Find a Tennessee Preceptor as a Chamberlain NP Student
Tennessee holds nurse practitioners to some of the tightest practice rules in the country, and that reality shapes how Chamberlain students should plan their clinical year here. This page walks through what restricted practice means for your rotations, what the Tennessee Board of Nursing expects, and how to land a preceptor in Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville, or a rural county without losing a term to cold outreach.
Tennessee is a restricted practice state
The AANP places Tennessee in its restricted practice category. In plain terms, state law requires career-long involvement by another health provider, through supervision, delegation, or team management, before an NP can deliver patient care.
Day to day, that means a Tennessee NP does not hang a shingle and practice independently. Practice runs through a physician relationship, and prescribing runs through a certificate of fitness. An NP who prescribes files a notice with the board naming the collaborating physician who holds responsibility for prescriptive services, along with a formulary describing the categories of legend drugs the NP will prescribe. The board even surveys certificate holders each year about that physician relationship.
For a Chamberlain student, restricted status changes little about your coursework and a lot about your site search. Tennessee practices are built around oversight, which cuts both ways. Clinics understand structured supervision, but physicians who already supervise practicing NPs think hard before adding a student to their day. Expect longer lead times than classmates in full practice states, and start the search at least a term ahead of your first practicum course.
The Tennessee Board of Nursing
Nursing in Tennessee is regulated by the Tennessee Board of Nursing, housed within the Tennessee Department of Health. The board licenses registered nurses and issues the advanced practice registered nurse certificate in four roles, including nurse practitioner. Getting there requires a current RN license, a graduate degree in a nursing specialty, national certification in your population focus, and coursework in pharmacology.
Licensure and verification
License lookups, applications, and renewal details live on the Department of Health website under the Board of Nursing. Preceptors and clinical sites can verify your RN license there, and you can confirm a prospective preceptor's credentials the same way before you nominate them.
Prescriptive authority
Prescribing requires a certificate of fitness on top of the APRN certificate. The filed notice names the collaborating physician and attaches the formulary. As a student you will see this structure up close, because your preceptor's charting and prescribing habits reflect it.
Rules change through the legislature and the board, so treat the board's own pages as the final word on anything licensure related.
Your Chamberlain practicum, viewed from Tennessee
Chamberlain's requirements travel with you, no matter which grand division you live in. Here is the shape of each track:
| Program | What your clinical looks like |
|---|---|
| MSN-FNP | 625 supervised clinical hours across five 125-hour practicum courses, typically in primary care settings. |
| PMHNP | Several 7-week practicum courses in psychiatric-mental health settings; hours are confirmed to your program of study. |
| AGPCNP | Several 7-week practicum courses focused on adult and older-adult primary care; hours confirmed to your program of study. |
| AGACNP | Several 7-week practicum courses in acute and complex care; hours confirmed to your program of study. |
| DNP | A scholarly-project site and mentor rather than a traditional preceptorship. |
Every placement flows through the same three gates. You nominate the site and preceptor in Typhon, Chamberlain's practicum portal, where you will also log hours. You clear compliance in Complio, covering the background check, drug screen, and immunizations. And the site signs an affiliation agreement with Chamberlain. In Tennessee, that last gate deserves respect: large systems in Nashville and Memphis route agreements through legal review, which can add weeks. Nominate early so the paperwork runs while you finish didactic work. The full checklist lives on our Chamberlain preceptor requirements page.
Finding a preceptor across Tennessee
Chamberlain students secure their own preceptors. The university's Practicum Commitment, through its Experiential Learning Team, steps in only after you document three preceptor denials, which most students hit late in the search window, if they can get practices to respond at all. Silence does not count as a denial, and silence is what most cold emails earn.
Where you search matters as much as how. A few honest observations from placing students in this state:
- Middle Tennessee. Nashville, Murfreesboro, Franklin, and Clarksville hold the deepest bench of primary care and psych sites, and the most competition from local NP programs.
- West Tennessee. Memphis has volume and Jackson has loyalty; smaller practices there often precept year after year once a relationship exists.
- East Tennessee. Knoxville and Chattanooga sit between the two, and the Tri-Cities corridor of Johnson City, Kingsport, and Bristol rewards students willing to drive.
- Rural counties. Genuine need for clinicians and welcoming preceptors, balanced against small staffs that can only take one student at a time.
We run the search from denial zero instead of denial three. Our team works its Tennessee relationships, verifies the preceptor fits your course requirements, and hands you a match ready for Typhon nomination. If you are mid-course and unplaced, the fast placement path exists for exactly that. If you have been searching for months, read what to do when you cannot find a preceptor.
Virtual or in person in Tennessee
Telehealth rotations exist in Tennessee, especially in psychiatric-mental health, and some courses can accept a portion of virtual hours. Acceptability varies by course and by preceptor setting, so confirm with your program before you count on it. In-person placement remains the default expectation for most clinical courses.
If you want the search off your plate, here is our offer, stated once: a free placement review of your program, courses, and location, placement work that starts immediately, and payment only when you are matched, backed by our 14-day match commitment. See how it works and what it costs, or request your free review below. We are an independent service, not affiliated with Chamberlain University.
Answered.
Is Tennessee a full practice authority state for nurse practitioners?
No. The AANP classifies Tennessee as restricted practice, its most limited category. State law requires ongoing physician supervision, delegation, or team management throughout an NP's career, and prescriptive authority runs through a certificate of fitness tied to a collaborating physician. See the AANP State Practice Environment map for current classifications.
How many clinical hours will I complete in Tennessee as a Chamberlain FNP student?
Chamberlain's MSN-FNP requires 625 supervised clinical hours across five 125-hour practicum courses, wherever you live. PMHNP, AGPCNP, and AGACNP students complete several 7-week practicum courses with hours confirmed to their program of study.
Who approves my Tennessee preceptor and site?
Chamberlain does. You nominate the preceptor and site in Typhon, the university reviews the nomination against your course requirements, the site signs an affiliation agreement, and you clear compliance in Complio. Our requirements guide covers each step, and we pre-screen every match against it before you nominate.
What if Tennessee practices keep turning me down or ignoring me?
Chamberlain's Experiential Learning Team assists only after three documented denials, and unanswered emails do not count. Rather than waiting to fail three times, we start the search on day one, work our Tennessee network directly, and back the match with a 14-day commitment. Start with a free placement review or see options if your course has already started.
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