Questions APU nursing students ask about placement help
Short, direct answers to the broad questions Azusa Pacific University (APU) nursing students ask before starting a preceptor search with us: who we help, where we look, how APU's rules shape the work and what happens once a site is cleared. Topics with a page of their own get a quick answer and a link.
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Tell us your APU program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with the preceptor and site options that fit your APU course.
On this page
Who we helpWhere we searchPreceptors and sitesAPU's processTimingAfter clearanceQuestionsWho we help
Which APU students do you work with? Mostly graduate students whose clinical site and preceptor are theirs to find: the MSN NP specialties (FNP, AGPCNP, PNP-PC and PMHNP), the CNS tracks, the post-master's NP and CNS certificates, the BSN-to-DNP APRN track and DNP residents. Nursing Education and Healthcare Administration and Leadership students placing practicum hours are welcome too.
What about BSN and ELM students? Pre-licensure clinicals in the traditional BSN, the transfer and LVN-to-BSN options and the first phase of the ELM are assigned by the School of Nursing, so those students rarely need a search. ELM students reach the find-your-own stage in the NP or CNS phase; see the ELM-MSN page.
Which campuses? Every location that runs graduate nursing: the main campus in Azusa, San Bernardino (the Inland Empire campus), San Diego, Monrovia and the High Desert campus in Victorville, plus students in APU's online programs.
Where we search
Where do you look for preceptors? Near where you live, anywhere in Southern California, from Los Angeles County and the Inland Empire to Orange County, San Diego, Ventura, Kern and the Central Coast. APU admits MSN APRN students only if they live in Southern California, so the search follows your home rather than your campus.
Can clinicals happen outside California? On APU's licensure disclosure table, California is marked Yes and every other listed state Not Determined, and APU has not published a rule allowing NP clinicals out of state. The online Nursing Education program differs: its practicum needs a nursing license in the state where it takes place. See state authorization and licensure.
What if I move mid-program? APU's 2023-24 guidelines discourage moving during the program and generally rule out campus transfers; a change of track or campus goes through a petition the department may decline. Talk to your advisor before you sign a new lease.
Preceptors and sites
Who can precept me? For NP tracks, APU's request forms accept physicians (MD or DO), nurse practitioners, and physician assistants who have a supervising physician on site, and at least one semester of your NP clinicals must be with an NP. Psychiatric, CNS, educator and leadership courses have their own rules, all on the preceptor requirements page.
Can I train where I work? Yes, if three conditions hold: your employer signs a written split between your job duties and your student role, the rotation is on a different unit from your own, and clinical time is unpaid and kept apart from your regular work.
Can a relative or close friend precept me? No. APU requires an impartial preceptor, and hiding a close relationship counts as an ethics violation, with penalties as serious as course failure.
Does California law add anything? Yes: under 16 CCR 1484, whoever precepts a California rotation must be actively licensed in California in their own field; our California NP rules page explains the rest.
How our work fits APU's process
Who approves the site? APU does. The Graduate Placement Team reviews each Graduate Preceptor Request form and clears the site in writing before you attend. We make sure what reaches the team is complete and fits APU's rules.
Does every site need an affiliation agreement? Yes. APU's BSN-to-DNP page ties every clinical site to one, and a site with no current agreement needs time to set one up. We flag agreement status early so that time is planned for.
Do I keep working during clinicals? APU expects it: the MSN and DNP programs require students to keep working clinically while enrolled. APU's guidelines also bar a night shift right before a clinical day and ask that hours be spread across the term rather than front- or back-loaded, so plan your work schedule around the clinical days first.
Timing and deadlines
How far ahead should I start? A full term ahead is ideal. Our how it works page lines the search up with APU's calendar, including Spring 2027, when classes begin January 4, 2027, and Summer 2027, which begins May 3, 2027.
What if my term has already started? Move quickly and tell the placement team. APU's recent guidelines say a student with no placement must drop the course before the first third of the semester has passed, and our can't find a preceptor page sets out the steps.
When are compliance items due? Each term has its own date on the SON student hub; the Fall 2026 date was August 1, 2026. APU warns that unmet requirements can delay a placement, so upload early.
After your site is cleared
How are hours tracked? In Medatrax, every week. Missing entries can bring an academic warning, and hours from any site APU has not cleared come off your record.
Where do facility onboarding steps live? Mostly in Canvas: the SON runs Clinical Onboarding courses that students join on their own once a site is assigned. Some facilities also run a portal of their own, MyClinicalExchange being the one APU names.
How am I evaluated? Evaluation comes from two directions, your preceptor and your clinical faculty; most clinical courses include OSCEs, and several use iHuman virtual cases. See evaluations and OSCEs.
What if my preceptor leaves mid-term? Tell us and your clinical faculty the same day. We reopen the search with your course details on file, and APU's guidelines let faculty offer a clinical incomplete if the site is lost and no substitute turns up.
Questions APU students ask
What do you need from me to get started?
Three things: your APU program, the city you live in and when your next clinical term starts. Your course number, how many units you expect to carry, any schedule limits and any preceptor you are already talking to all help us move faster. Send them through the form on this page or the chat button, and your placement advisor takes it from there.
Do you help DNP students with the GNRS 732 residency?
Yes. GNRS 732 requires 1,000 residency hours, with up to 500 transferable from an accredited APRN or master's program. No public APU document says who finds the post-master's residency site, so check with the DNP Clinical Residency Coordinator first. We then search for a site that fits your scholarly project, which runs through the residency.
Can two APU students share one preceptor?
APU publishes no student-to-preceptor ratio, so the answer sits with APU's placement team and the practice. Each student files a separate request, and each placement must fit that student's course. If a classmate is also searching, tell us early so we can approach practices with room for more than one student.
What do preceptors receive from APU?
APU's placement coordinator provides each preceptor with a handbook and a Preceptor Agreement Form to sign, and APU student nurses have posted a public thank-you to their clinical sites and preceptors on the School of Nursing's site. APU's public pages mention no continuing education credit, adjunct title or tuition benefit. Clinicians curious about hosting can read our page for preceptors.
How do I reach you with a question the site does not answer?
Use the chat button on any page or the form below, and include your program and term so the reply fits your situation. For longer questions, the contact page has a message box. Questions about APU's own rules are best confirmed with your advisor or APU's Graduate Placement Team as well.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-25
We check these pages against APU's own catalog and program pages. Your syllabus, your clinical faculty and APU's student placement coordinators have the final word.
APU says the clinical site and preceptor are yours to find. We make that the easy part.
Tell us your APU program, where you live in Southern California and when your next clinical term starts. We find preceptors who fit the course and prepare what APU and the site need before anything is approved.
- Preceptors matched to the course: primary care for
GNRS 600, pediatrics for the PNP courses, psychiatric care for PMHNP - Credentials, license and site details ready for APU's review and the affiliation agreement
- Close to home, from the San Gabriel Valley and the Inland Empire to San Diego
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