One clinic day a week. Paid per block.
Most part-time nursing is a shorter version of the same job. Precepting is a different job: an NP program needs a clinician to take one student for 120 hours, about a day a week for a term, in clinic or by video, and pays for it. You set the rate and pick the student.
Your credential, your state, the hours you have. A coordinator replies within one business day. Free, no obligation.
Five ways to work fewer hours. One of them is not a smaller version of your job.
Part-time staff posts, per diem pools, weekend programs and telehealth panels all trade hours for money the same way. Precepting trades one clinic day a week for a block payment, and the students come from programs that need you.
Fewer shifts, same unit
A 0.5 or 0.6 line at your employer, with benefits if you cross their threshold. The most stable option and the least flexible.
Part-time nurse jobsPick up when you want
No guaranteed hours either way, usually a higher hourly rate and no benefits. The float pool version of part-time.
Part-time vs per diemTwo long shifts
Weekend-only lines that pay a premium for Saturday and Sunday. Good money for a hard weekend.
Weekend-only jobsVisits from home
Video visits paid per encounter, on a schedule the platform sets. Needs a license in the patient's state.
Telehealth part-timeOne student, one day a week
An NP student joins you for 120 hours over a term. Paid per block at a rate you set. The program brings the student and the paperwork is handled.
How precepting worksTeaching hours count too
RNs with an MSN and a teaching or management role can precept education and leadership students. No prescribing required.
Educator preceptingSet a rate. One day a week does the rest.
Between $12 and $20 for every hour a student is with you. A block is 120 hours; a half-block is 60. Half lands when you sign the midpoint evaluation and half when you sign the final.
| Your rate | Half-block, 60 h | Block, 120 h | Three blocks a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| $12 an hour | $720 | $1,440 | $4,320 |
| $15 an hour | $900 | $1,800 | $5,400 |
| $18 an hour | $1,080 | $2,160 | $6,480 |
| $20 an hour | $1,200 | $2,400 | $7,200 |
Three checks decide it.
Programs verify them in this order. If all three hold you will be approved; if one fails, a coordinator tells you which and whether time fixes it.
An active, clean license
Current in the state your patients are in, with no restriction, probation or pending action.
Certification that matches
National board certification in the population the student is training for. RNs with an MSN and a teaching or management role qualify for education and leadership practica instead.
Two years in practice
Counted from your certification date, in that population. Most programs write this figure into their handbook and some write three.
The parts people learn the hard way, said first.
Your clinic day gets slower for two weeks
One fewer patient an hour while a student learns your rooms and your EMR. It comes back by week three if the student takes the history.
The program decides on video
You may run a fine telehealth practice and still be told a course needs in-person hours. The permitted mode is on the card before you accept.
It is 1099 income
No withholding, no benefits. Many preceptors set aside about a third and ask a preparer whether a quarterly estimate is due.
Pay follows the log
A student who completes 96 of 120 hours earns you 96 hours. Coordinators help students keep the log current.
Three starts a year
January, May and August. A quiet October is normal, and nobody promises a student in a given month.
No is always available
Any student, any time, with nothing recorded against you. Withdrawing after a start date is the one thing coordinators will try to talk you out of.
Six steps, about three weeks.
Most of it is the program's approval clock. Your part is under an hour.
Apply
Ten minutes: credential, specialty, state, the day you could give, mode.
Verify once
CV, license, certification, a paragraph on your practice. Used across every program.
Agreement
The affiliation agreement, in the school's template, signed by your practice.
Orient
Ninety minutes on the log, the two evaluations and two teaching methods.
Accept a student
A card: program, dates, hours, population, mode. Yes or no inside 72 hours.
Precept and get paid
Two direct deposits: midpoint evaluation and final.
I work three days in a family practice and wanted a fourth that was mine. One student on Thursdays, one block a term. The card told me the dates and the hours before I said yes, and the money came in two deposits like the pay page said.
Part-time for me means afternoons. A PMHNP student joined my telepsychiatry follow-ups four afternoons a week for a term and the program allowed all of it by video. Nothing about my mornings changed.
The four stars are for October, which was empty, exactly as the coordinator had warned. The spring block was full and my student ran Medicare wellness visits by week six.
How many hours a week is precepting?
A standard block is 120 student hours, and most students finish it in a term of 14 to 16 weeks. That is eight or nine hours a week, which for most nurses is one clinic day. A half-block of 60 hours fits a half-day a week or a full day every other week.
Does it count as part-time work?
It is independent contractor work paid per block, so it sits alongside whatever part-time or full-time job you hold rather than replacing it. You choose which student to accept, set your rate within the band, and can stop after any block. Nobody counts your hours toward a benefits threshold.
What does one block pay, and when?
You set a rate between $12 and $20 for each hour a student is with you, so a 120-hour block pays $1,440 to $2,400. Half is deposited when you sign the midpoint evaluation and half when you sign the final. Pay follows the hours the program's log shows.
Who qualifies?
For clinical NP rotations: an active, unencumbered license, national board certification in the student's population, and two years of practice since certification. Registered nurses with an MSN or higher and a current teaching or management role can precept MSN education and leadership practica, which are non-clinical hours.
Can I precept from home?
Sometimes. The student's program decides what share of the rotation may be completed by telehealth and writes it into the affiliation agreement. Psychiatric and primary care follow-ups are the most often permitted; acute care and procedures rarely are. The card shows the permitted mode before you accept.
Is there a cost to me?
No. Programs and their students pay for placement. There is no fee to apply, to be listed, to decline a student, or to leave. The only money that moves toward you is the two halves of each block, reported on a 1099-NEC each January if the year's total reaches $600.
Ten minutes to apply. One business day to a reply.
A coordinator tells you what is open for your credential, state and day of the week, or the one thing to fix first. Nothing reaches a program until you accept a student.
Your credential, your state, the hours you have. A coordinator replies within one business day. Free, no obligation.