Florida's preceptor rule for nurse practitioner students

Updated September 25, 2026 · Reviewed by the Nova Preceptor placement team

Florida Administrative Code rule 64B9-4.001(13) makes a qualified preceptor a certified, practicing APRN, or a licensed MD, DO or dentist, who supervises, teaches and evaluates a nurse practitioner student in the clinical setting. At a Florida site that preceptor needs a Florida license, and your own RN license has to be one issued under chapter 464. The rule sets no minimum years of experience and no student ratio, so NSU's own requirements and your course settle the rest.

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50,378in-state active APRNs in Florida on June 30, 2025 (MQA annual report)

62,069in-state active MDs on the same date

9,461in-state active DOs, another license type the rule accepts

Numbered steps. Using the rule when you name a preceptor to NSU: 1 Match the license to the site's state; 2 Confirm the license type; 3 Fit the specialty to the course; 4 Check your own license; 5 Notify the coordinator on time. — Using the rule when you name a preceptor to NSU: 1 Match the license to the site's state; 2 Confirm the license type; 3 Fit the specialty to the course; 4 Check your own license; 5 Notify the coordinator on time.

What rule 64B9-4.001(13) requires

The Board of Nursing's definitions rule is where Florida answers the question of who may precept an NP student. At a Florida clinical site, three conditions must all hold:

The preceptor holds one of four license types: certified, practicing APRN; medical doctor; doctor of osteopathic medicine; doctor of dental medicine.
That license is Florida's: chapter 458 for MDs, 459 for DOs, 464 for APRNs, 466 for dentists.
The student holds an RN license under chapter 464.

The preceptor's job has three parts: supervising you, teaching you and evaluating you in the clinical setting. Two neighboring definitions frame it. Paragraph 6 defines clinical experience as practice under a qualified preceptor in actual patient care, and paragraph 11 defines a preceptorship, or supervised clinical experience, as practice under one for a specified time in the care and management of patients. The Board last amended the rule on February 25, 2021.

What the rule leaves to your school

What the rule omits matters as much as what it says. It sets no minimum years of experience for a preceptor and no preceptor-to-student ratio, and no other Florida statute or Board rule sets an NP student ratio either. The ratio people sometimes quote, one faculty member directly supervising every 12 students (up to 18 by written agreement) under s. 464.019, applies only to prelicensure programs and has nothing to say about an MSN clinical.

The rule names no specialty. Florida is satisfied by any qualifying license; fit to the course is your program's call. At NSU that check belongs to the clinical coordinator, who measures the preceptor against NSU's own supervision requirements, set out in the graduate clinical guide that NSU keeps off its public site. The NSU preceptor requirements page collects what is public, and the graduate clinical guide page explains where to find the guide.

The rule also reaches every NP student at a Florida site, whatever the school's home state. Roughly a quarter of the trainees in Florida's first TEACH report came from schools based outside the state or abroad, training under Florida-licensed preceptors like everyone else, so NSU students draw on the same pool as online programs based elsewhere.

Your half of the rule: an RN licensed under chapter 464

The rule's last clause is about you. At a Florida site your RN license must come under chapter 464, which matters more now that NSU's FNP and PMHNP tracks accept an RN license from any state. A Florida-issued license is the clear case. Whether a multistate license issued by another compact state qualifies is unclear: Florida belongs to the Nurse Licensure Compact, whose terms are codified in chapter 464 itself, but the rule does not answer the question. The RN license page sets out NSU's side, program by program.

How many Floridians qualify to precept

On June 30, 2025, Florida had 50,378 in-state active APRNs, 62,069 in-state active MDs and 9,461 in-state active DOs, according to MQA's annual report for fiscal 2024-25. Another 10,596 active Florida APRN licensees were listed out of state. Every one of those in-state licensees holds a license type the rule accepts.

The Florida Center for Nursing's workforce projections count 34,160 NPs in 2022: 44% (15,230) in primary care, 30% in other specialties and 18% in medical specialties. The same report finds NP supply running well ahead of modeled patient demand, most of all in its South region of Broward, Miami-Dade and Monroe. That measures clinicians against patients, not preceptor openings, and South Florida, with the most NPs relative to demand, is also where a great many NP students are looking for sites.

The practical reading: a license count tells you who is eligible, not who has room for a student in the weeks your NSU course runs.

Using the rule when you name a preceptor to NSU

NSU wants a named preceptor and site in the clinical coordinator's hands two semesters ahead of each clinical course. Run Florida's rule first, so the person you name can pass both checks:

Match the license to the site's stateA Florida site needs a Florida-licensed preceptor. At a site in another state, Florida's rule does not govern; that state's rules and NSU's do.
Confirm the license typeAn APRN must be certified and practicing; a physician needs an MD or DO license. Protocol and autonomous APRNs both qualify, as the protocol and autonomous APRN guide explains.
Fit the specialty to the courseFNP courses such as NSG 5549 need primary care, AGACNP's NSG 5629 needs an acute-care setting, and PMHNP's NSG 5719 needs psychiatric practice.
Check your own licenseAt a Florida site, an RN license under chapter 464.
Notify the coordinator on timeTwo semesters before the course, with the preceptor's details and the site. The coordinator makes the final call.

Why NSU students choose us for Florida preceptors

We find Florida preceptors who clear the state's rule and fit the NSU course: a Florida license of the right type, a practice that matches the course, and a site near your home ZIP code. We confirm your own license fits the site, look at community sites such as facilities in Florida's TEACH program for primary-care courses, and have everything ready for your clinical coordinator well before the two-semester notice. The decision is the coordinator's; our part is making sure the preceptor you name arrives with every detail NSU checks, correct on the first submission. Start on the contact page or with the form below.

Questions NSU students ask

Can a physician precept an NSU nurse practitioner student in Florida?

Florida's rule says yes: a Florida-licensed MD or DO is a qualified preceptor for an NP student at a Florida site, alongside certified APRNs and dentists. Whether a physician fits a particular NSU clinical course is a separate question, answered by NSU's requirements in the graduate clinical guide. Your clinical coordinator confirms that before the course starts.

How many years of experience does a Florida NP preceptor need?

Florida's rule sets no minimum. A certified, practicing APRN with a Florida license qualifies under 64B9-4.001(13) however long they have been in practice. NSU may set its own standard in the graduate clinical guide, which is not public, so ask your clinical coordinator before you approach someone who is newly certified.

Is there a limit on how many NP students a Florida preceptor can take?

Florida sets none for NP students. Rule 64B9-4.001(13) has no preceptor-to-student ratio, and the faculty ratio in s. 464.019 covers prelicensure programs only. Any limit you meet will come from the site, the practice or the school, so ask a preceptor how many students they already host in your semester before you count on the spot.

Does Florida's preceptor rule apply if my clinical site is outside Florida?

No. The Florida-license requirement turns on the clinical setting being in Florida. At a site in another state, that state's rules and NSU's requirements apply, and your RN license must be current in that jurisdiction. Which states NSU holds clinical agreements in is not published, so talk to your clinical coordinator before you commit to a site across a state line.

Can an NP licensed in another state precept me at a Florida site?

Not under the rule. A Florida site needs a preceptor licensed by Florida under chapter 458, 459, 464 or 466. APRN licenses are outside the Nurse Licensure Compact, and Florida has not enacted the APRN Compact, so a nurse practitioner precepting in Florida needs a Florida APRN license.

GuideNSU clinicals across FloridaNSU clinical placement region by region: Broward, Miami-Dade, Palm Beach, Tampa Bay, Orlando, Southwest Florida and North Florida, plus Florida's preceptor rules.PreceptorsPreceptor requirementsWho can precept an NSU nurse practitioner student: NSU's one public standard, what the graduate clinical guide holds, Florida's rule and each course's fit.Florida lawProtocol vs autonomous APRNsFlorida APRNs work under a physician protocol or, in primary care only, autonomously under s. 464.0123. What it means for NSU FNP, AGACNP and PMHNP students.LicenseRN license for clinicalsRN license rules for NSU clinicals: Florida for AGACNP and certificates, any unrestricted RN for FNP and PMHNP, and chapter 464 at every Florida site.Own preceptorBringing your own preceptorNaming your own preceptor at NSU: who fits each FNP, AGACNP and PMHNP clinical, Florida's license rule, what preceptors ask, and what the coordinator checks.IncentiveFlorida TEACH programFlorida's TEACH program (s. 409.91256) reimburses FQHCs and community clinics for training primary-care APRN students. What it covers and why NSU students ask.

Last checked 2026-09-25

We check these pages against NSU's own handbook, catalog and program pages. The graduate clinical guide, your course in Canvas, your clinical coordinator and your program director have the final word.

NSU lets you name your own preceptor. We make sure you have one, close to home and in time.

Tell us your NSU program, your home ZIP area and when your next clinical course starts. We find preceptors who fit the course and have everything ready for your clinical coordinator well before the two-semester notice.

Preceptors matched to the course: primary care for FNP, acute care for AGACNP, psychiatric care for PMHNP, a practice site for DNP project hours
Named early enough for NSU's two-semester notice, with license, credentials and site details ready for the coordinator
Close to your home ZIP code, with clinic days we plan around your work schedule

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