Freelance work for nurses and NPs: the paid precepting route, explained by people who do it Live chat
Pay

What a freelance preceptor is paid

You name your own rate, the school's log decides how many hours you are paid for, and the money arrives in two direct deposits tied to the two evaluations you sign. This page shows the arithmetic at four rates and what lands on your tax return in January.

The rate is yours to set

Your preferences page has one dollar field. You pick any figure from $12 to $20 per student hour and it travels with every card you are shown from then on. Nobody negotiates it down; programs see the total for a rotation, not a list of preceptors sorted by price, so a higher figure does not push you to the back of a queue.

A change applies only to rotations you accept afterwards. A card you already accepted keeps the figure it carried on the day you said yes.

What a block pays, in dollars

A block is 120 student hours. Multiply 120 by your rate and you have the rotation total; a half-block is 60 hours, so halve it. Three blocks in a calendar year is 360 hours, which is where a nurse taking one student a term usually lands.

Your rateHalf-block, 60 hBlock, 120 hThree blocks a year
$12 an hour$720$1,440$4,320
$15 an hour$900$1,800$5,400
$18 an hour$1,080$2,160$6,480
$20 an hour$1,200$2,400$7,200

When the money arrives

Two direct deposits. The first when you sign the midpoint evaluation, the second when you sign the final. Pay follows the hours the program's log shows, so a rotation that ends early pays for the hours completed, and hours you supervised that the student never logged are hours the coordinator helps the student fix.

What lands on your tax return

Precepting fees are independent contractor income. A 1099-NEC arrives each January when the year's total reaches $600. Nothing is withheld, so many preceptors set aside roughly a third and ask a preparer whether a quarterly estimate is due. Some states pay preceptors through a tax credit as well; several of those credits apply only to uncompensated precepting, so a paid block may exclude the credit. Ask your preparer rather than assuming both.

What it does not cost

Nothing is charged to you at any point: not to apply, to be listed, to be matched, to sit the orientation, or to be paid. Programs carry the cost of placement.

The freelance route that is open now

Precept one NP student. Get paid per block.

You set a rate between $12 and $20 per student hour. A 120-hour block pays $1,440 to $2,400 in two deposits, with the school's paperwork handled for you.

See what your hours would pay

Credential, state and the hours you could give. A coordinator replies within one business day. Free, no obligation.

Nothing is shared with a program until you accept a student. No fee to you at any point.