GROWING THE NEXT GENERATION OF NURSES

THA Nurse Preceptor Incentive

The THA Preceptor Incentive Program is a grant funded program from the Tennessee Hospital Association and the Tennessee Center for Health Workforce Development. This program was created to help support the nursing pipeline by providing training and an incentive to nurses providing preceptorships to nursing students within their organization, thereby increasing the availability and quality of these placements for students.

Starting in 2024 as a pilot program, this program has become a way to increase the number of trained preceptors and clinical sites to enhance not only the number of placements for our academic programs but also the student nurse experience.

This program is funded by a grant with the State.

Preceptors do NOT need to create a “MyTHA” account.

Preceptor will receive one $1500 incentive for 70 or more hours of preceptorship per incentive cycle. Preceptors will receive one incentive per incentive cycle.

Number of Preceptorship Hours
(per incentive cycle)		Incentive Amount
(per incentive cycle)
70 hours$1,500.00

Earn an incentive for the vital work you do in growing nurses or become a trained preceptor and begin your role as a preceptor.

The THA Preceptor Incentive Program is a grant funded from the state of Tennessee. Due to limited funding, incentives will be distributed until funds are exhausted each incentive cycle.

THA and TCWD administer this program in partnership with the Whitecoat Learning Platform, which manages preceptor enrollment, training verification, time logging, and incentive tracking. Use the Whitecoat preceptor portal to create your account, complete required documentation, and log your hours for the current incentive cycle.

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Requirements

Preceptorship is defined as a licensed nurse’s oversight of student nurses during clinical preceptorship hours that contributes to their academic program of study.

Qualified nurses are to complete the following items to receive the student preceptor incentive:

  • Preceptors will complete one professional development course (UTHSC Preceptor Course).
  • Submit preceptor/mentor hours for approval by deadline each incentive cycle.

Program Training, Documentation & Instructions​

  • The THA Nursing Preceptor Hours are defined as 1:1 preceptorship. Hours completed supporting group clinical placements or clinical faculty hours are not included in this incentive.
  • Work with your facility leadership to identify a student placement.
  • If you are in independent practice, please contact your local postgraduate programs to notify them of your desire to precept. If you need assistance finding a student, please email us at preceptorincentiveprogram@tha.com and we will help put you in contact with local academic programs.

Training courses are only completed ONCE; if you have completed these courses in a previous incentive cycle, you do not need to repeat the training.

Standard Nursing Student Preceptors:

  • UTHSC Preceptor Course 

Follow instructions below to complete the self-paced learning module from The University of Tennessee Health Science Center.

Access the CE Now Learning Platform:

    • Preceptor Training CE Now (uthsc.edu)
    • Create an account, complete the training, and submit the completion certification with your incentive documentation.
    • Instructions on accessing the course and creating an account can be found here:
    • Nurse Practitioner Preceptors: UTHSC course includes a separate module, this module will provide you with a separate training certificate for documentation.
    • **Save your training certificate for submission in the Whitecoat system.
    • Course completion certificate or transcript from CE must be submitted by the due date. 

Apprenticeship Mentor Training:

*This training is specific to the apprenticeship mentor role; you do NOT need to complete if you are NOT an apprenticeship mentor.

  • Courses accepted include:
    • Belmont University Academic Clinical Nurse Educator Program
    • Tennessee Center of Nursing Advancement Clinical Faculty Training Program
      • Please reach out to your facility leadership for questions.
*Process of submitting of training certificate(s) is outlined in Step 4

NEW Preceptor Incentive Documentation System– LIVE January 14th, 2026:

THA and TCWD administer this program in partnership with the Whitecoat Learning Platform, which manages preceptor enrollment, training verification, time logging, and incentive tracking. Use the Whitecoat preceptor portal to create your account, complete required documentation, and log your hours for the current incentive cycle.

Create Your Account

Instruction Documents:

All program materials and instructions can be found under the ‘Resources’ section in the Whitecoat system. Participant – View Resources.

Training Certificate Submission:

  • Submit all training certificates via your Whitecoat account, this will be an assignment on the dashboard for you to complete.

Approval: Preceptor Hour Approval

  • Nursing Student Preceptor Hour Approver:
    • approval is completed by a school approver, please reach out to your clinical placement coordinator or nursing student for the approver’s contact information.
  • Nursing Mentor (Apprenticeship) Hours Approver:
    • Approval for apprenticeship hours is completed by the facility coordinator.
  • Please submit hours when you are completed with the student preceptorship for the course or by the deadline for the incentive cycle. DO NOT send the individual entries for approval.

Approver Instructions: Preceptor/Mentor hour approval

  • Thank you for your willingness to approve hours for our dedicated preceptors. You will receive an email from Whitecoat Technologies requesting approval of the preceptor/mentor hours.
  • These should be sent at the end of each preceptor experience.
  • You may receive multiple students on one approval notice, but each approval notice will coordinate with one preceptor.
  • See the following instructions for approving hours: Process Time Log Requests
  •  

Notification of payment will be sent after the application period deadline. All applications will be reviewed for completeness of requirements. Payments will be made to preceptors who have completed all the requirements by the deadline in the order in which they were received until funding is exhausted.

The notification will include items needed to process payment, including a W-9 and confirmation of the preceptor’s mailing address and contact information.

All payments will be mailed to the address provided within 30 days of the submission deadline indicated on the THA Preceptor Incentive website.

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Eligibility

Ensure that your participation in this program is not a violation of employer policies. Please contact your leader or Human Resources office for questions.

Local, state, and federal government nursing employees should confirm eligibility for the preceptorship grant program.

This program is only available to those precepting student nurses (LPN, RN, APRN) currently. To be eligible for a nursing preceptorship incentive, each applicant must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident and have an unrestricted Tennessee (state or compact) nursing license.

THA does NOT place students with preceptors as a part of this program.

Be a Tennessee licensed advanced practice registered nurse (APRN) providing clinical preceptorship at an eligible practice site for APRN students enrolled in anapproved and accredited Tennessee public or private school of nursing.

Be a Tennessee or Multi-State licensed registered nurse (RN) or licensed practical nurse (LPN) who provides clinical education at an eligible practice site for RN or LPN students in an approved and accredited Tennessee public or private school of nursing.

An eligible practice site is a clinical site that has been approved by a Tennessee state public or private nursing education program for student clinical practice. The nursing education program and the clinical facility must have a current clinical affiliation agreement.

Students attending schools in the following states may complete clinical hours: Alabama, Kentucky, Virginia, Georgia, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Missouri. However, precepted hours must be completed within the state of Tennessee.

Incentive Cycle Schedule

Incentives will be distributed 4-6 weeks after the incentive cycle deadline. Incentive payments are made directly to the preceptor. Preceptors will be notified via email when incentives are distributed. Preceptors must complete all elements of the program and submit documents by the due date indicated for each incentive cycle.

Spring 2026

January 1 - May 1, 2026
January 1, 2026Incentive Cycle Opens
May 1, 2026Incentive Cycle Closes (Last Day for Hours)
May 10, 2026Submission Deadline for Documentation

Summer 2026

May 1 - August 1, 2026
May 1, 2026Incentive Cycle Opens
August 1, 2026Incentive Cycle Closes (Last Day for Hours)
August 10, 2026Submission Deadline for Documentation

Fall 2026

August 1 - December 1, 2026
August 1, 2026Incentive Cycle Opens
December 1, 2026Incentive Cycle Closes (Last Day for Hours)
December 10, 2026Submission Deadline for Documentation

Spring 2027

January 1 - May 1, 2027
January 1, 2027Incentive Cycle Opens
May 1, 2027Incentive Cycle Closes (Last Day for Hours)
May 10, 2027Submission Deadline for Documentation

Additional Resources

Ferrol Thomas, DNP, RN
Director of Workforce Strategies
Tennessee Hospital Association

Contact Us
preceptorincentiveprogram@tha.com

Thank you to our Preceptor Taskforce members for their dedication and expertise to this project:

Bethany Pack, MSN, RN
Director of Education
Cookeville Regional Medical Center

Leslee Collins
System Director, Clinical Education
Ballad Health

Nicki Staples, MSN, RN, OCN
System Director, Nursing
BMHCC Corporate Office

Jennifer Hardy, MSN, RNC-OB
Clinical Educator
Maury Regional Medical Center

Beth Broadway
Director of Education
TriStar

Stephanie Packer Gibbs, MSN, RN
Director of Nursing, Medical/Surgical
Ascension Saint Thomas West

Diane Leonard MSN, BSN, RN, CNEcl
Assistant Professor of Nursing
Nashville State Community College

Carolyn Harmon, PhD, DNP, RN, NI-BC
Nurse Scientist
TN Center for Nursing Advancement

Elizabeth Thomas
Assistant Professor of Nursing
Roane State Community College

Andrew “AJ” Donadio DNP, MSN,
RN MEDSURG-BC, CNE
Assistant Professor of Nursing
Tennessee Tech University

Donna Grisham APRN, MSN, FNP-C
Assistant Professor of Nursing
Baptist College Health Sciences

Wendy Likes, PhD, DNSc, APRN-Bc,
FAAN, FAANP
Dean and Professor Ruth Neil Murry Endowed Chair
UT Health Science Center

Lindsey L. O'Hagan, MSN, RN, LNC
Nursing Program Director
Chattanooga State Community College

Charlene McNeil, PhD, MSN, RN
Executive Associate Dean of Academic
and Student Affairs,
President, Southern Nursing Research Society
UT Health Science Center

Courtney Daniel FNP-BC, APRN, MSN.Ed
Belmont School of Nursing, Faculty Instructor,
Belmont Health Services, Nurse Practitioner
Belmont University

Wendy Barnhart, RN, BSN
Director of Education & Employee Health
Henry County Medical Center

Andrew Burnett
Vice President, Workforce and Rural Health
Tennessee Hospital Association

Kim Palmiter, PMP
Senior Director of Tennessee Center
for Health Workforce Development
Tennessee Hospital Association

Ferrol Thomas, DNP, RN
Director of Workforce Strategies
Tennessee Hospital Association

Joanna Mazo
Communications Coordinator/Executive Assistant
Tennessee Hospital Association

Sarah Kane
Community Engagement Manager
Tennessee Hospital Association
Contact Us

Due to funding, we know that we may not be able to provide incentives to each applicant. Please note that by participating in this program, you are aware that funding is distributed until it is exhausted.