Doing GW clinicals where you work
GW's current pages carry no explicit rule for or against doing clinicals at your own workplace, and GW's first preceptor-search tip is to network with the providers where you work. An older 2017 GW FAQ asked students to look outside their place of employment, with adviser approval for exceptions. A workplace rotation can work when the unit, the preceptor and your role are clearly separate from your job; confirm the plan with your program director before you submit it.
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What GW says today
None of GW Nursing's current clinical pages takes the question on directly. The nearest statement is a search tip: GW's Compliance and Clinical page lists networking with the providers at your place of employment first among its suggestions for finding a preceptor.
That is advice about finding people, not a ruling on where you may train. A workplace rotation goes through the same path as any other site: a Site Prospector submission, Program Director Review, an affiliation agreement and clearance. Faculty weigh the preceptor, what the setting offers and what your course needs, so the real question is whether your workplace passes that review, not whether workplaces are allowed in principle.
Because GW has not published a current rule, the answer for your case comes from your program director. Ask before you promise anything to a colleague, and before a manager starts rearranging schedules on your behalf.
What GW said in 2017
An earlier GW FAQ for MSN students was direct: "In general, students are asked to find preceptors outside their place of employment. Students should check with their program adviser for approval." That page is historical and no longer part of GW's current site, so treat it as context rather than current policy.
Two parts of it still help. "In general" left room for exceptions, and the route to one ran through an adviser's approval. Today the equivalent conversation belongs with your program director, who reviews every site and preceptor anyway, with your Clinical Experience Faculty in the loop once the rotation starts.
The gap between the 2017 wording and today's networking tip is itself useful. GW clearly sees a student's own workplace as a source of contacts. Whether it sees your own unit as a training site is the part you confirm.
The concerns a reviewer will weigh
GW does not publish its reasoning, but the practical concerns with a workplace rotation are easy to see, and naming them helps you answer them before anyone asks.
- Role confusion. Staff who know you as an RN colleague may slip into treating a student shift as a regular one, and so may you.
- Candid supervision. A preceptor who is also your manager or close coworker may find it harder to evaluate you plainly, and GW relies on preceptor evaluations.
- New learning. Repeating the patients, protocols and tasks you already know adds less to the NP role the course is building.
- Clean hours. GW counts precepted clinical hours logged in CORE within the semester dates. Hours that blur into paid shifts invite questions you would rather avoid.
How to make a workplace site fit
- Choose a different unit or clinicA practice in your health system where you do not work day to day gives you new patients and a fresh set of expectations.
- Pick a preceptor outside your reporting lineAn NP or physician in another department is an easier case than your manager or a direct colleague.
- Match the course, not the convenienceCheck the setting against your course. GW's 2021 guide, for example, pairs the first FNP course with internal medicine and no pediatric patients; the rotation settings page has the rest.
- Keep student time separateSchedule clinical shifts on days you are not working, and log them in CORE as precepted hours.
- Find the signatoryThe affiliation agreement needs the site's authorized signatory, normally someone other than your preceptor. Learn early who that is at your employer.
- Ask your program director firstDescribe the unit, the preceptor and how the rotation differs from your job, and keep the answer in writing.
Where to confirm
- Program director: whether a workplace site is acceptable for your course, and on what conditions.
- Clinical Experience Faculty: whether the setting and preceptor stay appropriate once you begin, and how to handle shifts that sit close to your paid schedule.
- Clinical Placement Team: whether GW already holds an agreement with your employer and who signs for the site. The placement team page explains who covers your track.
- Your employer: its own rules for hosting students, especially students who are also employees, and any student onboarding the site requires.
A contract is needed for every clinical site, your workplace included. If GW has none with your employer, the new agreement can take real time, so start that question early; the affiliation agreements page covers the steps.
If your workplace cannot host you
A workplace that cannot host your rotation is still one of your best search tools. Colleagues who have precepted before, NPs in other departments and physicians you work beside all know clinicians at other sites, which is the point of GW's networking tip. Ask them for introductions rather than placements.
Then bring in GW's other resources: the list of previously used sites the placement team shares on request, and the support GW's placement model describes for students still searching. If your term is close and nothing has come through, the fast preceptor page sets out the quickest realistic steps.
Whatever route you take, keep the program director informed. A workplace idea that fell through is useful context when they review your next submission.
Why working nurses choose us
Many GW students keep full-time jobs in health systems and need clinicals that fit around them. We find preceptors near your home or work in settings that match your course, and we can search inside your own health system on units where you do not work if your program director is comfortable with that, or entirely outside it if not. Every preceptor is checked against GW's rules, and we gather the documents your CORE submission needs. Tell us which days your employer schedules you, and we look for preceptors whose clinic hours fit around them.
GW's program director gives the final approval on any site; we make sure what reaches them is clear, complete and well matched to the course. Send your course, term and location through the contact page.
Questions GW students ask
Can I do my GW clinical rotation at the hospital where I work?
GW's current pages neither allow nor forbid it outright. Its first preceptor-search tip is networking with providers at your place of employment, while a 2017 GW FAQ asked students to look outside their workplace and seek adviser approval for exceptions. Your program director reviews every site, so ask them before you submit a workplace site in CORE.
Can my manager be my GW preceptor?
GW publishes no rule on it. A manager must still meet GW's preceptor standard from the 2021 guide: an NP, MD, DO or CNM credential, two years in advanced practice and an unencumbered license. A nurse manager without an advanced practice license would not qualify. Where a manager does qualify, ask your program director whether the reporting relationship is acceptable.
Can I count hours from my paid job as clinical hours?
GW's public pages do not address paid shifts directly. What GW does say is that clinical hours are precepted, logged in CORE after each shift and completed within the semester dates after clearance. Keep student shifts separate from work shifts, and ask your Clinical Experience Faculty how GW wants any borderline situation handled.
Does my employer need an agreement with GW Nursing?
Yes. GW's Clinical Rotations page requires a completed contract with GW Nursing for every clinical site, and a workplace is no exception. The Clinical Placement Team can tell you whether one already exists. If not, the team negotiates a new one with your employer's authorized signatory, which can take several weeks or longer.
Is a different unit at my hospital better than my own unit?
Usually, yes. A different unit or clinic gives you new patients, a preceptor outside your reporting line and a clearer student role, which is what a reviewer looks for when judging whether a setting meets your course objectives. Confirm the plan with your program director, since GW has not published a current rule on workplace sites.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-24
We check these pages against GW's Bulletin and GW Nursing's own program and clinical pages. Your course, CORE and GW's Clinical Placement Team have the final word.
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