The clinical placement industry, plain.
Three things are true at the same time, and together they create the mess:
- Schools put the burden on the student. Most APRN programs expect students to find their own preceptors. Some help. Most don't.
- Preceptors get scattered, unqualified requests. Cold emails from students whose program rules the preceptor doesn't recognize. Months of noise, almost no signal.
- Paid services fill the gap by charging students $2,000 to $10,000 per rotation. The matching they do is rarely better than what a structured matcher could do for $10.
The Preceptor.Network model
Treat clinical placement like the structured matching problem it actually is. The student knows their program rules. The preceptor knows their availability and credential. A matcher does the join. Pay only when a match is confirmed.
01
Program rules in
Your school program supplies the clinical requirements — credential, specialty, population focus, hours, setting, supervisor rules. These become the matcher's filter.
02
Preceptor profiles out
Preceptors declare what they actually accept — student role, schedule, setting, population, distance. Free for them, always. They control their own pipeline.
03
Match for $10
When a preceptor accepts your match request, a $10 flat fee is charged. That's the entire cost from us. No subscription, no per-hour markup, no surprise add-ons.
Compared to paid placement services
Traditional placement service
- ✗ $2,000–$10,000+ per rotation
- ✗ Black-box matching
- ✗ Often weeks to months for a match
- ✗ Preceptor pool you cannot see
- ✗ No refund if the rotation falls through
Preceptor.Network
- ✓ $10 flat per confirmed match
- ✓ Transparent program-rule matching
- ✓ Ranked matches in under three minutes
- ✓ Browse the full pool, with reviews
- ✓ Refund policy when matches fail
Start with your role
Clinical placement FAQ
What is a clinical placement, exactly?
A clinical placement is a supervised rotation where an APRN student completes required hours under a licensed preceptor. The placement is governed by the student's school program, which sets credential requirements, hour counts, setting rules, and population-focus expectations.
Who is responsible for finding the placement?
In the vast majority of APRN programs, the student is. Schools provide minimal active matchmaking. Some maintain a list of past preceptors; most do not. That responsibility-shift is the core problem Preceptor.Network exists to solve.
What do paid clinical placement services charge?
Paid placement services typically charge $2,000 to $10,000 per rotation, sometimes more in shortage specialties (PMHNP, CRNA). The business is built on student desperation, not on better matching. Preceptor.Network charges a $10 flat fee per confirmed match — a deliberately different model.
How is the matching done?
We use your school program's clinical requirements — credential acceptance, APRN role, specialty, population focus, care model, location, and schedule — to filter the preceptor pool. You see only preceptors whose profile your program will accept for the rotation. No cold outreach, no guessing.
What if the placement falls through?
Match requests have refund protection for legitimate failures before the rotation starts. You can also request additional matches without re-paying for the same rotation in defined cases. Full policy is in the pricing page.
Clinical placement, the way it should be.
Free to browse. $10 flat when a preceptor accepts. Refundable when matches fall through.
Find my preceptor
Free for preceptors · All 50 states