Precepting & Clinical Placements

Teach tomorrow's healthcare leaders.

Preceptors provide the bridge from theoretical concepts to real-world practice and prepare students to offer high-quality, compassionate healthcare. Being a preceptor is a way to make your own contribution to the future of this essential profession.

If you are interested in becoming a School of Nursing RN or Advanced Practice preceptor or for more information, please contact us.

Why become a Preceptor?

Personal Satisfaction

Why do busy healthcare professionals become preceptors? They often share that they remember their own clinical experiences and how they shaped them into the providers they are today. Being a preceptor is a way to give back and make your own contributions to the future of this essential profession.

IHP Tuition Savings

The MGH Institute of Health Professions offers special reduced tuition benefits to all employees of Mass General Brigham, including all its members and affiliates. Through the IHP Tuition Reduction and Incentive Plan, preceptors have access to a variety of benefits to support your ongoing professional development and accelerate your career growth.

Preceptors and clinical instructors who are:

MGB Employees: full-time, part-time, and Bulfinch Temps are eligible for a 40% reduction in tuition.
Non-MGB Affiliates: All employees of IHP affiliates will be awarded a 20% reduction in tuition.

Recertification Credit

We provide preceptors with 104 hours of credit per placement per semester to be used toward their ANCC renewal requirement (i.e., 1 student for 1 day per week per semester provides 104 hours, 1 student 2 days per week per semester provides 208 hours). Once the semester ends, the Office of Clinical Education emails each clinician who precepted that semester a "Certification of Hours for the Semester," certifying 104 credits earned per completed placement.

Library Access

Our preceptors receive full access to our library of Point-of-Care resources like: Up to Date, DynaMed, National Guideline Clearing House, OvidSP, PubMed@MGH, CINAHL, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Medline Complete, Clinical Key, and many more.

To request complimentary access, please send the following data points to Joan Parise @ jparise [at] mghihp.edu (subject: Library%20Access%20for%20Preceptors) (jparise[at]mghihp[dot]edu):

Full Name
Date of Birth
Social Security Number
Email Address

Your request will be promptly processed through our IT department.

Complimentary Continuing Education & Professional Development Opportunities

Preceptors are eligible to participate in professional development sessions offered by the School of Nursing.

Adjunct Faculty Status

After one year minimum of regular precepting for IHP, preceptors are eligible to apply for adjunct faculty status.

Rank and length of appointment are based on individual applicant’s professional qualifications, length and quality of service to the IHP, such as:

Precepting service
Guest lecturer, Term Lecturer for IHP
Collaborator on scholarly, research projects with IHP
Leadership partners supporting clinical education of IHP students

Academic Collaboration with IHP Faculty

Guest lecturing and teaching opportunities
Opportunities for collaboration on clinical programs, research

Roles & Responsibilities

Precepting involves the clinician, student, and faculty. The clinician guides the student through teaching and evaluation. The preceptor serves as a student resource and facilitates their clinical application.

MGH Institute of Health Professions offers graduate-level programs to prepare students for advanced practice nursing in the nurse practitioner role. Students may be admitted to one of three programs:

Students must select one of the Advanced Practice Nursing Specialties they wish to pursue at the time of admission. The content of each specialty includes advanced courses in health assessment, pharmacology, pathophysiology, research, health policy, professional issues, and ethics. Each student must complete courses in their selected specialty and a series of clinical rotations demonstrating competency.

Students complete 630 hours in advanced practice over four semesters. Clinical rotations may be in a variety of primary, acute, and/or community-based settings. Upon successful completion of the program, students are eligible to take the national certification exam related to their specialty.

Preceptors are not responsible for the final course grade but do provide valuable input into the clinical evaluation.

Preceptor Responsibilities

Orient the student to the clinical setting
Provide clinical experiences that meet the student’s learning objectives
Establish clear expectations for the clinical experience
Assess the student’s progress and give appropriate feedback
Communicate openly with the student and faculty.
Promote critical thinking and incorporate evidence-based practice in clinical decision making
Review clinical documentation
Provide direct supervision of all clinical visits.
Complete regular clinical evaluations using the E*value system.

Advanced Practice Preceptor Requirements

Licensed as NP/PA/MD/DO
- 1 or more years of clinical experience
- Unencumbered provider license
Submit resume/CV, active RN/ NP license and expiry, and Board certification, as required by our accrediting bodies to our online forms
- Prelicensure Preceptors
- Advanced Practice Preceptors

E*Value

E*Value Info

Student evaluations are completed online through our E*Value system, and sent to you via email two times during the semester. You would generally receive the mid-term evaluation during the 7th week of the semester and the final evaluation two weeks before the semester ends.

The email sent to you contains a link from our vendor, e*value, that you will need to use to complete the student’s clinical evaluation. This electronic evaluation must be completed so we can provide feedback to the student on their performance this semester, centralize our student records, and make the process less time-consuming for you. Students cannot receive the final course grade until we receive the clinical evaluation.

It is recommended that you review the evaluation with the student at mid-semester as an opportunity to evaluate the student’s progress toward the semester’s goals.

The evaluation tool is organized according to the skills necessary to provide advanced practice nursing care. Areas to be evaluated include: data collection, clinical assessment, communication/interactions, diagnostic reasoning, management plan, consultation, documentation, and practice management.

First-term advanced-practice students are expected to function at “novice” and “advanced beginner” levels, with a preponderance of “advanced beginner” ratings.
Second-term advanced-practice students expected to function at “advanced beginner” and “competent” levels.
Third-term advanced-practice students should function at the “competent” and “proficient” levels, though some very competent students may not have any “proficient” ratings.

If there are any safety or professionalism concerns about your student at any time, please contact the clinical faculty member noted on your confirmation letter immediately. If there is any difficulty reaching this person, please do not hesitate to contact the Office of Clinical Education (below).

Please describe the student’s strengths and weaknesses in the narrative section and identify if you agree or disagree if the student should progress in the program. The final decision for progression is the responsibility of the faculty of record.

Students value feedback from their preceptors. Please schedule time to discuss the evaluation with your student during the midterm and final week of the semester.

Student Responsibilities

Initiate contact with the preceptor within the first week of the assignment.
Establish a schedule with the preceptor and complete the onboarding process.
Demonstrate adequate preparedness for clinical practice.
Communicate learning objectives for clinical experience with the preceptor.
Seek learning opportunities within the clinical rotation.
Arrive on time for the clinical experience.
Demonstrate professionalism, respect, and appropriate communication with preceptor and healthcare team.
Document clinical hours accurately.
Complete evaluation of site and preceptor at the end of the semester.

Faculty Responsibilities

Establish a clinical agreement with the preceptor.
Provide the course goals and objectives
Orient the preceptor to the role.
Conduct a clinical site visit with the student and preceptor.
Facilitate communication with the preceptor, student, and School of Nursing
Complete course grading based on clinical evaluations and course requirements.

"We are in the hope business."

Nursing Preceptor Sharon DiVitto helps students conquer their fears in a nurturing and compassionate environment.

"It keeps me on my A-game."

Nursing Preceptor Leslie Young values the opportunity to continue learning from her students while they're learning from her.

woman with glasses in a white lab coat speaks to a woman in pink

Make an impact. Every day.

As a Preceptor, you're able to help shape the future of healthcare where it matters the most – at the point of care with the caregivers of tomorrow.

Two nurses walking down a hallway having a conversation

Resources for Preceptors

Contact the Office of Clinical Education

Angelina DiPietrantonio, MEd

Executive Assistant/ Project Specialist School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences

Angelina DiPietrantonio, MEd

ADipietrantonio@MGHIHP.EDU

Joan Parise, MS, RN, ANP

Director of Clinical Affiliations Nursing

Joan Parise, MS, RN, ANP

jparise@mghihp.edu
(617) 726-8018
Shouse-207

Kathleen L. Socha

Clinical Education Placement & Systems Associate Nursing