Precepting a GW Nursing student: what it involves
GW Nursing's online graduate students train one-to-one with practicing clinicians in their own communities. Precepting one means a set number of hours in a single course, two evaluations, a short set of documents for GW, and a site agreement that GW's Clinical Placement Team arranges with your practice. Here is what to expect, and how to tell us you are open to students.
Open to a GW student?
Choose the preceptor option under Program, then add your city and state. A placement advisor follows up about students whose course fits your practice.
Who can precept a GW student
GW's 2021 clinical placement guide, which GW still hosts, asks for a nurse practitioner, physician (MD or DO) or certified nurse-midwife with at least two years of work in an advanced practice role and a current, unencumbered license. Preceptors must also meet their own state's rules on supervising NP students.
Some courses add a requirement. The final PMHNP course, NURS 6248, needs a PMHNP or clinical nurse specialist preceptor, and the Nursing Leadership and Management practicums need a preceptor with a master's degree or higher. GW's faculty weigh each preceptor's qualifications, the strengths of the setting and the needs of the student and course. The preceptor requirements guide goes through each rule.
How many hours, course by course
A GW student comes to you for one course at a time, and each course carries a fixed hour count. These are GW's published figures.
| Program | Courses | Hours with a preceptor |
|---|---|---|
| Family NP | NURS 6230, NURS 6231, NURS 6232 | 120, then 240, then 240 |
| Adult-Gerontology Primary Care NP | NURS 6224, NURS 6225, NURS 6229 | 120, then 240, then 240 |
| Adult-Gerontology Acute Care NP | NURS 6235, NURS 6236, NURS 6237 | 120, then 240, then 240, in DC, Maryland or Northern Virginia only |
| Psychiatric Mental Health NP | NURS 6244 through NURS 6248 | 120 in each of five courses |
| Nurse-Midwifery | NURS 6321, NURS 6322 | 840 across two immersion semesters |
| Nursing Leadership and Management | NURS 6258, NURS 6259 | 150 each, with a different preceptor and site for the second |
Every hour must fall inside GW's semester dates, and the student may begin only after GW clears them for the term. Weekly schedules are worked out between you and the student. The clinical hours hub has the full picture by program.
Your part of the paperwork
GW keeps the preceptor's share of the paperwork light. Here is the order it usually arrives in.
- Share your credentialsGW asks for your license and a bio or CV. Its Clinical Preceptor Biography form covers degrees, licensure, specialty certifications, your three most recent employers and areas of expertise, with your signature. The biography form and preceptor guide page explains both documents.
- Name your site's signatoryGW requires a completed contract with every clinical site. Under GW's 2021 guide, the person who signs for your site is normally an administrator rather than you, unless you own the practice. GW's Clinical Placement Team handles the agreement itself; the affiliation agreement guide explains the stage.
- Read and sign the preceptor guideGW's preceptor guide explains the course and your role. You sign its last page, and the student uploads it to CORE, GW's clinical system.
- Complete two evaluationsGW emails you a mid-semester and a final evaluation of the student. You discuss each with the student before submitting it, and the result appears in CORE for faculty.
- Welcome a faculty visitGW's pages say a faculty member conducts a site visit, usually during the student's second or final clinical course. Details of the visit come from GW's faculty.
What GW offers its preceptors
GW's Become a Preceptor page thanks preceptors as key members of the School of Nursing team and lists three benefits:
- Access to the Himmelfarb Health Sciences Library
- An opportunity to become a guest lecturer at GW Nursing in your area of expertise
- An invitation to collaborate with other GW preceptors
GW says over 200 preceptors are working one-to-one with its students this year, and a 2022 GW news post noted that many are GW alumni or faculty. GW is also actively seeking remote preceptors in most states, which matters because its online students train where they live.
What we take off your plate
Our role is to bring you students who fit your practice and to make the process easy on your office. Before we introduce a student, we check that their GW course matches your setting, that the hours and term work for your schedule, and that the student holds an RN license in your state.
Once you say yes, your placement advisor collects your license and bio, confirms the right signatory and the email address for evaluations, and answers questions from your office manager. If something changes on your side, tell us, and we arrange the next step with the student and GW.
Tell us you are open to students
Use the form on this page and choose the preceptor option under Program. In the city field, give the city and state where you practice, and tell your advisor your specialty and setting, the terms you could take a student, and roughly how many hours a week fit your clinic.
You can also reach the placement desk by chat or through the contact page. If you would rather go to GW directly, its Become a Preceptor page has an application form, and the Clinical Placement Team answers preceptor questions at sonclinical@gwu.edu.
Questions GW students ask
Can a physician precept a GW nurse practitioner student?
Yes. GW's 2021 clinical placement guide lists MD and DO physicians alongside nurse practitioners and certified nurse-midwives, each with at least two years in advanced practice and a current, unencumbered license. Some courses narrow the field, such as NURS 6248, which calls for a PMHNP or CNS preceptor.
Can a physician assistant precept a GW student?
GW's published preceptor list, in its 2021 clinical placement guide, names NPs, MDs, DOs and CNMs, and physician assistants are not on it. If you are a PA interested in precepting, the student's program director is the right person to ask whether GW would consider it for a particular course.
How long does a site agreement with GW take?
If GW already has an agreement with your organization, the Clinical Placement Team typically just confirms the rotation. A new agreement is a longer step: GW's 2021 clinical placement guide says it can take weeks to months, which is why students are encouraged to line up preceptors well ahead of the term.
Can a student start with me before GW's paperwork is done?
No. GW allows students to begin hours only after the Clinical Placement Team clears them, and only once the term has started. GW's guidance says entering a site before clearance may be cause for dismissal, so please wait for the student to confirm their clearance.
Do I have to practice near DC to precept a GW student?
Not for most tracks. GW's graduate programs are online, and students complete clinicals in their own communities, which is why GW is seeking remote preceptors in most states. The exception is Acute Care: those rotations stay in DC, Maryland or Northern Virginia. Students also need an RN license in the state where you practice.
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.
GW asks you to find your own site and preceptor. Hand that search to us.
Tell us your GW program, where you live and which clinical course is next. We find preceptors who fit the course and prepare the license, bio and site details GW's review asks for, so your Site Prospector goes in complete.
- Preceptors matched to the course: family practice for
NURS 6230toNURS 6232, older-adult primary care for AGPCNP, psychiatric care for PMHNP - License, bio or CV and the site's agreement signatory ready for your CORE submission
- Close to home, in DC, Maryland, Virginia or wherever you live and hold your RN license
Start your placement plan
Your program, city and next clinical term is all we need to begin.