Every nurse practitioner remembers their first preceptor. Maybe it was someone who challenged you just enough to stretch your confidence, or someone whose calm presence steadied your nerves during a chaotic rotation. Maybe even the one who taught you how not to teach — because not all preceptorships are equal.
NP programs depend heavily on experienced NPs to guide students through the practice gap, yet for all its importance, the framework that supports precepting hasn’t kept pace with the profession it sustains. The systems that connect students with clinical sites and prepare preceptors for the role remain inconsistent at best.
Precepting endures because NPs believe in it, but the infrastructure that should support the practice doesn’t make it easy. That gap between commitment and coordination is what the profession now has to reckon with.
The Reality Behind the Role
Most NP programs rely on practicing clinicians to serve as preceptors, yet there’s no standardized model for how that relationship is built or maintained. Some schools have formal affiliation agreements with health systems or community clinics, but many do not.
That disconnect leaves students, often paying tuition, to cold-call clinics or beg contacts for placement several months ahead of their actual rotations. A lack of standard agreements also means that NPs who want to precept may expend the resources to do so, only to learn that they don’t meet the local university’s requirements. In an article from late 2024, Lynn McComas (DNP, ANP-C), the founder and CEO of preceptor matching service PreceptorLink wrote:
“While essential, affiliation agreements have become a significant bottleneck for NP education nationwide. These agreements define the legal, educational, and administrative terms between clinical sites and schools, but their school-to-school variability creates unnecessary hurdles.”
Without clear communication or institutional support, both sides start behind. As a result, students might face delays or difficulties finding preceptors, while those doing the teaching are left to their own devices when it comes to balancing their student load with clinical responsibilities.
What Great Preceptors Do
As a preceptor, there’s often little consistency in orientation, evaluation tools, or feedback mechanisms. Very few NP programs offer formal pedagogical training to prepare clinicians for the realities of adult learning or clinical teaching (without a DNP, of course). Most NPs who take students do so instinctively, either by teaching the way they were taught, or figuring it out on the fly.
The truth is that teaching in a busy clinic doesn’t come with extra time. It means longer visits, more charting, and the additional effort of guiding someone who’s both eager and anxious (or a lousy student who talks over you and thinks they already know it all). Preceptors often juggle multiple priorities; between helping students think through differentials, staying on schedule, and maintaining responsibility for every patient encounter.
Those who do it well tend to share certain habits. They expect professionalism by showing up prepared, on time, and ready to engage with both patients and students. They create psychological safety but also hold clear boundaries. They encourage students to think out loud, to make educated guesses, and to learn from the inevitable misses. A good preceptor knows it’s not about being right all the time, and drills it in that your role is about constant learning and improvement.
The best of them also understand that the spark for learning goes both ways. Many experienced NPs say their students keep them sharp and even teach them new things. The ideal preceptor-student relationship becomes a two-way exchange: experience meeting enthusiasm.
Teaching as Part of Practice
Great preceptors show fledgling NPs what it looks like to think critically, communicate clearly, and recover gracefully when things don’t go as planned. What’s missing isn’t appreciation, but infrastructure (though a gift card or handwritten note never hurts).
These skills are invaluable, and all the more reason that preceptors shouldn’t have to rely on goodwill alone to do something so central to the profession’s growth. Clear systems for coordination, communication, and time protection would better support the careers of preceptors and those they teach, a win-win for the profession overall.
