Why is it so hard to find a Clinical Preceptor in Nurse Practitioner school?
Finding a clinical preceptor in nurse practitioner (NP) school can indeed be challenging for several reasons. Schools simply are not doing enough to help. May schools provide databases to enrolled students as a starting point to contact offices with exciting agreements with them. Those databases are a waste of time, in my opinion, and should probably be avoided. Providing a database of offices/clinical sites does not help because every student enrolled has the same access, and has already flooded those offices with calls. Students waste weeks calling, leaving messages, never hearing back or hearing “no” over and over.
It is really important to understand the reasons behind why finding a preceptor is hard.
Limited Availability: This is the main reason! The number of qualified preceptors might not be sufficient to meet the growing demand for NP students. There could be a shortage of experienced NPs or physicians who are willing to take on the responsibility of mentoring students. It is also competitive. Most clinical sites that welcome students also welcome Physician Assistants and Medical students. In fact, PA and MD progams pay clinical sites every month to take their students. Therefore, these students are a priority above NP students.
Time Commitment: Serving as a preceptor is a significant time commitment for experienced healthcare professionals. They have their own patients, administrative duties, and personal lives to attend to, which makes it challenging for them to dedicate extra time to supervise and mentor NP students. Additionally taking the time to precept may reduce productivity bonuses (RVUs). Time is valuable.
Increased Demand for NP Education: As the role of nurse practitioners expands in the healthcare system, more students are enrolling in NP programs, further increasing the demand for clinical preceptors. There will be an estimated 45,000 NP graduates by 2030! It is great for our profession but not great to students that need clinical sites.
Liability and Legal Concerns: Some healthcare providers may be hesitant to take on NP students due to liability concerns, particularly in litigious healthcare environments.
Lack of Financial Incentives: Preceptors often receive little or no compensation for their role, which can deter potential preceptors from volunteering their time. Again, time is valuable.
Geographic Constraints: In certain regions, the availability of clinical sites and preceptors might be limited, making it challenging for NP schools to secure adequate placements for their students.
Competition with Other Healthcare Programs: Nurse practitioner students often compete for clinical placement opportunities with other healthcare disciplines, such as medical students, physician assistant students, and other advanced practice nursing students.
Networking and Relationships: The process of finding a preceptor often relies heavily on networking and existing relationships between NP programs and healthcare institutions. Students who lack strong connections in the healthcare field might find it more difficult to secure preceptorships.
To address these challenges, NP schools may employ various strategies, such as expanding their network of potential preceptors, offering incentives for preceptors, collaborating with healthcare institutions to increase placement opportunities, and providing support and resources for both preceptors and students during the clinical experience. Additionally, students can proactively reach out to potential preceptors, demonstrate their dedication and professionalism, and be flexible in terms of their clinical placement preferences to increase their chances of finding a suitable preceptor. When reaching out to providers to ask for their time please keep all of these factors in mind when tailoring thoughtful messaging. Additionally, you may want to skip the headache and set money aside to pay for an agency to place you, such as MatchNP.