Is finding a preceptor always hard?

[terfernay]

Hi guys! I'm starting to get acceptance offers from WHNP programs for this fall. I know full well that finding a preceptor will be hard and so I've already started networking on LinkedIn and have had the opportunity to shadow a couple of APRNs working in women's health. I also plan to join some local NP organizations and the Nurse Practitioners in Women's Health in order to start networking there when I officially become a student and can join. My question is, is finding a preceptor always a hassle? The area that I hope to do clinicals in if I'm able to has the nearest FNP school over an hour away and the nearest WHNP/CNM schools are almost 3 hours away so I'm hoping saturation isn't too much of a problem. I also have friends all over the country and am willing to temporarily relocate if need be. However, maybe I'm being naive but I see a potential advantage in securing your own preceptor vs having a school use a preceptor they've used time and time again. I'm hoping that by networking and finding my own preceptor it will help me get my name out there as a new provider and help secure job placement upon graduation vs trying to compete for the same jobs that everyone else is competing for because everyone in that school uses the same clinical sites. I guess I'm looking for insight on finding preceptors in non-NP saturated areas has gone for people in the past and whether people found that their networking and necessity to find their own preceptors maybe benefitted them in the end. Any input is helpful! Thank you!!

[Krish Chopra]

It makes me sad that this conversation has been happening since 2018 and even before, since 2014 (when I learned about it)

I hope it worked out okay for you, finding your clinical site! For anyone struggling who finds this. As of April 2020, the best place to find preceptors is on LinkedIn!

Please use it wisely and be kind to anyone your messaging ?

[StacyAtheNurse, BSN, MSN, APRN, NP]

Before I accepted an offer for an NP school, I made sure I had two options to cover me for clinical placements, because I don’t have the patience, nor the tolerance for foolishness. My school gives placement for local students, but I am 7000 miles away, so I have planned to either transfer to per diem at my job and move my family down there to do this, OR I will use NPhub. It is a paid service, you will prob have to fork out about 2-5k per semester rotation. Personally, I am still weighing my options. If I stay full time, and pay NPhub, my job pays my tuition, which is 4500/semester. Sooooooo either way, but check them out, they handle everything for you, and they’re very user friendly.