Frequently Asked Questions
You asked...We answered!
What makes PreceptorLink®️ different from other similar companies? Well it's our people.
First of all, we are experienced, passionate and dedicated to the profession, because we are in the profession!!! No one can understand the needs of APRNs like those who are "in the trenches." We are active in APRN professional organizations; We are committed to the profession and to helping make the changes needed to help solve the preceptor problem. Our team knows and understands and we go above and beyond to help you, whether you are a Student, a Preceptor, a Preceptor Site, or a School.
First of all, we are experienced, passionate and dedicated to the profession, because we are in the profession!!! No one can understand the needs of APRNs like those who are "in the trenches." We are active in APRN professional organizations; We are committed to the profession and to helping make the changes needed to help solve the preceptor problem. Our team knows and understands and we go above and beyond to help you, whether you are a Student, a Preceptor, a Preceptor Site, or a School.
Student Questions:
- Do you always find a preceptor?
- We carefully consider whether we can place a student before we accept a student. We will only accept a student if we feel we can place him/her. Our goal is not to take your money and not place you! Our goal is to place you! Although we are successful about 90-95% of the time, there are last-minute cases and difficult regions in which we are unable to find placement, so it is not guaranteed, but we do not accept students who we don't feel we can place. Students come back time and time again and recommend their colleagues and preceptors to use us, so that says a lot! More than 50% of our students come back after they have used us once.
- What if I contract with you and you cannot find me a preceptor?
- If you pay a deposit and sign a contract but despite our best efforts we are unable to place you, you will receive a refund per your contract agreement. Refunds vary depending on the contract but you will know in advance of payment. We are very fair with our refund policy.
- Do you handle the school contracting paperwork?
- We do try to help so the process is easier by gathering the needed credentialing documents. Students have better things to do than chase down paperwork! Most schools still want to handle contracting directly with the site/preceptor, so once we match a student to a preceptor, we provide the credentialing documents, and then the student/university begin the process of contracting. If a school would like our help with completing the paperwork, we can help with our Schools Program.
- How early do I need to contract with PreceptorLink before a rotation?
- It is never too early to get us started on your search- ok, almost never! Avoid last-minute charges and competition in the marketplace by signing up and paying an early deposit. Then you can focus on what you should be focusing on: school and life! Let us do what we do best!
- My preceptor just told me they can’t precept me now!! Can you help with last minute clinical rotations?
- Oftentimes, yes! We know that sometimes you need us last minute, and we will do our best to help you! In fact, Last Minute Contracts are one of our specialties!
- How does payment work?
- When you sign a contract, a deposit is required for us to begin searching for your preceptor. We will not begin the search until the deposit is made. Balance is due when a preceptor is found.
- Do you accept every student who wants placement?
- We have to carefully weigh whether we feel we can place you in advance, and many factors go into this decision. Sometimes we just have to say no if we don't feel confident we can place you.
- Can the student cancel the contract?
- Yes. If you decide you do not need our service after we have begun the search for you, you may cancel at any time. Refunds are individual per contract.
- Since I am "paying" for a preceptor, I expect them to be flexible to me!
- Ok, we need to be clear here: You are not paying for a preceptor! The honorarium is a gift to the preceptor for his/her time and expertise. Research shows that if a preceptor were really paid for the time they actually put in precepting, it would be upwards of $10,000! Honorariums are a "token of thanks." Please remember that when you work with a PreceptorLink preceptor.
- "I think it is wrong for a preceptor to expect to get paid!" "Why should a preceptor expect to get paid?! Someone precepted them! It's their responsibility to "give back."
- Well, this is a complicated discussion. The bottom line is that medicine and times have changed. Many providers are paid based on productivity, and precepting can slow you down. Legal, EMR, and HR issues make it more complicated now. NPs also compete with medical students and physician assistant (PA) students for clinical sites. Additionally, there are more schools, more programs, and more students all looking for the same thing. Online education has added to the influx. Providers and clinical sites are exhausted from being asked to precept. Frankly, isn't their time and expertise worth something? We need to incentivize preceptors, and for many, a financial incentive will turn a "no" into a "yes."
- You matched me with a preceptor- now what?
- When the preceptor is found, the student/school begin the contracting process. Please know that this is only the beginning for a student! Don't let things fall apart after we have matched you due to lack of follow-up!
- How do I know I will get a good preceptor? And what if I get a “bad” preceptor?
- We do our best to screen preceptors in order to find only the best, but keep in mind that we are the "matchmakers." The student/school contracts with the preceptor/site. Consequently, it is the school's responsibility to do the final verifying/vetting of the preceptor. Of course, if we receive (legitimate) poor-sounding reports on a preceptor or find out a preceptor is not qualified, we do not use that preceptor anymore. We value student input!! We will always do our best to replace you if it is clear there is a problem with our preceptor placement. Our goal is to have happy students and happy preceptors!
- What if my contracted preceptor can’t fulfill the rotation after the contracting is done or after starting the rotation?
- There are occasions when the preceptor cannot or does not fulfill the terms of the contract. We review those cases and will often be able to replace a student with a new preceptor or prorate a refund. Again, we are here to help!
- What are your fees?
- Our basic fee starts at $12.50/clinical hour.
- Why is it so expensive? Where do my monies go?
- We know this costs a lot, and we HATE taking money from students! (We would love it if it came from the schools!) But, this is a VERY difficult job and, in order to survive, we have had to find a price that allows us to provide an honorarium to preceptors, cover business costs, and, sadly, helps cover the placements that fall apart or for which we can't place even after an extensive search. Unfortunately, this sometimes happens. Sometimes, we have to refund, but we still have business costs. The other place student fees go is towards some of the new programs we are developing to help fix some of the problems related to the Preceptor Problem! We are working very hard on solutions, so if you have an idea for a solution, please let us know! Maybe we will try implementing it! Stay tuned!
- Why should I use PreceptorLink over the other companies?
- This is an NP-owned and run business. Every member of the PreceptorLink Team understands this problem and your needs. Be sure to ask, "Is a nurse practitioner running your company?" If not, then run, don't walk away. You want to work with a business that knows and cares about your profession! This is not just a business to us, it is our passion. No one knows this business better than we do. No one is more committed to helping the NP profession make the needed changes in our profession. No one is more committed to the student, the preceptor, the site, the school or the profession. We can promise you that! Again, we are working on solutions to this problem! We hate that students are having to pay, but this is the best solution we could come up with for now, and we have helped thousands of students graduate and paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in honorariums to well-deserving preceptors.
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