When an NSU placement falls through: what the rules say and what to do today

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

If your preceptor steps away or a site cancels, tell your clinical coordinator the same day, because NSU approves every preceptor and site and your hours cannot be saved up for the end of the term. What happens next depends on why it ended: a preceptor change calls for a fast replacement, an unmet facility requirement calls for a compliance fix, and removal for unsafe care goes to the Committee on Student Progress.

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Tell us the course, the hours you have logged and the weeks left in the term.

Day onethe deadline for every facility requirement; an item still open cancels the placement

2withdrawals NSU allows across a whole program of study

Numbered steps. The first 24 hours: 1 Tell your clinical coordinator in writing; 2 Get the reason from the site or preceptor; 3 Secure your hour records; 4 Ask the coordinator what comes next; 5 Start the replacement search the same day. — The first 24 hours: 1 Tell your clinical coordinator in writing; 2 Get the reason from the site or preceptor; 3 Secure your hour records; 4 Ask the coordinator what comes next; 5 Start the replacement search the same day.

Five ways an NSU placement ends early

NSU's handbook speaks to some of these situations directly and leaves others to your clinical coordinator. Knowing which one you are in tells you who to contact first and what to fix.

Why placements end, and what NSU's 2025-26 handbook says
What happened	What the handbook says	First move
Your preceptor steps away (new job, leave, no capacity)	Nothing specific; the coordinator approves any replacement	Tell the coordinator and start a replacement search
The site cancels before day one over an unmet facility requirement	The placement is canceled; if it had already begun, you are asked to leave	Clear the item, then ask whether the site will take you back
A site requires an immunization you decline	NSU is not required to provide an alternative site	Talk to your program director about graduation requirements
A site will not accept you after its background check	Admission does not ensure facilities will accept you; you may be unable to finish the program	Talk to your program director before anything else
You are removed for unsafe care or a policy breach	You are asked to leave the clinical area and may be referred to the CSP	Follow the CSP process; a new placement comes after

Most students meet only the first two. The sections below take each in turn, starting with the first day.

The first 24 hours

Tell your clinical coordinator in writingUse SharkMail, NSU's required channel for university business. Say what happened, when, how many hours you have completed and what you are doing about it. Copy your course faculty member, the first stop in NSU's chain of communication.
Get the reason from the site or preceptorA clear reason, in writing if possible, tells your coordinator whether the problem is the preceptor's availability, a compliance item or something about your performance.
Secure your hour recordsMake sure every hour you have completed is logged and verified the way the graduate clinical guide requires, before your access to the preceptor or site lapses.
Ask the coordinator what comes nextAsk whether they will review a replacement you bring, what they need about it and by when. NSU publishes nothing on mid-semester replacements, so the coordinator's answer is the rule for your case.
Start the replacement search the same dayEvery week without a site is a week of hours to recover later, and the handbook bars compressing hours into the last weeks of the semester.

The day-one cancel rule

Clinical facilities can set requirements of their own, and the handbook gives examples: a Florida Department of Health screening, fingerprinting, a background check, a drug and alcohol urinalysis and proof of immunization. If any of them is still open on the first scheduled day, NSU's handbook says the placement is canceled; if the placement has already started, you are asked to leave.

This is the most preventable way to lose a site. NSU tracks its own items in DISA CastleBranch, but a site may run its own portal, and the handbook warns that you may have to upload proof to several. A level 2 background check with FDLE and VECHS fingerprinting is requested only when a facility requires it, at your cost, and it takes time to schedule. The CastleBranch guide explains NSU's side of the system.

Immunizations carry an extra risk: if a site requires one for placement and you decline it, NSU says it is not required to find you another site, and graduation can be affected.

Removal for unsafe care or a policy breach

A different rule applies when the site ends the placement because of your practice rather than your paperwork. The handbook says a student who cannot give consistent, safe care, or who does not follow the policies of the affiliating agency or the school, is asked to leave the clinical area and may be referred to the Committee on Student Progress (CSP), a path that can end in dismissal.

In that case the CSP process comes before any new placement. The committee holds a hearing and recommends; the program director and the dean of Academic Programs make the decision; and you can appeal it to the College-Wide Appeals Committee (CWAC) within five business days. The CSP and CWAC appeals page walks through each step. Once the outcome is clear, you may need a new preceptor for the same course or for a repeat.

Your course: incomplete, withdrawal or re-enrollment

If a replacement cannot be in place soon enough to finish this term's hours, three NSU rules shape your options.

An incomplete needs passing status, at least half the coursework done and met clinical attendance expectations, and the rest must be finished within one semester of the course's end.
Withdrawing from a clinical rotation needs your program director's approval before you stop, may lengthen your program significantly, and may mean you cannot return before the next academic year. NSU allows two withdrawals in a program of study.
Re-enrolling in a clinical course happens only when space is available, and the handbook treats the second enrollment after a withdrawal as the last chance to meet the course objectives.

Simply stopping attendance is not an official withdrawal. The withdrawals and incompletes page has the full rules; talk to your program director before choosing either route.

A space-available return can mean waiting for a seat. Treat a withdrawal as a last resort, after a replacement has been tried.

Is a coordinator placement an option now?

NSU's placement route is written for APRN students who never requested a preceptor or site: the clinical coordinator assigns one within 150 miles of the student's residential ZIP code, and the assignment is final once made. The handbook does not say whether that route extends to a student who loses a preceptor mid-semester, or how fast it would move. Ask your coordinator directly, and see the 150-mile placement rule for what the route involves.

Whatever the answer, a replacement you find near home and bring to the coordinator with complete details gives them something concrete to review right away, while any NSU-arranged option is still being explored. It also keeps the choice of location and schedule in your hands, which matters when you work and the hours still owed have to fit around your job every week.

How we run a replacement search fast

Replacement searches are built into every placement we handle for NSU students, so the process is ready to start the day you reach us. Your placement advisor searches near your home for a preceptor in the setting your course needs: primary care for FNP, acute care for AGACNP, psychiatric care for PMHNP. We confirm the preceptor's license against Florida's preceptor rule at a Florida site, and we ask the capacity question first: can this preceptor host you every week for the weeks left in the term.

We also check what the new site requires before day one and help you clear it, so the replacement does not fall to the rule that ended the last one. The preceptor and site details your clinical coordinator reviews reach you organized and complete, ready to pass on the same day. Use the placement form and name the course you are in.

Questions NSU students ask

Do my completed hours count if I switch preceptors?

NSU does not publish whether a course's hours may be split across preceptors or sites, so your clinical coordinator decides. Make sure every completed hour is logged and verified the way the graduate clinical guide requires before you lose contact with the first preceptor, and ask the coordinator how the new preceptor's hours will join them.

Will NSU find me a new preceptor if mine drops out?

The handbook describes coordinator placement for students with no preceptor requested, within 150 miles of home, but says nothing about mid-semester replacements. Ask your coordinator whether they will place you and on what timeline. Running your own search at the same time gives the coordinator an option to review quickly while theirs is under way.

Can a site cancel my placement over a missing flu shot?

Yes. The handbook says that if you have not met all of an affiliated facility's requirements before the first scheduled day, the placement is canceled, and annual influenza vaccination is on NSU's own immunization list. Check both CastleBranch and any site portal a few weeks before day one so nothing is left open.

What if my preceptor leaves in the last weeks of the course?

Tell your clinical coordinator and course faculty right away and log your completed hours. If you are passing, have finished at least half the coursework and have met attendance expectations, an incomplete may let you finish within one semester with an approved replacement. Your faculty member or program director makes that decision.

Can I stop going until a new site is ready?

Stopping attendance is not an official withdrawal under NSU's handbook, and withdrawing from a clinical rotation needs your program director's approval first. Keep your coordinator and course faculty informed in writing while the replacement is arranged, and let them confirm which option applies to your course.

AbsencesClinical absences and make-upNSU's clinical absence rules: two hours' notice to your preceptor, site and program director, every absence made up, and no excuse for religious holidays.ProgressionWithdrawals and incompletesDropping, withdrawing and incompletes in NSU nursing: program director approval, the two-withdrawal limit, clinical withdrawals, refunds and the 50% rule.ComplianceDISA CastleBranchHow NSU nursing students use DISA CastleBranch: immunization and physical exam records, the background check, weekly reminders and what a missing item costs.150 milesThe 150-mile placement ruleWhat happens when an NSU APRN student names no preceptor: a coordinator placement within 150 miles of your home ZIP code that NSU calls "not negotiable."Placement helpNo preceptor yetNo preceptor and your NSU notice date is close or gone? A plan for this week: your dates, the clinical coordinator, NSU's placement route and a wider search.CoordinatorThe clinical coordinatorWho NSU's clinical coordinator is, what they receive, confirm and approve, how they place students who name no preceptor, and how to work well with them.

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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Program, ZIP area and start term is all we need to begin.