Explore Clinical Locations: Loyola's map of sites under agreement
Explore Clinical Locations is the map inside Exxat Prism that shows organizations already holding an affiliation agreement with Loyola University New Orleans. Loyola keeps hundreds of them, and a site from that list skips the slowest part of the approval process. The map gives you a head start; you still need a clinician there who agrees to precept you.
Turn map listings into a preceptor
Tell us where you live and which Loyola course comes next.
What the map shows
Loyola's Explore Clinical Locations guide describes a map in Exxat Prism for searching possible practicum sites. The FNP Orientation and Practicum Guide calls the same tool the Map of Affiliation. Each listing is an organization with an active affiliation agreement, and clicking one shows basic contact information for that site.
Behind the map sits Loyola's list of hundreds of organizations under agreement. You open it from Prism with your Loyola login, and the how-to guide is posted on the School of Nursing resources page beside the Wishlist guide. Keep one thing in mind from the start: the map shows organizations, not people, and that shapes how you use it. Listings shift as new agreements are signed and older ones reach the end of their terms, so look again each semester.
Why a mapped site moves faster
The affiliation agreement is usually the longest step in a Loyola placement. A site already under agreement, the FNP practicum letter says, is processed quickly. A new site starts from the Standard Loyola Affiliation Agreement, needs a signature from someone authorized to bind the organization, and can take several months if it rewrites the terms or insists on its own contract.
For a student three months or less from a practicum, that difference decides whether a site is realistic at all. Starting from the map lets you spend your time on the preceptor conversation rather than on contract review. How agreements work for organizations that are not listed is covered in affiliation agreements. Even so, confirm with the coordinator that a listed agreement is current for your term.
What a listing leaves to you
A listing tells you Loyola and the organization have a contract. It says nothing about whether anyone there has agreed to teach you, or whether the clinic fits your course. The standard agreement itself leaves contacting a facility preceptor to the student, so the map is a starting list, not a match.
Three checks follow a promising listing. The clinician must meet Loyola's standards for license, certification and experience, set out on preceptor requirements. The site must fit the setting your course demands. And if the preceptor is employed by a different organization than the listed site, the Preceptor Agreement notes that Loyola needs an agreement with that employer too, which brings back the contract wait the map was meant to avoid.
Using the map in your search
- Start near homeThe bulletin places FNP, AGACNP and PMHNP certificate practicums with preceptors where students live, so begin with listings you can reach.
- Shortlist by settingKeep the listings whose patient population matches your next course, using the table below.
- Check the stateConfirm you hold an active RN license in the site's state and that Loyola's State Approvals Map shows your program approved there.
- Make contactUse the listing's contact details, then follow the FNP guide: visit with a resume and a cover letter naming the course and hours.
- Keep a logNote who you spoke with and what they said, so follow-ups are quick and the site's details are ready for the Wishlist.
- Move to the WishlistOnce a preceptor commits, file the request through the Exxat Wishlist.
Reading listings course by course
| Course | Setting to look for |
|---|---|
NURS G823 and NURS G827 (FPCM I and II) | Outpatient primary care with an NP, MD, DO or PA preceptor |
NURS G829 (FPCM III) | Primary care that can supply 150 pediatric and 50 obstetric hours |
NURS G833 (FPCM IV) | Outpatient primary care; a specialty site needs FNP Director approval |
NURS G902, NURS G904, NURS G907 (AGACNP) | Acute care where you can build shifts around your preceptor's schedule |
NURS G856 to NURS G859 (PMHNP) | Psychiatric-mental health practice suited to the course |
NURS G939, NURS G942, NURS G944 (DNP project) | Health care organizations, departments of health, policy internships, ethics committees or nursing associations |
For FNP students, the FNP guide sends any hours in urgent care, a hospital ward, an emergency department, a nursing home or a specialty clinic to the Graduate Program Director for approval. A listing in one of those settings can carry an agreement and still be the harder route for an FNP course.
When the site you want is not on the map
An organization without a Loyola agreement can still become your site. The Clinical Practicum Coordinator can secure a new affiliation agreement, normally on Loyola's standard 2026-27 form with its three-year term, once the site's authorized signer signs.
Give an unlisted site extra time and a backup. Contract review can run for months when a site edits the agreement or uses its own paperwork, and the bulletin says practicum hours completed before every party signs are forfeited. Tell the Clinical Practicum Coordinator about a new site as soon as the preceptor agrees, and keep a mapped site in reserve while the contract is reviewed. If the organization belongs to a larger health system, ask whether the system's own contract rules apply, since some systems set their own terms.
Why Loyola students choose us for map-based searches
The map narrows the field, and we finish the search. We work through listings in your area, find the clinicians there who fit your Loyola course and its population, and confirm they meet Loyola's preceptor standards before you commit. When the right preceptor practices at a site without an agreement, we tell you at once so the contract clock starts on day one.
We gather the agency, signer and preceptor documents the Wishlist asks for and stay reachable all term in case a preceptor steps away. Every placement is approved by Loyola's placement office and faculty, and we make sure the request they see is complete and already fits Loyola's rules. Tell us where you live and which course is next.
Questions Loyola students ask
Is the Map of Affiliation the same as Explore Clinical Locations?
Yes. Loyola's FNP Orientation and Practicum Guide uses the name Map of Affiliation, while Loyola's separate how-to guide calls it Explore Clinical Locations. Both refer to the Exxat Prism map of organizations that already hold an affiliation agreement with Loyola, where a listing shows basic contact details for the site.
Does a site on the map mean a preceptor is waiting for me?
No. A listing means the organization has an active affiliation agreement with Loyola. You still contact the site, find a clinician willing to precept, confirm that person meets Loyola's requirements and file the Wishlist. What the listing removes is the contract wait, which is often the longest part of the process.
Can I use a site that is not on the map?
Yes. The Clinical Practicum Coordinator can obtain a new agreement using the Standard Loyola Affiliation Agreement. Allow more time and keep a backup site, because organizations that rewrite the standard form or require their own contract can take several months, and no hours count until the agreement carries every signature.
How do I open Explore Clinical Locations?
Sign in to Exxat Prism through Loyola's single sign-on, the login you share with Canvas and LORA. Loyola's Explore Clinical Locations guide, posted on the School of Nursing resources page, shows where the map sits and how to open a listing's contact information. The Clinical Practicum Coordinator can help if you cannot find it.
Is every listed clinic suitable for an FNP practicum?
Not necessarily. All four FNP practicums must be outpatient primary care, FPCM III needs pediatric and obstetric hours, and several settings need a director's approval. A listed hospital or urgent care center may hold an agreement with Loyola yet still need the Graduate Program Director's approval before FNP hours there are allowed.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-25
We check these pages against Loyola's own bulletin, program pages, practicum guides, forms and licensure disclosures. Your plan of study, your practicum guide, your program director and the Clinical Practicum Coordinator have the final word.
Loyola asks you to select your own preceptor and site. We make that the easy part.
Tell us your Loyola program, where you live and which term your next practicum starts. We find preceptors whose patients fit the course, check whether the site already has a Loyola affiliation agreement, and prepare everything your Exxat Wishlist needs.
- Preceptors matched to the course: outpatient primary care for
NURS G823, pediatrics and obstetrics forNURS G829, acute care forNURS G902, psychiatric care forNURS G856 - Preceptor CV, license and Nursys PDF, the Preceptor Agreement and the site's signer details ready for the Wishlist
- In your own community, in Louisiana or any state where Loyola approves your practicum
Start your placement plan
Program, city and term is all we need to begin.