Need a preceptor fast for your Loyola University New Orleans practicum

Updated September 25, 2026 · Reviewed by the Loyola Preceptor placement team

When your Loyola University New Orleans practicum is less than three months away, speed comes from choosing a site Loyola can clear quickly and sending a request that is complete the first time. A fast search still has to end at Placement Approved and a signed affiliation agreement before a single hour counts.

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Tell us your Loyola program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with the preceptor and site options that fit your Loyola course.

Jan 19first day of Spring 2027 classes at Loyola

May 17start of Loyola's Summer 2027 14-week session

Where the three months go

The FNP Orientation and Practicum Guide tells students to start at least three months before a practicum because the process can take that long. Those months are not one task. They are several queues, and on a tight timeline they have to run side by side instead of one after another.

Your compliance uploads, reviewed by the Exxat APPROVE team under Required Documents
The site's signature on an affiliation agreement, when Loyola has none on file with it
The Wishlist request itself, carrying the preceptor's CV, license and signed agreement
Review by Loyola's placement office until the request reads Placement Approved

The three-month lead time page has the full count-back plan. This page is for students already inside that window, with Spring 2027 classes starting January 19 and the Summer 2027 14-week session on May 17.

Pick the site that can clear fastest

When time is short, the best site is the one whose paperwork already exists. Hundreds of organizations already hold active affiliation agreements with Loyola, and Loyola says those sites are processed quickly. You can find them on Exxat Prism's Explore Clinical Locations map, where each listing carries basic contact details.

A site with no agreement needs the Standard Loyola Affiliation Agreement signed by its authorized signer. Signed as written, it moves; rewritten, or swapped for the site's own contract, it can take several months. Ask who employs the preceptor as well. If that is a different organization from the site, Loyola's Preceptor Agreement expects a second contract with the employer, which doubles the paperwork.

Large health systems are not automatically the quick option. Ochsner LSU Health in North Louisiana wants graduate requests at least three months ahead, entered by the school through its InPlace platform, and CHRISTUS Health requires its Clinical Education Affiliation Agreement to be signed before the placement term begins.

Send a request that clears on the first pass

Every round of corrections costs days you do not have. Collect everything before opening Submit Preferences from your Exxat Dashboard, and attach the uploads with the request itself rather than a day later, so the reviewer opens a finished file.

Have these in hand before you file

Agency name and street address
The site's contact person
The authorized legal signer or signers
Your preceptor's details and CV
The preceptor's license, as a Nursys PDF for an NP
The signed Preceptor Agreement
Optional: a Standard Loyola Affiliation Agreement the site has already signed

Individual uploads may be marked approved well before the full request is; hours begin only when the request itself reads Placement Approved. Each field is explained on the Exxat Wishlist page.

Clear your own file the same week

A site ready to take you does not help if Loyola cannot register you. Missing requirements keep a student out of the practicum course and trigger a compliance hold, visible on the LORA Holds tab. Upload anything missing to Required Documents under My Profile, and put a signed FERPA release in Exxat so the site can receive your records from Loyola.

Then check the items that expire: the yearly flu vaccine, TB testing or the TB risk assessment, BLS, and a physical within the past 12 months. Your RN license must be active in the site's state, and the site's own onboarding may add items, such as HIPAA training. The complete list is on the compliance requirements page.

If approval lands after classes begin

A late placement does not have to mean a lost term. Your faculty of record can sign off on a later end date through the EARLY START/EXTENSION PRACTICUM form, so the hours still fit, and the early start and extension page explains how it works alongside an Incomplete.

Keep up with the course itself while the placement clears. Online students who show no Canvas participation by the seventh calendar day of a session can be dropped, and losing the course means losing the practicum with it. Log in, post and submit from the first week even while the site is pending. Which calendar your course follows, full semester or 8-week online session, is not stated in Loyola's nursing documents, so confirm the start date with your syllabus or faculty.

Speed never changes this: hours worked before every party signs the affiliation agreement are forfeited, and the bulletin warns the course may have to be repeated.

How we run a fast search for Loyola students

Short timelines are where our placement desk earns its keep. Give us your course and start date, and we look first at sites already under a Loyola agreement, confirm each preceptor meets Loyola's rules, and deliver a Wishlist package that is complete on day one, signer details and Nursys PDF included.

When a new site is the better fit, we raise the Standard Loyola Affiliation Agreement in the first conversation, so a contract review does not surface in week ten. We keep a backup option warm until your request shows Placement Approved. The people who approve are Loyola's placement staff and faculty, and everything they review from us arrives ready. Use the form below with your start date, or read how it works.

Questions Loyola students ask

Can I start clinical hours before my Loyola placement is approved?

No. The FNP guide requires the entire request to reach Placement Approved in Exxat before any hours begin, and the bulletin says time logged before the affiliation agreement carries every signature is forfeited. An approved preceptor or an approved compliance file on its own is not enough.

Which sites does Loyola approve fastest?

Sites that already hold an active affiliation agreement with Loyola, since the contract step is done. Explore Clinical Locations in Exxat Prism lists them. Next fastest is a new site willing to sign Loyola's standard agreement unedited; site-written contracts can take several months.

Is a big hospital system quicker than a private practice?

Not usually. Ochsner LSU Health in North Louisiana asks schools to enter graduate requests through InPlace at least three months ahead, and CHRISTUS Health needs its Clinical Education Affiliation Agreement signed before the term. An independent practice that signs Loyola's standard agreement can be the shorter path.

What if my compliance items are not approved yet?

Fix them first. Students behind on requirements are not registered for the practicum course and receive a compliance hold, visible in LORA. Upload missing items to Required Documents under My Profile in Exxat, where the APPROVE team reviews them, and watch anything that renews every year.

Does Loyola set a deadline for Wishlist requests?

The only timing rule Loyola publishes is the three-month lead time; the practicum guides give no calendar deadline for Exxat requests. Check with the Clinical Practicum Coordinator or your faculty of record whether your course sets one, and submit as soon as your site and preceptor agree.

TimelineThree-month lead timeLoyola University New Orleans says a practicum placement can take three months. A backward plan from your term, with Spring and Summer 2027 count-back dates.ExxatExxat Wishlist requestFiling a Loyola New Orleans placement request with the Exxat Wishlist: every field, the preceptor uploads, the signer, and what Placement Approved really means.Urgent helpCan't find a preceptorNo preceptor yet for your Loyola New Orleans practicum? Why searches stall, what Loyola asks of a preceptor and site, and how to restart the search.ExxatExplore Clinical Locations mapHow Loyola New Orleans students use Exxat's Explore Clinical Locations map of sites under agreement to shortlist practicum sites and reach preceptors sooner.FormsEarly start and extensionThe Loyola University New Orleans Early Start/Extension Practicum form, Incompletes for unfinished hours, AGACNP midterm action plans and the I-to-F dates.

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 for NURS G829, acute care for NURS G902, psychiatric care for NURS 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

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