CastleBranch at Post: compliant from admission to the last clinical hour
CastleBranch is where Post University's American Sentinel College of Nursing & Health Sciences keeps the background, health and credential records that clear you for clinical work. Nurse practitioner students keep the account current for the whole program, repeat the background check and drug screen every year, and need a compliant account to register for NP courses past the 3P set or to log any clinical hours.
Get your placement plan
Tell us your Post program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with the preceptor and site options that fit your course.
Who needs an account
Post's 2025-26 catalog describes CastleBranch as "a secure document tracking and repository service" for the documents practice experiences and clinicals require. Whether you need it depends on your program, and the NP tracks carry the heaviest version of the rule. Open the account well before your first clinical course, since compliance is one of the items Post checks in Week 1.
| Program | Account? | Extra conditions |
|---|---|---|
| RN to BSN | No | No preceptor in this program |
| RN to BSN/MSN | Yes | Kept for the program's practice experiences |
| MSN, non-NP specializations | Yes | Kept for the program's practice experiences |
| MSN FNP, AGPCNP and PMHNP | Yes, for the entire program | Background check and drug screen every year; no clinical activity without a compliant account |
| DNP | Yes | Kept for practice experiences and the DNP project work |
The items Post lists
The catalog's list is long, and every item has to be accepted, not just uploaded. Grouped by kind, it looks like this.
- Background and identity: a background check (repeated yearly for NP students) and a photo. Post's admissions pages add a residential history check.
- Drug screening: a drug screen, repeated yearly for NP students; the admissions pages describe a 10-panel urine screen.
- Immunizations and health: MMR, varicella, hepatitis B, Td/Tdap, flu, TB, a physical exam, and a COVID vaccine or an exemption.
- Credentials and training: your RN license, CPR through AHA BLS or the Red Cross, OSHA and HIPAA.
- Coverage: proof of health insurance.
Post's current catalog and your CastleBranch account are the final word on each item's details, since the 2026-27 catalog's nursing pages may have changed the list. One difference over time is worth knowing: American Sentinel's 2021 catalog also listed professional liability and student malpractice insurance, while the 2025-26 lists name only health insurance. If a site asks about liability coverage, take the question to the Clinical Coordinator. Items with their own renewal cycles are the ones that catch students out later in the program.
What compliance unlocks, and what a lapse stops
For NP students, the account is a gate rather than a file cabinet. The catalog says NP students "may not engage in activities without a compliant account," and a compliant account is a condition for registering in NP courses beyond the 3P courses and for logging clinical hours. Compliance is also one of the items due by the end of Week 1 in every clinical course, listed on the Week 1 deadline page.
The practical effect shows up mid-term. If a card or result expires during a preceptorship, Post's rule means logging stops until the account is compliant again, and the hours recorded in Typhon are the ones that count toward your course total. A 135-hour course has little slack for a paused week.
Being compliant at admission is not the finish line. NP students renew the background check and drug screen every year, and any lapse can stop clinical hours.
Build a renewal calendar
Every item in CastleBranch carries its own date, and the dates rarely line up. The fix is one simple table you keep for the whole program: each item, the date it expires, and the preceptorship term it falls in.
- List every dated itemBackground check, drug screen, flu, TB, CPR card, health insurance and your RN license each expire on their own schedule.
- Map them against your termsPut your planned preceptorship terms beside the dates. Any expiration inside a clinical term is a problem to solve early.
- Renew during the didactic termHandle renewals in the term before a preceptorship, when there are no clinical hours to pause.
- Confirm acceptance, not just uploadAn item sitting in review is not a compliant item. Leave time for it to be accepted before Week 1.
Your RN license inside CastleBranch
The RN license item carries one useful note in Post's catalog: it "may include a compact RN license." That matters because Post ties NP students to approved states. You must live and hold an active, unencumbered RN license in a state Post approves for your specialization, and clinicals can only happen in approved states where you are also licensed.
A multistate license can cover a clinical state other than your home state, but Post still requires prior approval before you train outside the state where you live. The details sit on the RN license page. Your RN license report is also a separate Week 1 item, so keep a current copy ready alongside the CastleBranch record, and upload a renewed or newly issued license as soon as the board posts it.
When a site asks for more
CastleBranch satisfies Post. It does not stand in for a hospital's own learner onboarding, which some health systems run on top of the school contract. Trinity Health Of New England, for example, publishes a Learner Health Certification Form due at least four weeks before a learner's start date, after its affiliation agreement check. Trinity's page also routes later steps, such as badging and parking, through the learner's preceptor or coordinator, so site onboarding belongs on the same timeline as the affiliation agreement. Ask every site early whether it has forms of its own.
Post's State Approvals page adds that students work with the clinical coordinator and the compliance officer within the college to make sure all requirements are met. Questions about an item that is stuck in review, or about what a particular site needs, belong with those two roles. The Clinical Coordinator page explains who handles what.
How we keep compliance from holding up a placement
Your CastleBranch account is yours to keep current, and we plan every placement around it. Post Preceptor treats compliance dates as part of the schedule from the first conversation.
- At intake we note which of your items expire during your planned preceptorship terms and flag renewals a term ahead.
- We tell you before you commit whether a site runs its own onboarding, and how far ahead its forms are due.
- We line up the preceptor, the documents and the site contract early, so your own compliance items are the last and simplest part of the packet.
- If a preceptor steps away mid-term, we look for a replacement at a site whose onboarding fits the weeks you have left.
The how it works page walks through our process; tell us your track and term on the contact page.
Questions Post students ask
Do RN to BSN students need CastleBranch?
No. Post's 2025-26 catalog excludes RN to BSN students from the CastleBranch requirement, and the program has no preceptor. Students in the RN to BSN/MSN, every MSN specialization and the DNP need an account. If you move from the RN to BSN into a dual-degree or graduate program, expect to open one.
Can a compact license satisfy the RN license item?
Post's catalog says the RN license item may include a compact RN license. That does not change Post's state rules: you still live in an approved NP state, train only in approved states where you hold an active license, and need Post's prior approval for clinicals outside your home state.
Can I log clinical hours while an item is pending?
Post's catalog ties hour logging to a compliant account, so plan as if a pending item blocks you. Upload renewals early enough for review to finish before the date that matters. If an item is stuck, contact the compliance officer or the Clinical Coordinator rather than working hours you may not be able to log.
How often do NP students repeat the background check and drug screen?
Every year. Post's catalog makes both annual for nurse practitioner students and requires a current account for the whole program. Put the renewal month on your calendar at admission and compare it with your preceptorship terms, so the renewal falls in a didactic term rather than in the middle of clinical hours.
Does CastleBranch cover a hospital's own onboarding?
No. CastleBranch holds what Post requires. A health system may run its own learner process with separate forms and lead times, such as Trinity Health Of New England's health certification form due four weeks before a start date. Ask each site about its requirements before you commit to it.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-27
We check these pages against Post University's own catalog, program pages and published nursing documents. Your course faculty and the Clinical Coordinator have the final word.
Post asks you to select your own preceptor. We make the search the easy part.
Tell us your Post track, your city and your next preceptorship course. We line up preceptors who fit the course, collect the license report, certification and CV the Clinical Coordinator reviews, and start the affiliation agreement early so your Week 1 packet is complete before the term opens.
- Preceptors matched to the course: primary care for FNP and AGPCNP, mental and behavioral health for PMHNP, doctoral nurse leaders for DNP hours
- Preceptor agreement letter, license report, certification and CV ready for Post's approval
- Every preceptorship planned together, close to home in a state where you hold your license and Post's disclosure says yes
Start your placement plan
Track, city and next preceptorship course is all we need to begin.