The preceptor's NP Student Evaluation at Maryville: what it is and how to prepare

What the NP Student Evaluation is

It is your preceptor's evaluation of you. Maryville's 2021 help article for preceptors explains how they approve time logs and complete evaluations in eValue, and the evaluation it names is the “NP Student Evaluation”.

In those older guides a rotation produced three kinds of record. Your preceptor approved your time logs, your preceptor completed the NP Student Evaluation, and the site and the preceptor were themselves evaluated when each rotation closed. The hours and the evaluation are separate records, so plan for both.

Whether the form keeps this name in Exxat, and whether Exxat is what sends it, isn't stated on any public Maryville page. How to find out which system your course uses is on eValue in older guides.

What Maryville doesn't publish about it

The form itself isn't public. We found no Maryville page that lists its items, its rating scale, a passing level, or how much it counts toward your course grade; your course is where those answers live.

Questions to put to your course faculty in week one

• Which system sends the evaluation to my preceptor, and when?
• Can I see the evaluation items before the rotation starts?
• How does the preceptor's evaluation factor into my course grade?
• If I have more than one preceptor this term, does each complete one?
• What happens if my preceptor hasn't submitted it by the end of the course?

Check your syllabus in Canvas and the login-only Graduate Nursing Clinical Resource Center first; Maryville describes the Resource Center as the main source for course guidelines and clinical policies. Ask faculty whatever those documents leave open. More on what the Resource Center holds is on the Resource Center page.

When your preceptor receives it

In the 2021 guides, the evaluation request reached the preceptor 5 days before the rotation end date. The timing was tied to the end date you had set up, so a correct end date and correct preceptor contact details both mattered.

If your course still works that way, a rotation that finishes early or runs past its planned date can leave the request out of step with your real last day. If your course uses Exxat or another method, ask when the request goes out and to which address, and write the answer down.

Either way, a short note to your preceptor about a week before your last day helps. Tell them the evaluation is coming, where it will come from, and when your course ends, and ask them to watch for it.

Preparing your preceptor from day one

Most of the preparation happens at the start of a rotation, not the end. Maryville doesn't pay preceptors, as a 2023 webinar confirmed, so every step that saves your preceptor time is worth taking.

1. Share what the course is forGive your preceptor the course description and objectives from your syllabus, so they know what they are assessing.
2. Agree the schedule and end dateConfirm your days, your total hours and your last day together, and keep the record in your course's system to match.
3. Ask for feedback at the midpointFind out what is going well and what to work on while there is still time to act on it.
4. Keep your logs currentEntries your preceptor can approve as you go leave nothing to untangle in the final week.
5. Flag the evaluation a week outRemind your preceptor it is coming, where it will arrive, and when the course closes.

If your preceptor hasn't worked with Maryville before, precepting Maryville students sets out what Maryville asks of them.

Let the course description guide you

Without the form's items, your course description is the most concrete public statement of what a rotation is for. The catalog describes each practicum by population and setting, and a preceptor can only assess what they see you do, so ask for patients that match your course.

Your track's practicum page goes further; for example, see FNP practicums.

If something goes wrong

Raise problems with your course faculty while the rotation is still running. That covers an evaluation that hasn't arrived, a preceptor who is unhappy with your progress, and a rotation cut short. Course faculty approval is one of the four approvals behind your placement, so the faculty already know it. Beyond your instructor, Maryville's escalation point is the course's Graduate Nursing Lead Faculty. Whoever you contact, say what happened, when, and what you have already tried.

If your preceptor leaves partway through, the evaluation question becomes a replacement question; see preceptor dropped out. Keep your logs current in the meantime, since they are your record of the hours already done; clinical hour logs covers what counts.

Why students choose us for their next rotation

A good evaluation starts with a preceptor who has the time and the patient mix your course needs, and those are the two things our search leads with. We look for a preceptor and clinical site on your behalf, in person near you or virtual if your course permits, and stay available if a preceptor leaves before the rotation is over.

The evaluation is between you, your preceptor and your faculty, and the best thing we can do for it is start you with the right match. Maryville approves every preceptor and site, and the request it sees names a preceptor whose practice fits the course description. If a past rotation showed a mismatch, such as a setting that didn't fit the course, tell us so the next search avoids it. Planning ahead for your next practicum? Send the course number and the term it starts through the form below.