdolescentsNRSE 5024 Children and Adolescents Practicum at ETSU: 120 spring hours, pediatric preceptors, school-based options and why it often decides graduation timing.

When a clinical semester is at risk

Fast help for the weeks that matter most.

Placement helpCan't find a preceptorNo preceptor yet for your ETSU nursing practicum? Why searches stall, where ETSU students can look, and how to line up a preceptor ETSU faculty can approve.Placement helpNeed a preceptor fastYour ETSU practicum starts soon and no preceptor is approved. What must clear before day one, the 2026-27 dates to watch, and a fast-track plan that works.Placement helpPreceptor dropped outYour preceptor quit mid-semester. How ETSU nursing students protect logged hours, get a replacement approved, and weigh an Incomplete or a withdrawal.Placement helpBehind on clinical hoursShort on practicum hours as an ETSU term winds down? Count the real gap in ProjectConcert, see the weeks left before finals, and plan how to close it.Placement helpYour options comparedThree ways ETSU nursing students line up a preceptor: searching alone, leaning on the coordinator and College clinics, or a placement service. How to choose.TennesseeTennessee NP preceptorsHow Tennessee's big health systems take NP students: what Ballad, Covenant, Erlanger and Vanderbilt ask of schools, and what that means for an ETSU search.

Before you start

Does ETSU find preceptors for graduate nursing students?

ETSU helps, but the search is yours to lead. The ETSU Online FAQs for the MSN, the DNP and the certificates say the graduate clinical coordinator has contacts and lists of past preceptors, and that the student is responsible to be proactive in the preceptor and clinical site search. The joint ETSU-TTU DNP describes it as a shared effort.

What has to happen before my first ETSU clinical day?

Your clinical faculty approve the preceptor, the Office of Student Services verifies the preceptor's credentials, a contract with the site is in place, and you meet every clinical requirement, including immunizations and liability insurance. All of it is tracked in ProjectConcert, so an entry that is missing a document waits until you add it.

How many clinical hours does the ETSU FNP need?

ETSU's MSN FNP plan of study lists 540 clock hours: 60 in the health assessment practicum and 120 in each of four population practicums. The plans are dated, so check the plan of study for your catalog year with your advisor before you plan a schedule around the numbers.

Can I do ETSU clinicals outside Tennessee?

Sometimes. ETSU says graduate clinical placements outside Tennessee depend on approval from the appropriate regulatory bodies and are reviewed case by case after admission. ETSU's two licensure disclosures also disagree for 17 states, so check both and your own board before you count on a site in another state.

Where do you find ETSU preceptors?

In your own community, wherever ETSU approves your clinicals. We search practices whose patient mix fits the course in front of you, confirm the preceptor's license and certification details, and hand you everything the Preceptor Intent Form and ProjectConcert ask for, so faculty can review it without a round of corrections.

ETSU asks you to lead the preceptor search. We make it the fastest part of your program.

Tell us your ETSU concentration, where you live and which semester your next practicum starts. We find preceptors who fit the course's patient population and prepare everything your Preceptor Intent Form and ProjectConcert entry need.

Preceptors matched to the course: young and middle adults for NRSE 5012, older adults for NRSE 5014, women for NRSE 5022, children for NRSE 5024, psychiatric care for NRSE 5405
Credentials, license numbers, certification dates and the site's patient mix ready for faculty approval
In your own community, in Northeast Tennessee or wherever ETSU approves your clinicals

Start your placement plan

Program, city and semester is all we need to begin.