UT Tyler BSN clinicals: how faculty-assigned placements work
In UT Tyler's pre-licensure BSN, faculty assign clinical placements. The final four semesters are clinical, taught on the Tyler, Longview or Palestine campus, with rotations at facilities affiliated with the School of Nursing and RN preceptors from Level II on. Your part is to be cleared and ready; our placement desk helps with the compliance file, the planning and, later, the graduate path where you will propose your own preceptors.
Stay clinical-ready
Tell us your campus, your level and your goals. A placement advisor replies with a compliance and planning checklist.
Faculty assign your placements
UT Tyler's clinical policy 7.3 says undergraduates can expect to be placed in various facilities based on their clinical course objectives, and that faculty assign those placements. The catalog adds that assignments depend on the availability of learning experiences. That is the reverse of UT Tyler's graduate model, where students propose their own preceptors for approval.
From Level II through Level IV, policy 7.4 describes a precepted model: you work alongside RNs at facilities affiliated with the School of Nursing, which UT Tyler calls its clinical partners. Texas rules shape the model as well. For pre-licensure programs, the Texas Board of Nursing requires written agreements with facilities before clinical learning begins, makes faculty responsible for supervising students and scheduling rotations, limits a preceptor to two students at a time, and requires BSN preceptors to hold a Texas RN license or privilege to practice. Texas Board of Nursing rules explains them in plain terms.
Four clinical levels on three campuses
The BSN is 120 credits. Its four clinical semesters run year-round and take 16 to 18 months depending on your start date, and UT Tyler places those last four semesters on one of three campuses: Longview, Palestine or Tyler. The campuses page describes each one.
| Level | Clinical courses |
|---|---|
| Level I | NURS 3601 Person-Centered Care, NURS 3311 Mental Health |
| Level II | NURS 3602 Disease Management I, NURS 3317 Family Health I (maternal and newborn) |
| Level III | NURS 4602 Disease Management II, NURS 4317 Family Health II (pediatrics), NURS 4319 Community Health |
| Level IV | NURS 4322 Professional Nursing, NURS 4339 Capstone, NURS 4638 Clinical Immersion |
Course numbers are not fully settled. The catalog lists NURS 4638 Clinical Immersion, but its description repeats the Capstone's, and the course rotation and syllabi use NURS 4338 along with older numbers such as NURS 4626, NURS 4628 and NURS 4634. Your class schedule in myUTTyler shows the number you are actually enrolled in.
What counts as a clinical hour
UT Tyler does not print BSN clinical hours in the catalog. Policy 7.12 says each course's hours are outlined in the course learning management system, which at UT Tyler is Canvas, so the first week of each clinical course is when you learn the number you owe.
The same policy, citing Texas Board of Nursing rules 214.9 and 215.9, lists what counts toward clinical practice hours:
- Practice in the nursing skills and computer laboratories
- Simulated clinical experiences
- Faculty-supervised hands-on clinical care
- Clinical conferences
- Observational experiences
Simulation is part of the picture on campus. UT Tyler's pages call the space the Simulation Hospital, the Simulation & Skills Lab or the NextGen Hospital, depending on the page you read.
Because labs, simulation and conferences all count, a clinical week is more than the hours you spend on a unit. Log each activity the way your course asks, and keep your own record until faculty confirm the total at the end of the semester.
Getting cleared: CastleBranch and compliance
Graduate students moved to Exxat, but BSN compliance still runs through CastleBranch: UT Tyler's BSN page has you set up and pay for your own CastleBranch account. The Nursing Student Guide spells out the stakes. Requirements must be complete in CastleBranch before you attend clinical, and missing documentation results in a missed clinical day.
- A clean background check, or, for a student with a record, a Texas Board of Nursing letter clearing them to proceed
- Texas Board of Nursing fingerprinting through IdentoGO
- A drug screen you pay for at a testing site the School of Nursing picks, and possibly unannounced or for-cause tests afterward
- The immunizations and healthcare-provider CPR the School of Nursing lists, kept current
- Proof of health coverage, a UT System rule for anyone enrolled in a clinical course
Declining a vaccine carries weight here: School of Nursing policy says undergraduates who decline may be denied placement at specific facilities, and faculty cannot ensure an alternate placement. Students can get the shots the School of Nursing requires at UT Tyler's University Health Clinic. Clinical compliance requirements has the full list.
Admission, deadlines and day-to-day logistics
UT Tyler admits about 200 BSN students each semester, with minimums of 58.7% on the TEAS and a 3.0 GPA. The BSN tracks page lists these deadlines by start term: September 24 to October 8 for spring, January 15 for summer and May 22 for fall.
Once clinicals begin, policy 7.3 makes transportation to clinical sites your responsibility. Plan dependable transportation and some flexibility in any work schedule before Level I starts, since clinical days are set by faculty rather than chosen by you. When you finish, BSN graduates are recognized at the Nursing Convocation, UT Tyler's pinning ceremony.
On outcomes, UT Tyler's reported NCLEX results are 96% for 2024 and 97.50% for 2023, and the School of Nursing's own page cites 96.2% on state licensure exams for Spring 2025.
How our placement desk helps BSN students
Your faculty handle BSN placements, so our role is to keep you ready for them and to plan what comes after. A placement advisor can help in four ways.
None of this replaces your faculty or your campus site coordinator; it keeps you prepared so their assignments land on a student who is ready to start.
- Building a compliance calendar for CastleBranch, with every immunization, CPR card and insurance date that could cost you a clinical day
- Walking through the clinical sequence level by level, so each semester's demands arrive with no surprises
- Planning your route to graduate school, where the preceptor search becomes yours and APRN tracks call for a Texas RN license; the MSN FNP guide shows what that looks like
- Starting a real preceptor search when you reach an MSN or DNP clinical course
Use the form below to reach a placement advisor.
Questions UT Tyler students ask
Can I choose my own clinical site as a UT Tyler BSN student?
Not the way graduate students do. Faculty assign BSN placements based on course objectives and the learning experiences available. If you have a genuine constraint, such as a disability accommodation or a conflict at a specific facility, raise it early with your course faculty or your campus site coordinator; accommodations run through Student Accessibility and Resources.
What happens if my CastleBranch items expire during a semester?
Expect to miss clinical until they are fixed. UT Tyler's Nursing Student Guide says missing documentation results in a missed clinical day, and no student can register for the next semester unless immunizations are documented and CPR and any nursing license are current. Setting renewal reminders a month ahead keeps a lapse from costing you a clinical day.
How long does Board of Nursing fingerprinting take for UT Tyler BSN students?
UT Tyler's BSN tracks page says the whole Texas Board of Nursing fingerprinting process, done through IdentoGO, takes at least four weeks. Start it as soon as UT Tyler tells you to, because a background check that has not cleared keeps you out of nursing courses until it is resolved.
Do UT Tyler BSN students use Exxat like graduate students?
No. The Spring 2024 switch to Exxat covered graduate compliance and clinical management. BSN students still create and pay for a CastleBranch account, and School of Nursing policy 2.1 still names CastleBranch. If you continue to an MSN at UT Tyler, you will learn Exxat then; the Exxat page explains how it works.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-25
We check these pages against UT Tyler's own catalog, syllabi, program pages and clinical policies, and Texas rules. Your course, your program coordinator and the Clinical Coordinator have the final word.
UT Tyler asks you to choose your clinical site. We find it.
Tell us your UT Tyler track, where in Texas you live and when your next clinical course starts. We find preceptors near you who fit the course and gather everything your Self-Placement Request needs, so faculty can approve it before the semester.
- Preceptors matched to the course: pediatrics for
NURS 5453, adult and geriatric care forNURS 5455, psychiatric care forNURS 5367 - Texas-licensed preceptors who clear UT Tyler's supervisor, relative and site rules
- Anywhere in Texas, from the Piney Woods to the Valley
Start your placement plan
Program, city and start date is all we need to begin.