Questions FNU students ask before getting placement help
These are the questions FNU students ask us most, grouped by topic. In short: FNU expects you to secure your site, FNU approves it, and we help with the search and the preparation in between.
Get your placement plan
Tell us your FNU track and where you live. A placement advisor replies with what a FNU-ready preceptor and site look like for you.
About the service
Who are you? The placement service built for Frontier Nursing University students. We work independently of FNU, and its students have relied on us ever since student-found preceptorships became part of FNU's programs.
What do you actually do? A placement advisor finds a preceptor and site suited to your FNU track, tests them against FNU's published rules, and prepares the CSAF entries and Clinical Credentialing's items with you. If a preceptor drops, we search again. The full sequence is on how it works.
Who approves the sites you find? FNU does. Your Regional Clinical Faculty member accepts the CSAF, and Clinical Credentialing credentials the site and preceptor. We make sure each site reaches that review complete and matched to FNU's rules for your track.
FNU's rules and outside help
Does FNU allow students to use a placement service? FNU's public pages don't publish a rule either way. They do say students are responsible for securing their clinical site, and FNU's catalog says it won't pay for preceptor-finding services. If you want certainty for your program, ask your Clinical Advisor.
Is there a separate approval path for a site we helped find? Not that FNU publishes. Its process is the same for every site: a preceptor commits, you submit the CSAF through the Community Map, your RCF reviews it, and Clinical Credentialing does the rest. The rules apply to every preceptor, whoever made the first contact.
Should I stop using the Community Map? No. It lists more than 20,000 active sites and preceptors across all 50 states, and FNU's Clinical Advisors can help you use it well. Keep working it alongside anything we do.
Timing
When should I start looking? Earlier than feels necessary. FNU recommends finding preceptors early in the program, FNU staff describe the RCF approving the clinical plan about four to six months before Clinical Bound, and credentialing can take several months on top of that.
Can I line up a preceptor before Frontier Bound? Yes. FNU's enrollment application lets applicants list a preceptor commitment they already have. Community Map access comes at Frontier Bound, so anything you arrange earlier is through your own contacts or outside help.
My Clinical Bound term is close. Is it too late? Not always, but the options narrow each week. Read finding a preceptor on a short timeline and give your exact term in the form.
Preceptors by track
Midwifery: must my preceptor be a CNM? FNU says the primary preceptor should ideally be a CNM or CM. FNPs, WHNPs, MDs and DOs can also precept, and ACME rules require in-the-room supervision for procedures, births and suturing.
FNP: can I train with a physician? Yes, for up to 40% of your hours with an MD, DO or NCCPA-certified PA. Specialty sites are limited to 20% of your time and one specialty rotation.
PMHNP: who counts? A PMHNP, a PMHCNS with prescriptive authority, a psychiatrist, or a master's-prepared licensed therapist for up to 135 hours. Your accepted CSAF needs a preceptor with psychiatric prescribing authority. Details for every track are on FNU's preceptor requirements.
Location, telehealth and New York
Can my clinicals be outside my home state? Yes. FNU has no home-state rule apart from New York, but you need an unencumbered RN license, or compact eligibility, in every state where you do clinicals.
Can I do clinicals in New York? Only in narrow cases: six MSN nurse-midwifery students a year who are New York residents, in upstate, rural and underserved areas, plus any student at a federal facility in the state. PGC midwifery, FNP, WHNP and PMHNP students otherwise train elsewhere.
How much can be telehealth? Up to 20% of hours for midwifery and WHNP, 10% for FNP, and 450 hours for PMHNP students starting in 2025 or later. See virtual clinical options.
Cost and setbacks
How much does it cost? It depends on your track, location, timeline and number of sites. You get a written quote and terms before you commit; the cost page explains what shapes them. Asking a question commits you to nothing.
My preceptor quit. What now? Tell your RCF straight away, then read when a preceptor drops out. If you're working with us, we search again.
My site wasn't approved. Ask your RCF or Credentialing Coordinator exactly why, because the reason decides the fix. Then see sites FNU turns down.
Questions FNU students ask
Can I do my FNU clinical hours where I work?
Possibly. For MSN and PGC students, FNU points you to your course syllabus and program guidelines, and your facility's own employment policy also applies. Where it's allowed, FNU requires strict separation between your job and your student role. DNP students are actively encouraged to use their workplace for project hours.
Do I need my own malpractice insurance for FNU clinicals?
FNU provides general and professional liability insurance for clinical students during the practicum, and that coverage ends when you finish clinical courses and graduate. Separately, you must carry health insurance, or belong to a health care sharing program, throughout enrollment, though some clinical sites won't accept sharing programs.
Can a relative precept me or host my rotation?
No. MSN and PGC students can't be precepted by a family member, and can't rotate at a site owned or administered by a family or household member, or one where they hold an ownership stake. DNP students can't use a project site owned or run by a first-degree family member.
Can I do FNU clinicals in Puerto Rico, Guam or overseas?
Not in the MSN or PGC programs. FNU requires clinicals within the continental US and the Hawaiian Islands, and treats Guam, the US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and overseas military bases as international sites it won't approve. DNP students may petition the DNP Program Chair for an international project site.
What if my Clinical Bound term moves?
FNU asks you to tell your RCF, your preceptors, your Clinical Credentialing Coordinator and your Academic Advisor. A preceptor who agreed to one term may not be available for another, so confirm the new dates with each of them early and ask your RCF whether the plan still holds.
Can I start at my site as soon as the preceptor agrees?
No. A preceptor's yes is only the first step. The site still needs RCF acceptance, a signed Affiliation Agreement, insurance verification, a fully credentialed preceptor and, if required, a Pre-Clinical Site Visit. FNU treats starting before credentialing is finished as grounds for dismissal.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-23
We check these pages against FNU's own published sources. Your Clinical Advisor, your RCF and FNU's current guidelines have the final word.
Your site submitted before Clinical Bound.
Tell us your FNU track, your county and your Clinical Bound date. We look for a preceptor and site that fit FNU's rules for your track, and help you get the CSAF and credentialing details right.
- Matched to your track: CNM/CM, NP, or the right mix FNU allows
- Ready for the CSAF, the RCF and Clinical Credentialing
- In person near you, or telehealth within FNU's caps
Start your placement plan
A placement advisor replies with what an FNU-ready preceptor and site look like for you.