How we place Sacred Heart University nursing students, step by step

Q: Can you plan all four FNP rotations at once?

Yes. We can map NU 561, NU 606, NU 607 and NU 621 together so each preceptor is lined up well ahead. Sacred Heart still reviews each placement on its own, due by week 10 of the course before it, so approvals and forms move course by course.

Updated September 25, 2026 · Reviewed by the Sacred Heart Preceptor placement team

You bring the course and the deadline. We bring the preceptor, the site and every detail Sacred Heart University's reviewers ask to see. Below is the full path from your first message to your last clinical hour, including what happens if a preceptor has to step away mid-course.

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Start with your course and your city

Name your Sacred Heart program and where you live. Your placement advisor comes back with a plan built around your next clinical course.

4online FNP clinical courses to plan for: NU 561, NU 606, NU 607 and NU 621

Six steps from first message to final clinical hour

Each step below lines up with a stage of Sacred Heart's own placement chain, so nothing we prepare has to be redone later.

Intake: program, course, city and deadlineYou tell us your Sacred Heart program, the NU course you need covered, the city you train from and the date you are working to. Those four facts set the population, the hours, the search radius and the pace of everything that follows.
A search close to home, in a state that qualifiesWe look near where you live, in a state where Sacred Heart's program meets licensure requirements and where you hold an active RN license. NP clinical hours stay outside New York, so New York residents are matched in a neighboring state.
Preceptor confirmed for your courseYour placement advisor talks with the preceptor and the practice, checks credentials against your track, confirms the setting fits the course population and makes sure the schedule sits inside your course dates.
Approval details ready for Sacred HeartWe assemble the preceptor's CV, license and board certification, plus the site's contact for contracts. You carry one complete set to your academic advisor, the MSN Online NP Programs Clinical Coordinator and the Contract Request Form.
Affiliation-agreement timing plannedA site that already holds an agreement with Sacred Heart moves quickly. A new site can take up to nine months, per the MSN guide, so we learn which case applies before you commit and plan backward from your course start.
On call through the whole courseAfter your "Cleared for Clinical" email arrives and the rotation begins, we stay reachable. If a preceptor steps away, we line up a replacement and the details a new Contract Request Form needs.

Where Sacred Heart takes over

Sacred Heart University makes every decision that matters. Your academic advisor approves the proposed site and preceptor, the MSN Online NP Programs Clinical Coordinator gives final approval, and the Clinical Contract & Compliance Coordinator uses your Contract Request Form to confirm or start the affiliation agreement. If the preceptor belongs to a partnering health system, that system approves the placement first. The full sequence lives on the placement process page.

Our part is to make each of those reviews an easy yes. The documents arrive complete, the site contact expects to hear from Sacred Heart, and the dates line up with your course. Your own compliance items in the Health Account stay in your hands, and we keep their due dates in front of you so nothing holds up the clearance email.

Matching the preceptor to the course

A preceptor is right only if the practice sees the patients the course is built around. For the online FNP and PMHNP tracks, these are the settings we match to, with the hours Sacred Heart's MSN guide sets for each course.

Online NP clinical courses and the settings we match
Course	What the setting needs to cover	Hours
`NU 561`	Adult primary care: the well adult and common problems	180
`NU 606`	Primary care of children, birth through adolescence	90
`NU 607`	Well-woman and prenatal care, adolescence through menopause	90
`NU 621`	Complex primary care of adult families	180
`NU 571`	Behavioral health, late adolescence through adulthood	180
`NU 572`	Child and adolescent behavioral health, 100 or more hours with patients under 18	180
`NU 573`	Older adults, couples and families, co-occurring conditions	180

CNL, Nursing Education, NMEL and RN-BSN students get RN preceptors whose roles match the practicum, and DNP students get a practice mentor placed where the project will run. Credential rules for every track are on the preceptor requirements page.

When to start

Earlier is easier at Sacred Heart. Online FNP students owe their next placement by week 10 of the course before it, the Clinical Placement Team publishes deadlines for PMHNP, CNL, NE and NMEL, and RN-BSN students begin nine months before the first clinical course. Registration for an NP clinical course opens only after the site and preceptor are approved. Each rule is explained on the week-10 deadline page.

A practical habit: reach out when the course before your clinical course begins, or sooner if the best site for you may need a new agreement. If your date is already close, put it in the first line of your message. The urgent placement guide covers what can still be done on a short clock.

If a preceptor steps away mid-course

Plans change: a preceptor moves jobs, a practice reorganizes, a schedule falls apart. Sacred Heart's rule is simple. Tell Clinical Placement immediately, submit a new Contract Request Form and wait for an updated clearance before working with anyone new. Your replacement search begins on the day you report the change, aiming for the same kind of setting so the course population is still covered, with your remaining hours and course end date deciding which options come first. If your course end date is close, you hear plainly what the remaining weeks allow. The preceptor dropped out page walks through that situation.

Log nothing with a new preceptor until the updated clearance arrives: Sacred Heart deletes hours logged with an unapproved preceptor or site from E*Value.

Why Sacred Heart students start with us

We work on Sacred Heart placements, so the vocabulary is already ours: the CRF, the affiliation agreement, the Health Account, E*Value, the week-10 deadline and the states where each track can train. That focus is what makes the work thorough, including in Connecticut, where Sacred Heart acknowledges that primary care openings are scarce, and for New York residents who train across the state line. A preceptor we confirm has been checked against your course, your state and your track before you hear the name, and the details Sacred Heart asks for are gathered once, completely.

You keep your hours for coursework, residencies and the job you already hold. To begin, share your program, NU course and city in the form on this page, or ask a quick question in the chat before you commit to anything.

Questions Sacred Heart students ask

How long does it take to confirm a preceptor?

It depends on the course, your location, the setting and whether the site already holds an agreement with Sacred Heart. An adult primary care site with an existing agreement tends to come together sooner than a child psychiatry site that needs a new contract. Put your deadline in your first message and your placement advisor will tell you plainly what is realistic.

Do I still submit the Contract Request Form myself?

Yes. The Contract Request Form is your submission, made after the MSN Online NP Programs Clinical Coordinator emails approval of your site and preceptor. We hand you every answer it asks for, including the site's name and address, its contact for contracts and, for FNP courses, the primary and secondary population the site serves.

Can you work with a preceptor I already found?

Yes. If you have a willing preceptor but pieces are missing, we check the fit against your course and track, collect the CV, license and board certification, and secure the site's contract contact. If the fit looks wrong for the course, you hear that early, along with an alternative.

Can you plan all four FNP rotations at once?

Yes. We can map NU 561, NU 606, NU 607 and NU 621 together so each preceptor is lined up well ahead. Sacred Heart still reviews each placement on its own, due by week 10 of the course before it, so approvals and forms move course by course.

Do you help hybrid FNP/DNP students?

Yes, within that program's own structure. Hybrid students arrange the 8 to 10 observation hours for NU 552 themselves, and later courses go through the FNP/DNP Clinical Placement Coordinator. We help with the observation and with any site a student arranges for Program Director approval. See the hybrid clinical courses page.

ProcessClinical placement processHow a Sacred Heart University clinical placement moves from a named preceptor to the Cleared for Clinical email, step by step, with the differences by program.FormContract Request Form (CRF)The Sacred Heart University Contract Request Form: the six program versions, the fields it asks for, when to submit it and what happens after you send it.AgreementAffiliation agreementsWhy a new Sacred Heart University clinical affiliation agreement can take up to nine months, how existing agreements help and how to plan around the wait.PricingCostWhat shapes a quote for a Sacred Heart University preceptor placement: program, course, setting, location, timing and whether the site has an agreement.ReplacementPreceptor dropped outYour preceptor quit mid-course at Sacred Heart University. Who to notify, the new CRF and clearance, the hours already in E*Value and the 16-week clock.ContactContactContact the Sacred Heart Preceptor placement desk: what to include about your program, NU course, deadline, city, licenses and hours, and what happens next.

Last checked 2026-09-25

We check these pages against Sacred Heart's own catalog, program pages and 2026-27 student guides. Your student guide, your academic advisor and your course faculty have the final word.

Sacred Heart asks you to secure your clinical placement. We make that the easy part.

Tell us your Sacred Heart program, your city and your next clinical course. We find preceptors who fit the course and prepare what your advisor, the NP clinical coordinator and the Contract Request Form ask for, early enough for the affiliation agreement.

Preceptors matched to the course: primary care of adults, women and children for FNP, psychiatric care across the lifespan for PMHNP
Preceptor CV, license, board certification and the site's contract contact ready before your week-10 deadline
Close to home in any state where Sacred Heart's program meets licensure requirements, with New York's rule planned around

Start your placement plan

Program, city and clinical start is all we need to begin.