Your Lewis preceptor, found before the practicum clock starts.

Lewis expects nurse practitioner students to identify their own preceptors, then file a contract request so the Clinical Placement Office and track faculty can approve the site. We take on the identifying. You get a preceptor near home who fits your exact practicum, and every detail the portal asks for, well before the semester opens.

Get matched How it works

Start your placement plan

Tell us your Lewis track, where you live and when your next practicum begins. A placement advisor answers with preceptor options near you.

630minimum clinical hours in the Lewis MSN FNP (2026-27 catalog)

180clock hours in each NP practicum where Lewis prints the figure

18jurisdictions where Lewis authorizes online graduate nursing enrollment

Lewis approves the preceptor. Finding one is the part we take off your plate.

Lewis's graduate FAQ is direct about it: NP students take an active role by identifying preceptors, and planning should begin at acceptance. The Clinical Placement Office is your point of contact and handles the contract, and Clinical Coordinators or track lead faculty approve each preceptor and site. What nobody can do for you inside Lewis is the calling, emailing and waiting that turns a clinic's name into a yes.

That is our work. We search your community for an NP, physician or PA whose practice matches the practicum in front of you, check license and availability across a 16-week semester, and hand you the site, preceptor and agency details the contract request needs. You file a complete request early, and the two-week review and any new affiliation agreement have room to run. The identifying preceptors guide sets out Lewis's own words.

The Clinical Placement Office, Clinical Coordinators and track faculty make every approval decision. We make sure the request they receive is complete, well matched and on time.

From your Lewis track to a cleared practicum

Four legs, planned around Lewis's own portal and 16-week practicums.

Your track and semester

FNP, AGACNP, AGPCNP or PMHNP, the practicum that comes next, and the semester it opens.

A preceptor near you

Primary care, acute care or psychiatric preceptors in your area who fit that course and your schedule.

A complete contract request

Site, preceptor and license details ready for the Requests for Initiation of Agency Contracts portal.

Cleared and counting hours

CastleBranch and agency onboarding done, and a replacement ready if a preceptor steps away.

Pick your Lewis program

Your practicum courses and hours, who can precept you, where, and when to start looking. From the 2026-27 Lewis catalog and program pages.

630minimum clinical hours in the MSN FNP (2026-27 catalog)

NURS 61100180 h NURS 61800180 h NURS 64100hours: see course page NURS 64300hours: see course page

Who precepts: Primary care preceptors approved by Lewis for adults, women's health and pediatrics
Where: Family practice, internal medicine, women's health and pediatric offices near you
Start looking: From acceptance: Lewis asks NP students to start practicum planning then

Plan my MSN FNP placement MSN FNP guide

540minimum clinical hours in the MSN AGACNP (2026-27 catalog)

NURS 61800180 h NURS 62500hours: see course page NURS 62700hours: see course page

Who precepts: An acute care NP or physician Lewis approves for adult and older adult patients
Where: Hospital units, hospitalist and intensivist teams, specialty inpatient services
Start looking: Early: hospital student processes often run on their own deadlines

Plan my MSN AGACNP placement MSN AGACNP guide

540minimum clinical hours in the MSN AGPCNP (2026-27 catalog)

NURS 61100180 h NURS 61800180 h NURS 61500180 h

Who precepts: Adult and older adult primary care preceptors Lewis approves
Where: Internal medicine, geriatrics, community clinics and special-population programs
Start looking: From acceptance, ahead of the first 16-week practicum

Plan my MSN AGPCNP placement MSN AGPCNP guide

540minimum clinical hours in the MSN PMHNP (2026-27 catalog)

NURS 63300180 h NURS 63500180 h NURS 63700180 h

Who precepts: A psychiatric-mental health preceptor Lewis approves, across the lifespan
Where: Outpatient psychiatry, community mental health and behavioral health programs
Start looking: From acceptance: psychiatric preceptors book up early

Plan my MSN PMHNP placement MSN PMHNP guide

504residency hours beyond your MSN practicum hours (2026-27 catalog)

NURS 79200168 h NURS 79600336 h

Who precepts: A residency preceptor and a practice setting that fits your scholarly project
Where: The health system, clinic or organization where your DNP project runs
Start looking: Before NURS 79000 project planning, so the site is ready for implementation

Plan my DNP placement DNP guide

The Lewis steps between you and day one

Named the way Lewis names them, from the catalog, the graduate FAQ and the contract portal.

Start hereClinical placement processEach step of a Lewis NP practicum placement: naming a preceptor, the contract request, review, agreements, faculty approval, agency clearance and day one.Lewis systemIdentifying preceptorsLewis expects NP students to identify their own preceptors. The full FAQ passage, what each line asks of you, and how to do the search well or hand it to us.Lewis systemContract portal and statusesHow Lewis's Requests for Initiation of Agency Contracts portal works: your account, the request, and all eight contract statuses in Lewis's own words.Lewis systemWhy contracts get deniedThe five denial reasons in Lewis's contract legend, what an Inactive contract means, and how to keep your Lewis practicum contract clean to the last shift.Lewis systemClinical Placement OfficeWhat Lewis's Clinical Placement Office does for NP students: facilitator, portal contact, contract and paperwork desk, and what to bring when you reach out.Lewis systemAffiliation agreementsWhen Lewis drafts a new affiliation agreement with your clinical agency, why your request waits in review until the agency signs, and how to keep it short.Lewis systemCastleBranchHow CastleBranch fits Lewis graduate nursing: what Lewis's legend says, the Lewis package CastleBranch lists, who pays, and why a lapse can stop a contract.Lewis systemClinicals outside IllinoisDoing a Lewis practicum outside Illinois: extra permissions, the 18 jurisdictions Lewis enrolls from, licensure gaps by track, and the Illinois license option.

All Lewis clinical systems

Your Lewis track, your practicum plan

Every Lewis graduate track with practicum hours, and the preceptors each one calls for.

ProgramMSN Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP)Lewis's MSN Family Nurse Practitioner track: all 48 credits, the 630-hour minimum, four 16-week practicums and when to line up each preceptor.ProgramMSN Adult-Gerontology Acute Care NP (AGACNP)Lewis's Adult-Gerontology Acute Care NP track: 46 credits, 540 clinical hours, three practicums, the NURS 62500 hour conflict and when to find each preceptor.ProgramMSN Adult-Gerontology Primary Care NP (AGPCNP)Lewis's Adult-Gerontology Primary Care NP track: 46 credits, three 180-hour practicums, the full course list and a timeline for each primary care preceptor.ProgramMSN Psychiatric-Mental Health NP (PMHNP)Lewis's Psychiatric-Mental Health NP track: 49 credits, three 180-hour psychiatric practicums in a fixed order, the full course list and preceptor timing.ProgramPost-master's NP certificatesLewis's four post-master's NP certificates: 28 to 31 credits, up to 12 transfer credits, and the same 16-week practicums the MSN tracks take.ProgramPost-master's DNPLewis's 30-credit online post-master's DNP: 504 residency hours beyond your MSN, two Oak Brook immersions, the scholarly project and picking a practice site.

All Lewis programs

Each practicum, and the preceptor it needs

What every 16-week Lewis NP practicum asks of a preceptor and a site.

PracticumNURS 61100 primary care practicumLewis's NURS 61100 NP Practicum: Adults in Community/Primary Care: 180 clock hours beside NURS 61000 for FNP and AGPCNP students. Settings, preceptors, timing.PracticumNURS 61800 adult-gerontology practicumNURS 61800 NP Practicum: Adult/Gerontology and Adolescents: 180 clock hours with NURS 61200, the one practicum Lewis FNP, AGPCNP and AGACNP students share.PracticumFNP women's and pediatric practicumsNURS 64100 Primary Care of Women and NURS 64300 Primary Care of Infants & Children: Lewis FNP practicums with no hours printed, and the old 270-hour NURS 61700.AGACNPAGACNP acute care practicumsLewis's acute care practicums, NURS 62500 and NURS 62700: the preceptor each needs, hospital student intake, and the 360-hour line that conflicts with 540.PMHNPPMHNP practicumsLewis's three 180-hour PMHNP practicums across the lifespan: what each asks of a psychiatric preceptor, the order they run in, and how to line them up early.DNPDNP residency hoursHow Lewis's DNP reaches 504 residency hours: NURS 79600 at 168 hours per 3 credits, NURS 79200 project time, the learning contract and where the hours happen.

When the semester is close

Quick help for the weeks that decide whether a practicum starts on time.

Placement helpNo preceptor yetA Lewis practicum is close and you have no preceptor. This week's plan: the Clinical Placement Office, your track coordinator, a tight search and your options.Placement helpBehind on clinical hoursBehind on hours in a Lewis NP practicum? With no In Progress grade, only an Incomplete with fixed deadlines, here is how to catch up or replace a preceptor.Placement helpOwn search vs placement helpFinding a Lewis NP preceptor yourself or with a placement service: a fair side-by-side of time, course fit, portal details, timing and replacements.Placement helpHow it worksHow our placement desk finds a Lewis NP preceptor near you, prepares the details for your contract request and stays on call through onboarding and the term.

Before you start

Does Lewis find preceptors for nurse practitioner students?

Lewis's graduate FAQ says NP students are expected to take part by identifying preceptors, and to start planning when they are accepted. The Clinical Placement Office facilitates and handles contracts, and Clinical Coordinators or track lead faculty approve each preceptor and site. We do the identifying for you.

What exactly do you do for a Lewis student?

We find preceptors in your area who fit your Lewis practicum, confirm license and availability for the whole 16-week course, and prepare the site, preceptor and agency details your contract request needs. If a preceptor withdraws, a replacement search starts right away.

Who approves the preceptor you find?

Lewis does. Clinical Coordinators and/or track lead faculty approve the preceptor and site, and the contract moves through the Clinical Placement Office. Our job is to make that request complete and well matched so the review goes smoothly.

I live outside Illinois. Can you help?

Yes, in the jurisdictions where Lewis authorizes online graduate nursing enrollment and your RN license is valid. Lewis's 2026 disclosures list 18 of them, and a few carry licensure notes for NP tracks. See the state authorization guide before you plan a site.

When should I start looking for a preceptor?

Lewis encourages NP students to begin practicum planning at acceptance. Contract review takes at least two weeks, and a site without an affiliation agreement needs one signed first, so a semester or more of lead time before each practicum is sensible.

Lewis asks you to identify your preceptor. We do the searching.

Tell us your Lewis program, where you live and when your next practicum starts. We find preceptors near you who fit the course and prepare every detail the contract portal asks for, so your request goes in complete.

Preceptors matched to the practicum: primary care for NURS 61100 and NURS 61800, acute care for NURS 62500, psychiatric care for NURS 63300
Preceptor, license and site details ready for your preceptor contract request
In your own community, anywhere Lewis enrolls you and your RN license is valid

Start your placement plan

Program, city and start date is all we need to begin.