The Graceland drug screen before your first practicum
Graceland University requires an 11-panel drug screen through Castle Branch's designated lab and accepts no other result. You order the GF47dt package by your paperwork deadline but take the test 4 to 6 weeks before your first practicum course starts, and a positive result shuts you out of every patient-care experience, observation included.
Get your placement plan
Tell us your Graceland program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with the preceptor and site options that fit your course.
The rule in brief
Graceland's Drug Screening Policy, adopted in November 2018 and reprinted in the 2026 Graduate Student Handbook, governs graduate students on their way into practicum. The screen has to be satisfactorily completed 4 to 6 weeks before the start date of your first scheduled practicum course, and it runs through Castle Branch under the package Graceland labels GF47dt, "Drug Test ONLY".
There are no substitutes. The policy says results from any laboratory other than the designated one will not be accepted, and the handbook repeats that the test must be done with Castle Branch. A pre-employment screen, a random test at work or a result produced for another school does not meet Graceland's requirement, however recent it is.
The screen belongs to the same Castle Branch account as your health documents and background check. The Castle Branch page shows how the GF47 packages fit together.
What the 11-panel test looks for
The handbook names every substance on Graceland's panel:
- Amphetamines and methamphetamines
- Marijuana
- Cocaine
- Opiates and methadone
- Phencyclidine
- Barbiturates and benzodiazepines
- Propoxyphene and methaqualone
That is 11 drugs. Alcohol also appears in the policy, but with a qualifier: it is "screened for cause only". Read plainly, the routine pre-practicum screen covers the 11 drugs, and an alcohol test is kept for situations where there is a specific reason to run one.
The same panel applies whichever track you are in, so a first practicum in NURS6740, NURS5450 or NURS6841 starts with the identical test. Several classes on the list, such as opiates and benzodiazepines, include common prescription medicines, which is why the section on positive results below is worth reading before you book a collection.
Timing: order early, test inside the window
Two dates govern the screen, and students mix them up. The handbook asks you to order the GF47dt packet by your submission deadline (June 15, October 15 or February 15) but to take the test itself only when you are 4 to 6 weeks from the start of your first practicum course. A May collection for a late-August start is too early; a collection in the week before term is too late.
| First practicum term | Term begins | Test window (6 to 4 weeks before) |
|---|---|---|
| Fall 2026 | August 24, 2026 | July 13 to July 27, 2026 |
| Spring 2027 | January 4, 2027 | November 23 to December 7, 2026 |
| Summer 2027 | May 3, 2027 | March 22 to April 5, 2027 |
These windows are simple arithmetic, not dates Graceland publishes. Summer needs extra care: the handbook's deadline table says the Summer term begins "In April", while the academic calendar starts it on May 3, 2027. Summer students should confirm the window with the contract coordinators before booking a collection.
Order GF47dt by your paperwork deadline, but hold the test itself until you are 4 to 6 weeks from your first practicum's start date.
Dilute and unclear results
Not every result comes back as a clean negative or a clear positive. Graceland's policy says a dilute result, or any other result that is neither negative nor positive, must be repeated at the student's expense, and the repeat runs through the same designated lab.
A repeat takes time you may not have at the end of the window. Test near the start of your 4-to-6-week window so there is room for a second collection if one is needed. A clearance item still open when the contract coordinator reviews your file is exactly the kind of gap that keeps a practicum from starting on the first day of term, because Graceland counts hours only once your Castle Branch documentation is current and compliant.
What a positive result means
Graceland's policy is direct: a positive drug screen bars the student from any practicum or patient care experience, including observation. That reaches further than many students expect. The first 8 hours of each Graceland practicum are mostly observation, and even those hours are closed to a student with a positive result.
The full policy in the handbook sets out what follows a positive screen, and your track coordinator is the person to talk to about your standing in the program. If you take a prescribed medication that could appear on the panel, read the policy in full before you test and ask the contract coordinators how results involving prescriptions are handled. Raising it beforehand is far easier than explaining it afterward.
Marijuana is on the graduate panel. Graceland's handbook for its on-campus BSN-RN students states that a positive marijuana result fails even with medical use, so graduate students with a medical card should ask before they test rather than assume.
Who pays, and when a site asks for more
The screen is a student cost. Graceland's policy makes students responsible for any charges from the designated laboratory, and a repeat after a dilute result is also at the student's expense. You order GF47dt through the GD23 portal yourself.
A hospital or clinic can layer its own onboarding on top of Graceland's rules. MercyOne Des Moines, for one, says on its student page that the documentation it requires must arrive at least 45 days before the student's scheduled start. If a site you are headed to asks for a newer or different screen, tell the contract coordinator before you arrange anything, since Graceland's handbook expects students to report any site with its own request process. The page on sites with their own request systems covers the rest.
How we time it for Graceland students
Graceland students choose us because we plan the whole run-up to a practicum, not only the preceptor's name. Once your placement advisor confirms a preceptor and site, your timeline shows the exact dates of your drug-screen window beside the paperwork deadline and the first day of term, so the collection lands where Graceland wants it.
We also check early whether the site we found has onboarding of its own, so any extra screen or document appears on your plan weeks ahead. Tell us your first practicum term through the contact page or the form below, and we will build the search around it.
Questions Graceland students ask
When should I take the Graceland drug test?
Take it 4 to 6 weeks before the first day of your first practicum course. For a Fall 2026 start on August 24, that works out to roughly July 13 to July 27, 2026. Order the GF47dt packet by your paperwork deadline, then wait for the window to test. Summer students should confirm the window, because Graceland's sources give different Summer start dates.
Can I use a drug test from my job for Graceland?
No. Graceland's policy says results from any laboratory other than the designated one are not accepted, and the handbook says the test must be done with Castle Branch. A recent pre-employment or random screen at work does not satisfy the requirement, so order GF47dt through the GD23 portal even if you tested last month.
Does a medical marijuana card change a Graceland drug screen?
Marijuana is one of the 11 drugs on Graceland's graduate panel, and a positive result bars all practicum and patient care, including observation. Graceland's handbook for its on-campus BSN-RN students states that a positive marijuana result fails even with medical use. If you hold a card, read the graduate policy in the current handbook and ask the contract coordinators before you test.
Do I need a new drug screen before each Graceland practicum?
Graceland's policy ties the screen to the start of your first practicum course, and the handbook's timing notes describe that single window. A dilute or unclear result means repeating it, and a hospital or clinic may run its own screening during onboarding. If a site asks you for a newer result, tell the contract coordinator before you arrange one.
What does "screened for cause only" mean for alcohol?
Alcohol appears in Graceland's policy but is marked as screened for cause only. The routine pre-practicum screen covers the 11 drugs on the panel, and an alcohol test is reserved for situations with a specific concern. The exact wording is in the Drug Screening Policy section of the current Graduate Student Handbook.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-25
We check these pages against Graceland's own catalog, program pages and Graduate Student Handbook. Your handbook, your track coordinator and the contract coordinators have the final word.
Graceland's practicums are arranged by you, with Graceland's help. We do the searching.
Tell us your Graceland track, your city and your next practicum. We find preceptors who fit the course, line up what Appendix A and Appendix B ask for, and aim everything at Graceland's paperwork deadline for your term.
- Preceptors matched to the course: primary care for FNP, hospital and ICU clinicians for AGACNP, psychiatrists and PMHNPs for PMHNP
- Site address, contract contact and preceptor details ready before the June 15, October 15 or February 15 deadline
- Close to home in your approved state, with a second preceptor planned for Graceland's two-preceptor rule
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