Questions UCCS nursing students ask us most
These are short answers to the broad questions we hear most often from UCCS nursing students. Each one points to the guide that covers the topic in full, so if your question is about a single course, form or state, follow the link for the detail.
Get your placement plan
Tell us your UCCS program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with the preceptor and site options that fit your UCCS course.
What exactly does UCCS Preceptor do?
We find preceptors and clinical sites for UCCS nursing students, in person, near where each student lives. Every clinician is screened against the UCCS handbook for the student's track before the student hears the name, and we hand over the preceptor and site details the Clinical Site Sheet asks for, with the exact hours already agreed.
UCCS then does what only UCCS can do: it approves the site and preceptor, drafts and signs the Affiliation Agreement and preceptor letter, and emails you when hours may begin. We stay on call through the rotation and look for a replacement if a preceptor has to leave. Our how it works page lays out every step.
Which UCCS does this site cover?
The University of Colorado Colorado Springs, and specifically the nursing programs of its Johnson Beth-El College. UCCS is its own campus with its own nursing programs, handbooks and clinical process, separate from CU Anschutz, CU Denver and CU Boulder.
The difference matters for clinicals. The forms, limits and systems described here, such as the Clinical Site Sheet, Medatrax and the three-agreement limit per semester, belong to UCCS, and a rule you read about another CU campus may not apply to you. UCCS's own practicum handbook even cautions that Denver Health may limit student access to certain universities, so a site open to one school's students can be closed to another's.
Who is responsible for finding my preceptor?
According to UCCS, you are. The MSN, RN to MSN and certificate pages all put the search for clinical hours with the student, in the area where the student lives, and the admission essay asks every applicant how they plan to secure clinical sites. The 08/2026 practicum handbooks word it more softly, saying students are expected to take part in finding preceptors.
The two phrasings point the same way in practice: UCCS reviews, contracts and supervises, and the search is yours. The Graduate Clinical Practicum Coordinator can help with questions, although UCCS keeps its roster of contracted sites private. If the difference in wording matters to your plan, the coordinator is the person to ask. Each source is compared on finding your own preceptor.
How many clinical hours will I need?
It depends on when you started. UCCS NP students who began before Fall 2026 complete 630 practicum hours, and those starting in Fall 2026 or later complete 770. Both groups add 45 hours in NURS 6730 Advanced Health Assessment on top of that total. The Post-Master's DNP is counted differently, as at least 540 DNP experience hours.
A few UCCS documents written before the change still show 630 for everyone, so if something looks inconsistent, check your own degree plan and your cohort's 08/2026 practicum handbook. Course-by-course figures, the per-credit math and a planner live on the clinical hours hub.
Can I do hours at work, by telehealth or in another state?
Each option comes with limits. UCCS rules out any site that employs you or a relative, with one exception: your own employer at a different location, floor or unit, once the Graduate Clinical Practicum Coordinator approves. Close friends and relatives are also ruled out as preceptors. The workplace and family rules page covers the details.
FNP and AGNP students can log no more than 45 telehealth hours over the whole program. For PMHNP students, video visits count if you are physically in the provider's office, and that provider has to be based in a state on UCCS's list.
Hours outside your home state need the coordinator's approval, must take place in a state on UCCS's list, and require a license valid there. The approved states page has the list for each program.
What does it cost, and how do I start?
Pricing depends on your track, course, location and timeline, so every student receives a quote built for them. The cost page explains each factor, along with the clinical costs UCCS asks students to cover themselves, such as the CastleBranch background check.
To start, use the form below with your program, course, start term, city and state, and the semester you need. A placement advisor who knows UCCS's process follows up with any questions and a plan for your search. Clinicians who would like to teach a UCCS student can read precept a UCCS student.
Questions UCCS students ask
Do you help campus BSN students?
UCCS assigns clinical placements for its Traditional and Accelerated BSN students through its own undergraduate placement staff, so those students have no preceptor search to run. Our work centers on the programs where the student leads the search: the graduate NP tracks, DNP project sites, and the community site RN to BSN students secure for NURS 4450.
Which systems will I use for clinicals at UCCS?
Medatrax holds graduate compliance documents, patient logs and evaluations. CastleBranch handles background screening and drug testing. myClinicalExchange comes into play only when a particular site requires it. Platforms you may hear about from students at other schools, such as Typhon or Exxat, are not part of UCCS's process.
Can I start clinical hours before the semester begins?
No. Hours count only during a fall, spring or summer term in which you are enrolled in the clinical course, and only once both the agreement and the preceptor letter carry signatures and UCCS has confirmed you are good to go. Time logged between terms or while paperwork is pending is lost, a rule UCCS ties to liability and workers' compensation coverage.
Do I have to live in Colorado?
Not for the online NP programs. UCCS takes graduate NP applicants from Colorado and 13 more states: Wyoming, Utah, New Mexico and Oklahoma on Colorado's borders, plus Arizona, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas, California, Alaska and Florida. Your clinical hours then take place in your home state. The campus BSN is for Colorado residents or those planning to live there.
What if my preceptor quits partway through a course?
Let your Option Coordinator and the Graduate Clinical Practicum Coordinator know right away. When a preceptor cannot finish, UCCS accepts a written request to go past the usual three-agreement limit for that term, and an incomplete is possible if you are passing the didactic work. We begin a replacement search as soon as you tell us.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-25
We check these pages against UCCS's catalog, practicum handbooks and college pages. Your degree plan, the handbook for your cohort and the Graduate Clinical Practicum Coordinator have the final word.
UCCS asks you to find your clinical hours where you live. Let us run that search.
Tell us your UCCS track, your next clinical course and where you live. We find preceptors who fit the course and prepare the details your Clinical Site Sheet needs, early enough for the agreement to be signed before the semester.
- Preceptors matched to the course: pediatrics for
NURS 6900, acute and chronic care forNURS 6915andNURS 6925, psychiatric prescribers forNURS 6801toNURS 6803 - Credentials, license, certification and the site's signer ready for the Clinical Site Sheet
- In Colorado Springs, along the Front Range, or in any of UCCS's approved states
Start your placement plan
Your program, city and next clinical semester is all we need to begin.