in dire need of a preceptor

Start talking to nurses you've worked with in the past.

Posting from my phone, ease forgive my fat thumbs! :)

What type of program is this? I'm asking because I have been dealing with an increasing number of online/distance programs that have a 'do it yourself' clinical arrangement - where one of the primary selling points was a flexible process for arranging clinical experiences at a location convenient to the student. It seems that the students were expected to make all the arrangements and then have everything approved by the school. Unfortunately, students were deprived of some very critical information about the extreme difficulty they are going to encounter when they try to make all of this happen.

Many organizations (mine included) have ceased participating in these "one of" agreements with pre-RN licensure or RN-BSN programs due to a number of things we have experienced. One of the most troubling issues was the degree of communication between the preceptor and the nursing program. Preceptors were not provided with adequate guidance; they were actively discouraged from reporting any negative or critical feedback to the program; they found themselves saddled with far more administrative work than anticipated; . . etc. Note: we are still open to providing graduate student (post licensure) experiences because they do not incur the same level of risk.

Students will not be able to simply 'find a preceptor', they will also have to make sure that their program/school has a formal agreement with the hosting facility. This will take time, especially if it is an initial agreement between the two parties. So, it may be more effective to contact an organization's education department (who normally handle student agreements) as a first step rather than trying to find an individual preceptor.

I personally feel that the schools should have affiliation agreements and networking with the various facilities. Just plain lazy not to do so. How would they expect the student to know whom to call? As a student you might call the educator for various facilities. In Texas the preceptors have to meet certain criteria so I keep a list of mine.