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 your own rate, inside the network's band, for each hour a student is with you, and it applies across the full 120-hour block. 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.
Will my employer object?
The affiliation agreement is signed between the program and the practice where the student will be, so someone with authority at your practice signs it. Many practices already hold such agreements and welcome students; a coordinator handles the drafting. If you own the practice, you sign it.
Can I take students from more than one program?
Yes. Your documents are verified once and each program approves you against its own handbook. Cards then come from every program that has approved you, and your concurrent-student cap, which most nurses set to one, decides how many you hold at a time.
What if the student is not working out?
Tell your coordinator in the first two weeks if you can. Most problems are scheduling or expectations and a call fixes them. Where the fit is wrong, the program reassigns the student and you are paid for hours already logged. Nothing is recorded against you.
Can I stop after one block?
Yes. One block is the whole commitment. After the final evaluation you decide whether to take the next card. There is no minimum number of rotations and no notice period to leave the roster.
Is Partime Nurse a staffing agency?
No. It is an independent guide to part-time nursing work and the front door to the mentor network's part-time precepting. It does not employ nurses, place them in jobs, enroll students or award credit.
Does precepting count toward recertification?
Under ANCC, precepting hours in your certification role count toward professional development, documented by a letter from the program. AANPCB allows up to 120 precepting hours to replace 25 non-pharmacology CE contact hours. Check the current handbook before relying on either.