Questions Spring Arbor nursing students ask about clinicals
Short answers come first here, and each one points to the page that treats the topic in depth. If your question is about your own file, such as a specific approval or a hold on your account, SAU's faculty and staff are the only people who can answer it.
Get your placement plan
Tell us your Spring Arbor track and where you live. A placement advisor replies with what your preceptor and site need to look like for Spring Arbor to approve them.
01Who finds the preceptor, and who approves it?
For online NP students in the MSN, RN-to-MSN and post-master's certificate tracks, you do the finding. SAU's own FAQ is direct about it: you choose your preceptor in your home state. Program faculty then approve every preceptor and site, rotation by rotation, and the same is true whether the lead came from you, from SAU or from us.
In 2026 the FNP and PMHNP pages added wording about SAU working with you on placements in your preferred location, plus access to a clinical partner network. That describes support rather than placement, and the AGPCNP, PNP-PC, Nurse Educator and MSN/MBA pages carry no such line. The partner network page sets out what it does and does not promise.
02What help does SAU itself offer?
More than many students realize. SAU's long-running preceptor tips post sends you to the SAU Online program director for names of providers who have volunteered to take its students.
The clinicals blog adds three more: a way to see which nearby practices already have an agreement with SAU, help from staff with the document checklist, and a Student Success Coach to lean on during placement. A 2023-24 web page also pointed students to preceptors and sites SAU had approved before.
Use all of it. Our service adds reach and paperwork help to those resources, and SAU support versus self-placement weighs each route, including ours, against the others.
03When does the paperwork have to be in?
At least four weeks before the clinical course. That lead time comes from the post-master's certificate section of the 2023-24 Graduate Catalog, which lists the clinical agreement, affiliation and preceptor verification forms. SAU does not publish current form titles, so work from the checklist your faculty or staff give you.
Treat four weeks as the last safe date, not the target. A practice that needs a new affiliation agreement with SAU can take longer than that just to route the contract past its own managers. Faculty then need time to review what you send. The clinical paperwork page lists what to collect and in what order.
04Who can be my preceptor?
For the NP practicums, SAU's catalog wording allows a certified NP, physician or PA who practices near you, once program faculty sign off. Nurse Educator and MSN/MBA students taking NUR 780B can also work under a master's-prepared nurse in a specialty field. PNP-PC students need pediatric primary care, and PMHNP students should plan on several placements.
Nothing SAU publishes sets years of experience for a preceptor, and it is silent on relatives and on paid preceptors. Silence is not a yes. Ask faculty before assuming any of those is acceptable, and keep the reply with your clinical records. SAU's preceptor requirements covers each track in more depth.
05How many hours, and in which states?
It depends on your track. SAU's pages list 625 for the FNP and 500 apiece for the other three NP tracks, with smaller totals for the Nurse Educator and MSN/MBA practicum. The clinical hours page has every track, including the spots where SAU's own pages disagree.
As for location, SAU's authorization list leaves out Alabama, Arizona, Louisiana and New York for its nursing programs, and it restricts Washington practice experiences to people who live in that state. Your RN license must also be unrestricted where you do the clinical work. State authorization explains the details, including the Mississippi line that still appears on the DNP page.
06What exactly do you do for me?
Our part is the legwork. We hunt for a clinician and practice that suit your SAU track within reach of your home, help you assemble what faculty review, and pick the search back up if a preceptor withdraws partway through a semester.
SAU's faculty give the final approval on everything we help arrange, and your signatures, hour logs and coursework stay yours. Our aim is that the file faculty open is complete and matched to SAU's rules before it goes in.
Every quote comes in writing before you commit. The stage-by-stage picture is on how it works, and the cost page shows what shapes the quote.
Questions Spring Arbor students ask
Do I have to finish the residency before clinicals start?
Under the 2023-24 catalog, yes. Students needed passing grades in NUR 612, NUR 618, NUR 602 and the NUR 602R campus residency before a practicum could begin. The current catalogs could not be checked, so confirm the order with your advisor or against your course list in Brightspace.
Can I do clinical hours where I work?
SAU publishes no specific rule for or against it. A preceptor and site at your employer still need faculty approval and the same paperwork as any other placement. Ask your clinical faculty before you plan around your workplace, and keep their answer with your clinical records.
Does the online RN-to-BSN need a preceptor?
No external preceptor requirement appears on SAU's pages. The program says clinical hours are embedded within the classroom environment, and it ends with the NUR 494 Senior Nursing Project. SAU does ask for compliance with institutional requirements before that project, so keep your records current.
Is Typhon the system SAU uses to log hours?
SAU does not name a logging system on its public pages. Students report using Typhon to log patients in the FNP track, but treat that as a report, not policy. Follow the instructions in your practicum course in Brightspace, and ask your clinical faculty whenever they are unclear.
Can I count telehealth hours?
SAU publishes no telehealth rule and no cap on virtual hours. Check with your clinical faculty before a single video or phone encounter goes toward your total, and keep their reply. Virtual clinical options lists the specific questions worth asking first, including how such hours should be logged.
What happens if my compliance items lapse?
The 2023-24 catalog says noncompliance may result in program delay or academic withdrawal. Background checks and drug tests repeat every year, and the student pays for them. Keep your records current with the nursing department well ahead of each practicum, not the week before.
How is a clinical course graded?
The 2023-24 catalog grades clinical and practicum courses Satisfactory or Unsatisfactory, with one retake allowed per course. Two unsatisfactory grades across the program end in dismissal, so raise problems with your clinical faculty early rather than hoping they resolve on their own.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-24
We check these pages against Spring Arbor's own published sources. SAU's nursing faculty and current catalog have the final word.
More preceptor leads, sooner, for your SAU clinicals.
Tell us your Spring Arbor track, where you live and when your clinical course starts. We look for a preceptor and site that fit SAU's rules for your track and help you get the paperwork in on time.
- Matched to your track: FNP, AGPCNP, PMHNP, PNP, Nurse Educator or DNP
- Clinical agreement, affiliation and preceptor verification forms ready early
- In your home state, near where you live
Start your placement plan
A placement advisor replies with what an SAU-ready preceptor and site look like for you.