Doing your Loyola University New Orleans practicum where you work

Yes, with two conditions and three signatures

Plenty of Loyola nurse practitioner students keep working as RNs, and the FNP guide itself points to your workplace network as a place to look for preceptors. Loyola answers the workplace question with a form rather than a ban: the Employed at Clinical Site Attestation.

The 2025 attestation sets two conditions. Your practicum hours take place in a department separate from the one you work in, and at times different from your work hours. Three people sign it: you, your work supervisor and your preceptor or facilitator.

Handled well, it is one of the most practical routes a working nurse has. You already know which teams in your system have strong primary care or acute care providers; the attestation simply asks you to prove that your student time and your paid time never share a department or a clock.

Filing the attestation, step by step

1. Pick the departmentFind a unit or clinic outside your own department with a preceptor who meets Loyola's rules for your course.
2. Talk to your supervisor earlyYour work supervisor signs the attestation, so raise the plan before anything else and agree on how your work and practicum schedules will stay apart.
3. Get the preceptor's signatureYour preceptor or facilitator signs the same form, confirming the separate department and hours.
4. Add it to your placement paperworkThe form is on Loyola's graduate nursing resources page; submit it with the rest of your request, and ask the Clinical Practicum Coordinator where it belongs in Exxat.
5. Keep the schedule honest all termLog practicum hours in Exxat only for time outside your paid shifts, and keep your work schedule on hand in case faculty ask.

File it alongside the Wishlist rather than after approval, so the request reaches the Clinical Practicum Coordinator complete.

DNP projects: the employer and supervisor rule

DNP Scholarly Project students often want a project inside their own organization, which suits quality and systems work. The DNP practicum requirements letter draws a firm line: the project preceptor cannot be a relative, cannot be your employer and cannot be the person you report to. Read literally, the employer limit could reach anyone acting for your employer, so confirm your choice with your scholarly project advisor before you ask.

Loyola's documents do not line up on how far this reaches for FNP students. The FNP guide lists only the family limit, the DNP letter adds employers and direct supervisors, and the attestation permits workplace practicums under its two conditions. An FNP student considering a manager as preceptor should put the question to the FNP Program Director in writing first.

More on project sites and preceptors is on the DNP Scholarly Project practicums page.

Your workplace network, with a backup ready

Your employer is often the quickest first call, and we treat it that way. We map which departments in your system could host your course, confirm whether your organization is already under a Loyola agreement, and line up the three attestation signatures before the Wishlist goes in.

Workplace plans stall for ordinary reasons: a supervisor declines, a department is short on providers, a legal office rewrites the agreement. We run an outside search in your area at the same time, with preceptors who meet Loyola's rules, so a stalled workplace plan does not have to cost you the term. Loyola's placement office and faculty make the final call on every placement, and the packet we build gives them everything they need at once. The how it works page shows each stage; the form below starts yours.