San Antonio FNP Preceptor?

Nursing Students NP Students

Published

Anyone know of a FNP who is available to precept??

This finding your own preceptor business is not as easy as the school claimed it would be..

I wish you the best of luck. I wish everyone would boycott schools that don't arrange all your clinical hours and preceptors for you. I turned down a school once they told me I would be responsible to arrange my own preceptors. This is very unprofessional! No med school student would ever put up with it. I think nurses should get together and basically boycott this sort of thing.

From what i understand med school students don't have to do this because there is govt funding provided to med school institutions. There is not funding provided for the education of NPs .So the issue is at a legislative level, and if there were funding schools would be able to secure clinical sites and preceptors for their students as med schools do.

Yammar, have you tried community health centers, free health clinics , health departments or joining the NP network in your area? The clinic mentioned usually love students and you really learn alot be there is a wide variety of patients to see. The NP network usually has a list of people willing to precept in your area.

From what i understand med school students don't have to do this because there is govt funding provided to med school institutions. There is not funding provided for the education of NPs .So the issue is at a legislative level, and if there were funding schools would be able to secure clinical sites and preceptors for their students as med schools do.

Maybe, but it seems like there are a lot of nursing students getting government student loans to pay for their school. Seems like there is a LOT of federal funds being funneled into nursing programs. And because a lot of NP programs around the country do arrange all their clinicals/preceptors, I don't think this theory really holds any truth. Just sayin.

Maybe, but it seems like there are a lot of nursing students getting government student loans to pay for their school. Seems like there is a LOT of federal funds being funneled into nursing programs. And because a lot of NP programs around the country do arrange all their clinicals/preceptors, I don't think this theory really holds any truth. Just sayin.

Any profession can aquire student loans, which is not what I'm referring to as government funding which medical students have the same privilege of obtaining as well. I'm speaking of actual funding toward the profession itself such as residency programs and clinical sites and designated preceptors. Med students sites and these many NP programs around the country have the ability to do this because of extra MONEY that pays the instructors and preceptors willing to take on this task. I agree and I would love to see this change as I think it would strengthen our profession. By chance have you done any research to "jus say" this theory doesn't hold any truth or are you jus assuming?

Just assuming? Are you ******* kidding me? Of course I'm sure that lots of students get finanicial aid for nursing school, and that these student loans pay the school to help fund the nursing program.

Just assuming? Are you ******* kidding me? Of course I'm sure that lots of students get finanicial aid for nursing school, and that these student loans pay the school to help fund the nursing program.

My point exactly student loans that MAY help fund the program !!! What percentage?? What does that small percent cover?? And this is debt incurred by the student as well. I'm speaking about additional funding to the school outside the students that med students have for their programs. Again base on your response you have not done any real research on the topic and therefore you are still assuming. And can't have a simple discussion without explicit language which btw adds no strength to your argument.:)have a nice day!

I appologize. I have not done any research, as I have too much on plate at the moment, and really don't care about looking into it further. Not really a top priority of mine. All I am saying is that since so many schools do, if fact, arrange all the clinicals for the students, there clearly is a way for schools to afford finding preceptors. Some may cry out "but it costs too much money for us to do it for you...." or some nonsense like that. But I don't buy it. If so many can find a way to make it work, all of them should find a way to make it work. It really shouldn't be that difficult. And the schools who don't do, maybe they shouldn't be in business in the first place....the grad nursing program, that it. Some schools would end up closing shop, but that's ok...there are way too many nursing programs out there that are flooding the market. There is too much of an over-supply of nurses and new grads. But that is a discussion for a whole different thread.

Yammar any luck finding a preceptor?

No, not much luck at all. I had one who agreed then vanished (flaked out) so I decided to seek one in Dallas where I finally found one!! Now I have to repeat the whole process two more times.....what have I gotten myself into LOL

My experience with finding preceptors in San Antonio

Hello Yammar,

I recently graduated from an online FNP program I would precept but I am a new grad myself, I have no FNP experience, and still pending licensure. However, I do live the Bexar County area. I will tell you that I had to find my own preceptors all throughout FNP school. A word of advice, is to find preceptors 6-8 months prior to your clinical practicum start date and be willing to travel out of town. Always make sure you have main preceptor to fall back on or a back up one that is flexible enough to let you do a couple of hours/days just in case your main preceptor gets sick or goes on vacation.

I understand your situation. It is VERY hard to find preceptors in San Antonio area because you are having to compete with the UT Health Science Center MD, PA, & NP students and along with other online APRN students from other schools. UT Health Science Center and the University Health System (UHS) both have contracts with each other so they will usually prioritize students from the UT Health Science Center for clinical practicums unless of course, you know someone inside.

I suggest you google up small clinics in San Antonio and its surrounding areas that is not affiliated with a Health System. I had better luck finding preceptors that way. I would individually call up each clinic. Most don't have a website that would specify what type of health care providers they have in the clinic but I would ask whoever answered the phone if they had Nurse Practitioners/MD that would be willing to precept NP students. Most personnel that answer the phone in the clinic don't usually know what "precepting" means so you will have to take the time to explain it to them in simple words. I have had no problems finding preceptors to agree to precept me as long as I find them 6-8 months in advance and I was willing to travel to get the experience (that would mean travelling 40 minutes each way or just staying in a motel for two months or renting an apartment for a semester).

Although finding preceptors can be a challenging task, there is a bright side to this situation. I have done clinicals in many different settings. Finding my own preceptor benefitted me in many ways. I was able to travel to different parts of Texas and explore different clinical/cultural populations compared with some FNP students that I know that went to the UT Health Science Center and their preceptors were assigned to them. I had one clinical practicum with a UHS clinic and I felt that what I could do as a FNP student was very limited, I felt no connection with the patients, I felt rushed and the visits were disconnected and felt like I did not get the full experience of a patient visit once they walk into the door and discharged from the clinic ...in others...it was "choppy" I would only get bits and pieces here and there. The skills that I was allowed to do were limited as well (probably the most invasive was a speculum exam and pap smears)...I still learned a lot though and I had a good preceptor. However, I felt that it was not a good fit for me. Needless to say, from then on, I decided not to do clinicals with a large health system.

I found that small clinics especially volunteer clinics and clinics in rural health areas have given me the most autonomy and have given me a "fuller" experience of what it is really like to be a FNP in the "real world." The skills that I have acquired during my clinical hours with small /rural health/volunteer clinics clinics are absolutely PRICELESS! If there was a skill to do, my preceptors were not at all hesitant in saying "yes" and they were more than happy to teach me on how to do the skill and answer any questions I may have when managing patient conditions.

Another reason I like small/rural health/volunteer clinics, is that the patient care I give as a FNP student feels very satisfying. I felt like I was really helping out and the healthcare providers and other staff were very welcoming and considered me to be part of the team. Also, you will find that a lot of these patients may have higher acuity levels than those that you would see in a retail clinic such as CVS/Walgreens/Minute/Redi Clinic which in the end will be a challenging yet great learning experience for you.

However, if you are one of those students who just want to do the bare minimum then I suppose retail clinics would just be fine for your clinicals. As you probably know since you are in NP school, a lot of your learning is independent, therefore, you only get as much of an education as much as you put into your learning. I felt that when I was going to NP school I owed it to myself to get as much learning as I can with the best clinical practicum experience that I can get while still in school because whatever you don't learn while in school you will have to spend time learning once you are licensed FNP. Remember you are responsible for your own learning.

I had to go down to PRN at work and eventually quit working to accommodate clinical practicums & prioritize school which was also a challenge for me financially but after graduating this August 2014, accepting a job offer, passing my FNP certification exam; IT WAS ALL WORTH IT !!!!! (if this is your ultimate dream job).

If you are a NP student in your first year of school Texas Nurse Practitioner offers one year free student membership. I highly suggest you join because you can access a preceptor list with contact information. After the first year its $60.

Try small towns south of San Antonio like Pearsall, Floresville, Dilley, Cotulla, Beeville, and other town like Luling, Gonzales, New Braunfels/San Marcos, Tomball, Uvalde, Brady, ....among others. Trust me...there are Nurse Practitioners/MDs that may be willing to precept you just need to be willing to find them pick up the phone and call.

Good luck to you!

1 Votes
+ Add a Comment