NP preceptors in New Orleans and on the Northshore
New Orleans is Louisiana's largest clinical market and its most crowded one. Ochsner routes outside students through its school-only InPlace portal and contracts a few hospitals separately, LCMC Health says outright that it runs no preceptor matching, and out-of-state programs approved by the Board look for the same preceptors you do. For UL Lafayette students who live in the metro or north of the lake, we build a search that fits all of that.
Find a New Orleans preceptor
Tell us your course and your side of the lake.
Louisiana's largest market, and its busiest
The New Orleans-Metairie metro had an estimated 970,849 residents in 2025, the most of any metro in the state. It is home to Ochsner Health's flagship system and to LCMC Health's network of hospitals, along with a deep bench of independent, specialty and community practices.
Size brings competition. Students from Louisiana's own nursing programs train here, and so do students from out-of-state programs that have cleared the Board's approval process. UL Lafayette's online MSN lets students in the metro complete clinicals near home, since its rule asks only that clinical experiences happen in Louisiana, but it also puts them in the thickest part of the preceptor market.
Ochsner Health: InPlace and the separately contracted hospitals
Ochsner's New Orleans hospitals follow the system's published process. A school representative submits requests through the InPlace Network, students have no access to it, a new school agreement needs at least four months, and capacity limits every placement. Ochsner also requires programs to hold Louisiana Board approval for clinical rotations.
Four hospitals sit outside that umbrella. Ochsner names St. Bernard Parish Hospital, St. Charles Parish Hospital, Slidell Memorial Hospitals and Leonard J. Chabert Medical Center as sites that need their own separate agreements, so an InPlace request alone does not reach them. Ochsner's term-by-term calendar is on the Lafayette guide.
At any Ochsner site, a nurse practitioner you would like to learn from is named to your school coordinator. Ochsner asks students not to contact its providers, clinicians or staff directly.
LCMC Health and Tulane Medical Center
LCMC Health runs University Medical Center New Orleans, Touro, East Jefferson, West Jefferson, Manning Family Children's, Lakeside, Lakeview and other hospitals. Its Academic Affairs office states that it "does not coordinate a preceptor matching program" for nursing or allied health students.
What LCMC does require is an active affiliation agreement between the learner's school and LCMC Health. Once that exists, students work through their school and reach out to the education office at the specific hospital. In other words, LCMC opens its doors to contracted schools, and the preceptor has to be found and confirmed hospital by hospital.
Tulane Medical Center became part of LCMC Health through a partnership finalized on January 3, 2023. No Tulane-specific student page exists, so LCMC's learner rules are the reference point there too.
Out-of-state programs in the same offices
Louisiana lets nursing programs based in other states run clinicals here only with Board of Nursing approval. Under LAC 46:XLVII.3539, such a program files a request letter, course materials and a clinical facility survey at least six months before the offering begins, and, for graduate students, sends the Board's clinical experience spreadsheet no more than two weeks after the start. The Board's published list of approved out-of-state programs includes schools from across the country, among them large online universities.
UL Lafayette is an in-state, Board-approved program, so that six-month filing does not apply to it. The competition for a preceptor's limited student slots does. With Louisiana capping each preceptor at two graduate APRN students at a time, an in-demand New Orleans nurse practitioner can be booked terms ahead. The Louisiana practice guide explains how the state's rules shape precepting.
The Northshore
North of Lake Pontchartrain, Slidell Memorial Hospitals appears on Ochsner's separate-agreement list, which means a school needs its own contract there rather than relying on Ochsner's InPlace route. Independent family, pediatric and psychiatric practices across the Northshore decide on students for themselves, which makes them the natural place to search.
For students living on the Northshore, a local practice also saves the daily bridge crossing into the city. We treat the lake as a real boundary when we map options, because the commute across it shapes every clinical day.
The drive from Lafayette
New Orleans sits beyond Baton Rouge on I-10, a long way to travel for each clinical day from Acadiana. For most Lafayette-area students, practices in Acadiana or Baton Rouge make more sense, and the Baton Rouge guide covers the nearer option. This page chiefly serves UL Lafayette students who already live in the New Orleans area.
How we search New Orleans for you
Whether or not UL Lafayette takes part in arranging your placement, the preceptor and site we bring you are screened against its rules first. In New Orleans that means sorting each target by route: Ochsner InPlace, a separately contracted Ochsner hospital, an LCMC hospital education office, or an independent practice we can approach directly. Then we check the nurse practitioner's active Louisiana license, population certification, ICMSN minimums and current student load, and prepare the preceptor's CV, the site details and the letter of agreement months ahead. If someone drops out, the replacement search starts at once. How it works shows each step.
Questions UL Lafayette students ask
Does LCMC Health find preceptors for nurse practitioner students?
No. LCMC's Academic Affairs office says it runs no preceptor matching program for nursing or allied health students. It requires an active affiliation agreement between the school and LCMC Health, after which students work through their school and contact the education office at the individual hospital where they hope to train.
Is Tulane Medical Center part of LCMC Health?
Yes. Tulane Medical Center joined LCMC Health through a partnership finalized on January 3, 2023. There is no separate Tulane student page, so LCMC's learner requirements, starting with the school-to-LCMC affiliation agreement, are the rules to plan around for a rotation there.
Which Ochsner hospitals near New Orleans need separate agreements?
Ochsner lists St. Bernard Parish Hospital, St. Charles Parish Hospital, Slidell Memorial Hospitals and Leonard J. Chabert Medical Center as sites needing their own agreements. A school's standard Ochsner agreement and an InPlace request do not cover them, so each needs a contract of its own before a student can start.
Do out-of-state NP programs compete for New Orleans preceptors?
Yes. Programs based in other states can place students in Louisiana once the Board approves them, and the approved list is long. Their students contact the same practices Louisiana students do. No Louisiana preceptor may oversee over two graduate APRN learners simultaneously, so those openings go early; starting a term ahead helps.
Can I live in New Orleans and do UL Lafayette clinicals there?
Yes. UL Lafayette's MSN is online and requires only that clinical experiences take place in Louisiana. A New Orleans or Northshore practice qualifies as long as the preceptor holds an active Louisiana license with certification that fits your course and the site's agency contract is on file before your first day. See Louisiana-only clinicals.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-27
We check these pages against UL Lafayette's 2026-27 catalog, its online program and state authorization pages, the ICMSN student handbook and Louisiana's nursing rules. Your course faculty and your plan of study have the final word.
Whether UL Lafayette helps or you start alone, we find the preceptor.
Tell us your UL Lafayette program, the practicum coming up and the Louisiana town you train near. We look for preceptors and sites that fit the course and gather the license, CV and agency details that must be on file before your first clinical day.
- Preceptors who meet Louisiana's rules: an active Louisiana license, most hours with an APRN in your population focus
- The preceptor's CV, the agency details and your letter of agreement items gathered early
- Across Acadiana and the rest of Louisiana, plus DNP residencies in your home state
Start your placement plan
Your program, your town and your next clinical semester is all we need to begin.