Questions Kent State nursing students ask us
Short answers to the broad questions: who we help, where we search, what you still handle with Kent State, how to start and what happens when plans change. Questions about a single program, course or policy have their own pages, linked throughout.
Ask your own question
Tell us your concentration, course and term, and add your question. Your placement advisor replies directly.
About our service
We are an independent preceptor placement service for Kent State University nursing students, built around the College of Nursing's own practicum rules. We search for preceptors and practicum sites in your community that fit your Kent State course, and we prepare the details your practicum faculty and concentration coordinator look at before they approve.
Kent State faculty and coordinators decide on every preceptor and site. What we add is time and thoroughness: a search run by specialists in Kent State's practicum process, an approval file that is complete from the start, an early read on whether the College of Nursing needs to arrange an agreement, and a backup plan if a preceptor leaves. Our how it works page walks through each step in order.
Which Kent State students we help
Graduate students are the core of our work, because Kent State asks them to identify their own preceptors. That covers every MSN concentration, the MSN/MBA, the post-master's certificates, continuing Pediatric Primary Care NP students, and DNP students who need a site and preceptor for their project courses. Post-master's certificate students follow the same practicum courses as the matching MSN concentration, so the search works the same way.
RN-to-BSN students complete a clinical component in NURS 43001. Kent State leaves unpublished who arranges that site, so ask your course faculty first, and bring us in if the search is yours. BSN and Accelerated BSN clinicals, including the NURS 40045 capstone preceptor, are scheduled by the college, so pre-licensure students seldom need a search; the BSN clinicals page explains how those rotations are set.
Where we search
In person, near where you live. Kent State's online programs hold practicums in the state where you live and hold an RN license, with preceptors close by, even though the coursework is online. For Ohio students that often means Northeast Ohio, home to most of Kent State's named clinical partners; our Ohio NP preceptors page explains how the region's health systems take students.
Outside Ohio, the search follows your program's approved states list. The fully online concentrations each have one; the hybrid FNP, AGPCNP and AGACNP do not appear on it, so students in those concentrations who live outside Ohio should confirm their status with the Office of Academic Advising and Student Services before planning a site. If you plan to move, Kent State asks you to tell the college at once.
What stays with you and Kent State
Some steps belong to you as a Kent State student, however the search is done. You confirm your preceptor with practicum faculty, stay fully compliant with the Clinical Compliance Policy, register for practicum courses with special approval, finish agency onboarding, and log time and cases in Typhon within 15 days of each practicum day.
The College of Nursing handles affiliation agreements with facilities, and your coordinator and practicum faculty give the final approval. Our work runs alongside those steps: we tell you which onboarding items the agency expects, what your faculty are likely to ask about the preceptor, and whether a new agreement is needed, so each step lands on time. You stay the student of record at every point; we make sure nothing reaches your faculty half-finished.
Timing and how to start
Start as soon as you know your practicum term. Kent State's orientation notice arrives four to six months before a first practicum, which is a good moment to contact us, and earlier is better still. A late start is still workable; your search begins as soon as your details arrive. Two terms of lead time is comfortable, one term is tight, and a few weeks calls for a faster plan.
To begin, send your concentration, the NURS course, your city and state, and the semester. It helps to add your license state, your work schedule and any preceptors you have already approached, so the search skips what you have tried. Use the form below or the chat button, and your placement advisor replies with the next steps.
What it costs
Each quote reflects five things: which program you are in, the course being placed, your home location, the time left before your term, and the specialty involved. A single course with a common preceptor type and months of lead time is a different job from a narrow specialty needed within weeks. The cost page walks through each factor.
Kent State's own requirements are billed separately and paid as Kent State directs. That includes the compliance tracking vendor, background checks, BLS, immunizations and the physical, along with the one-time Typhon fee and the College of Nursing name badge; agencies can add onboarding items of their own. See practicum costs for who pays what.
When plans change
Plans shift, and Kent State has rules for most of the ways they do. If a preceptor leaves mid-term, a replacement still needs faculty and coordinator approval, and hours still end on the semester's last day; see preceptor dropped out. If a practicum slips a term, your Graduate Planning System plan and the three-year rule for stale practicum courses come into play; see delayed graduation.
A graduate leave of absence runs one to three consecutive terms and must be requested before the term begins, and graduate students must enroll at least once in every three terms to stay active. Tell us about any change as soon as it happens, and we re-plan your placement around the new term.
Questions Kent State students ask
How does a placement service fit Kent State's rules?
Kent State's handbook asks graduate students to identify qualified preceptors and confirm them with practicum faculty, and it describes selection as shared among you, faculty and the preceptor. Our work supports the identifying part. Every preceptor we find still goes to your practicum faculty and coordinator, who give the final approval.
Can you help if one of my practicums is already covered?
Yes. If a course is set, perhaps through your employer, tell us which practicums are covered and which are open. Keep Kent State's workplace rules in mind: PMHNP students need a site other than their workplace, and NAHSL students are urged to look past their own unit. See workplace practicum sites.
Do you find sites for DNP projects?
Yes. Post-master's DNP students log project hours in NURS 72692, NURS 72792 and NURS 72892, and Kent State's DNP FAQ lets the project happen in the state where you live and are licensed. The DNP program director also helps with preceptors, and your Project Chair oversees the hours. See DNP practicum hours.
What does Kent State offer the preceptors who take students?
Kent State offers continuing education through PreceptED, a leadership award that has honored more than 350 preceptors, graduate application-fee relief, research partnerships and possible adjunct status. Mentioning these when you ask a preceptor can help. Our preceptor benefits page explains each one.
What information do you keep about me?
What a placement needs: your program, course, city and state, term, license state and schedule, plus any preceptor details you share. We use it to run your search and prepare your approval file. Our privacy page explains how it is handled and how to ask for deletion.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-24
We check these pages against Kent State's own catalog, handbooks and program pages. Your MSN or DNP handbook, your syllabus, your practicum faculty and your concentration coordinator have the final word.
Kent State says the preceptor search is yours. We make it the fastest part of your practicum.
Tell us your Kent State concentration, where you live and which semester your next practicum starts. We find preceptors who fit the course and prepare everything your practicum faculty and coordinator review before they approve.
- Preceptors matched to the course: primary care for
NURS 61292, acute care forNURS 61092, psychiatric care forNURS 61592, women's health forNURS 66192 - Credentials, license and site details ready for your practicum faculty and coordinator
- In your own community, in Ohio or wherever you live and hold your RN license
Start your placement plan
Program, city and semester is all we need to begin.