Preceptor requirements for Augusta University NP clinicals

What Georgia requires of your preceptor

Georgia's Board of Nursing says on its nursing education page that it does not regulate post-licensure programs, and APRN programs fall in that group. It still attaches license conditions to teaching in the state. Anyone precepting or teaching in Georgia, on site or by electronic means, must hold a Georgia nursing license or a multistate license issued by another Nurse Licensure Compact state.

The same page adds a sentence written for nurse practitioner education: clinical instruction in APRN programs has to be given by a nurse with APRN authorization in Georgia. Read plainly, an NP preceptor at a Georgia site should be a Georgia-authorized APRN, not just an RN licensed somewhere in the compact.

The page does not say how that sentence applies when a physician or physician assistant runs your clinical days, and some Georgia systems accept them (Northside's student page lets a physician precept any discipline). If your strongest option is a physician, ask your course faculty how the College reads the Board's wording before you commit.

Georgia NPs practice through a protocol that a delegating physician signs, and the protocol rules never mention students (Georgia practice guide). Georgia's detailed preceptor rule, with its two-student cap, binds Board-approved prelicensure programs such as the faculty-led BSN and MSN Clinical Nurse Leader (Board rules guide).

What Augusta University does say about preceptors

Scattered across the catalog, the DNP handbook and the College's policies are a handful of statements that describe how preceptors fit into a course. None sets a qualification, but together they show the shape of the role.

• In the DNP residency, faculty assess each student's needs, write learning objectives with the student, orient the preceptor or mentor, and stay accountable for evaluating the student (DNP handbook).
• NURS 9192, the final practicum shared by every NP track, expects you to practice across the full scope of advanced practice nursing alongside a preceptor (catalog).
• The PMHNP courses NURS 8345 and NURS 8348 include individual and peer group supervision led by faculty, preceptors or both (catalog).
• Clinical performance goes on course-specific evaluation tools, every clinical objective needs a pass rating, and you sign the final tool; the policy does not say who fills it in (CON31).
• Nurse Anesthesia practicums run with certified registered nurse anesthetists, anesthesiologists or both; MSN Clinical Nurse Leader students work with nurse preceptors; and a DNP Project site partner needs no particular credential (catalog and handbook).

Rules the clinical site adds

Health systems often layer their own preceptor rules on top of the state's. Northside, according to its advanced practice student page, wants peer precepting (NP teaching NP), lets a physician precept any discipline, allows one student per preceptor per rotation, and requires an agreement signed by a sponsoring physician on its active staff. Wellstar accepts only its preceptor confirmation form dated May 2023, and Grady's NP packet includes a form the preceptor signs and dates to confirm willingness.

These belong to the site, not to Augusta University, and they stack on top of whatever your course expects. Most also depend on a school-level contract being in place first, which the clinical agreements guide explains.

How we vet a preceptor before you rely on one

Whatever part your program plays in finding sites, our job is to bring you a preceptor who clears every rule on this page before you spend a week on paperwork. For a Georgia site, the placement desk confirms the preceptor's Georgia or multistate license and Georgia APRN authorization and the protocol behind the practice. For a South Carolina site, we confirm licensure and the practice agreement. In both states we match specialty and patient mix to your exact course, from NURS 8312 through NURS 9192.

Then we assemble what your faculty and the site will want: credentials, site details and an hours plan for the term, sent early. If a preceptor withdraws mid-course, we start the replacement search as soon as you tell us. See how it works, or send your course and county through the request form.