San Antonio FNP Preceptor?

kcasey4 · Jun 16, 2015

Aprnkate could you please email me? I am in the San Antonio area and looking to begin clinical in March of 2016 for FNP. My email is [email protected] I can not personal message you on here!

Zippy Brown · Apr 2, 2019

Hello, I could help but respond thank you all that information. I know that this was written in 2014, but, if you are able to take on a student, now. Would you be interested in precepting?

ranurse1 · Jun 22, 2019

On 9/25/2014 at 3:55 AM, aprnKate said:
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!

Hi aprnKate. I am not sure if you are still in the Bexar County area or what your schedule looks like, but would you be willing to precept an NP student at this point in your career? I hope to begin the program next year so that means I wouldn't need a preceptor for a while, but I am new to San Antonio so I really need to do my homework on it. Please reply back to me if you can and I can get you my contact information.