Help! I am panicked! My nurse practitioner student doesn’t have a clinical site

Advanced practice nursing education faces a growing challenge of finding adequate appropriate clinical sites in which advanced practice registered nurse (APRN) students can be precepted.  Site competition is increasing because of many factors:  more medical students and residents, physician assistant students, students in competing NP programs;  health system rules governing the placement of students; and the clinic stress from new electronic medical record implementation. The number of available clinical sites seems to be shrinking just as the demand increases. To adapt to a changing landscape, NP faculty and programs must address challenges systematically while exploring and developing innovative solutions to clinical placement. The faculty discussants from the University have a collective history of 45 years teaching APRN students, and have been securing clinical sites for as many as 60 APRN students per semester in multiple clinical settings. They will prompt discussion on barriers to placement, and explore how to work collaboratively and innovatively with each other and local health care systems to secure clinical sites.