Why is finding preceptors so hard?

I'm in Indianapolis (and not an NP student but have many friends who are). Go to work for one of the places you mentioned. My friends who work for a large system get placed within the system. In fact, most of the larger Indianapolis systems will ONLY take their own employees for placement- no outsiders. They are slammed with requests. The ones who do not work in the system are either delayed or having to travel to distant and borderline quality sites. 

Another consideration that helped me while I was in school... reach out to the Tennessee nurse practitioner association and even think about joining at their student level....this will start you networking. 

As a student I had the opportunity to attend one of their one day update conferences.. made sure to introduce myself to the current association president who in turn introduced me to several other members.. walked out with 2 potential preceptors. 

The reason is that finding preceptors is the "hard" part for schools and would cost them a lot of money. If the nursing accreditation agencies required clinical placement like they do for RN schools then a lot of the For-profit programs would shut down due to lack of profitability. They know they don't have to find preceptors so they are happy to take the tuition money then leave people out on their own to find the actual training. It's a horrible model that no other healthcare profession allows.

On 5/10/2021 at 10:24 AM, MentalKlarity said:

The reason is that finding preceptors is the "hard" part for schools and would cost them a lot of money. If the nursing accreditation agencies required clinical placement like they do for RN schools then a lot of the For-profit programs would shut down due to lack of profitability. They know they don't have to find preceptors so they are happy to take the tuition money then leave people out on their own to find the actual training. It's a horrible model that no other healthcare profession allows.

One solution might be to requiring that a PMHNP serve as a preceptor as part of the renewal process (at least once every cycle). Another alternative might be to give a large number of CE's that can be used towards Board Cert.  

I have been continuously trying for six months and nobody wants me in my PMHNP field at Walden University.  I am a straight A student even with AS and BSN, and have been making straight As in Walden. It means nothing. I am in just one more class before practicums start. I'll see it through and see what happens, but I am unable to start clinicals in September due to no preceptors and I figure I'll end up dropping out because I do not have any opportunity.  If you are well connected you can get preceptors. Also, if you are young and pretty you will have an easy time getting doctors to preceptor you but if you are older like myself you do not have a chance.  Nursing is one of the most sexist and discriminatory occupations ever. 

My suggestion is go to a school that assigns you preceptors if you are older. And remember your straight As mean nothing.   

I should have stopped when I got my BSN.  I feel so stupid having lost over $20,000 -- oh well, life is a gamble. I think I just wanted to try to see if I could do it. I am 61 years old and this is my last ditch at higher education. If I cannot make it I'm going to retire as soon as possible. 

If you are older do NOT go to a for-profit university -- you will be sorry and lose your shirt. Go to a state university where they will assign you preceptors. 

Now if you are well connected in the medical field, then go to Walden or other for-profit university.  You also have a good chance if you are young and pretty. Sorry, it's the truth.   

1 hour ago, Lluk S said:

I should have stopped when I got my BSN.  I feel so stupid having lost over $20,000 -- oh well, life is a gamble. I think I just wanted to try to see if I could do it. I am 61 years old and this is my last ditch at higher education. If I cannot make it I'm going to retire as soon as possible. 

If you are older do NOT go to a for-profit university -- you will be sorry and lose your shirt. Go to a state university where they will assign you preceptors. 

Now if you are well connected in the medical field, then go to Walden or other for-profit university.  You also have a good chance if you are young and pretty. Sorry, it's the truth.   

NO ONE should go to a for-profit. It is literally "for profit" which means education with the sole purpose of making money for shareholders. That means they have a conflict of interest, they cannot serve both shareholders (maximize profit) and students (maximize education). At the end of the day their continued existence depends on making shareholders happy and that means a substantial return on investment, aka the money coming in from tuition dollars should mainly go toward profit/marketing and not go back into the students. For profit universities shouldn't even be legal.

They are frowned upon by most professions and have a horrible reputation.

3 hours ago, Lluk S said:

I have been continuously trying for six months and nobody wants me in my PMHNP field at Walden University.  I am a straight A student even with AS and BSN, and have been making straight As in Walden. It means nothing. I am in just one more class before practicums start. I'll see it through and see what happens, but I am unable to start clinicals in September due to no preceptors and I figure I'll end up dropping out because I do not have any opportunity.  If you are well connected you can get preceptors. Also, if you are young and pretty you will have an easy time getting doctors to preceptor you but if you are older like myself you do not have a chance.  Nursing is one of the most sexist and discriminatory occupations ever. 

My suggestion is go to a school that assigns you preceptors if you are older. And remember your straight As mean nothing.   

I had to find my own preceptor. I used the state "database" of PMHNP's and Psychiatrists and then looked up there places of business. Then I sent personalized letters and called/visited many places. Had I not found someone close to me I was prepared to move out of state (repeating the process in a different state) leaving my family and living in an AirBnb or someone in exchange for housekeeping/care services.  It can be done you should not give up.

Just now, myoglobin said:

I had to find my own preceptor. I used the state "database" of PMHNP's and Psychiatrists and then looked up there places of business. Then I sent personalized letters and called/visited many places. Had I not found someone close to me I was prepared to move out of state (repeating the process in a different state) leaving my family and living in an AirBnb or someone in exchange for housekeeping/care services.  It can be done you should not give up.

Also I went to the University of Southern Indiana in Evansville and had to find my own preceptors. I am grateful I could find my own preceptor. I ended up with someone about two miles from my job who was flexible with my "night shift" work schedule.  Had they "assigned me someone" who knows where it would have been or what they would have been like?

2 minutes ago, myoglobin said:

I had to find my own preceptor. I used the state "database" of PMHNP's and Psychiatrists and then looked up there places of business. Then I sent personalized letters and called/visited many places. Had I not found someone close to me I was prepared to move out of state (repeating the process in a different state) leaving my family and living in an AirBnb or someone in exchange for housekeeping/care services.  It can be done you should not give up.

Also I went to the University of Southern Indiana in Evansville and had to find my own preceptors. I am grateful I could find my own preceptor. I ended up with someone about two miles from my job who was flexible with my "night shift" work schedule.  Had they "assigned me someone" who knows where it would have been or what they would have been like? Also I am older (52) and went from earning about 60K (no benefits) as a PRN RN in the ICU to around 350K 1099 now. So I believe it was worth it.

So number 1 is psych is like one of the lowest matched specialties for both MD and NP. It is only 2% of NPs got certified in psych as of 2018. Finding a good PsychNP is pretty hard in the first place. 

The best thing to do is network. That really helped me find mine, of course that was pre covid. But yeah look on internet groups on facebook and other NP organizations. I would start cold calling places that offer psychiatry in  your local area. I would try to get in with a small private practiced owned by a small group or individual.

Also, precepting requires a lot of patience, and time. Training someone is no easy quick process. And in Houston one of the students in my program had to pay as that is the standard there. I had some *** preceptors. Like one's that don't understand the basics. 

4 hours ago, DrCOVID said:

So number 1 is psych is like one of the lowest matched specialties for both MD and NP. It is only 2% of NPs got certified in psych as of 2018. Finding a good PsychNP is pretty hard in the first place. 

The best thing to do is network. That really helped me find mine, of course that was pre covid. But yeah look on internet groups on facebook and other NP organizations. I would start cold calling places that offer psychiatry in  your local area. I would try to get in with a small private practiced owned by a small group or individual.

Also, precepting requires a lot of patience, and time. Training someone is no easy quick process. And in Houston one of the students in my program had to pay as that is the standard there. I had some *** preceptors. Like one's that don't understand the basics. 

My preceptor was a psychiatrist. If I had to find a PMHNP I would have been hard pressed. Also, although I would be willing to precept it is not easy given that I only have about 18months experience and I work from home seeing clients only via tele video which many schools will not accept.

11 minutes ago, myoglobin said:

My preceptor was a psychiatrist. If I had to find a PMHNP I would have been hard pressed. Also, although I would be willing to precept it is not easy given that I only have about 18months experience and I work from home seeing clients only via tele video which many schools will not accept.

My school allows telepsych preceptors due to COVID. However, even then, I simply can't find anybody. I will continue to write to people, but if I can't I will try a preceptor agency and just have to shell out about $2,000 per semester. Other than that just forget it and suck up my loss of about $20,000 -- hey that's life...it's cruel. I knew this would be a gamble.