The WINNER Project, a three year study using local RNs to provide clinical instruction to prelicensure nursing students, pinpointed barriers and facilitators in implementing a preceptor model to increase capacity.  A collaborative effort, twelve schools and fifty hospitals and clinics in the Houston-Galveston area standardized guidelines for precepting students from their first semester through their last semester.  Information collated from faculty, hospital administrators and students clearly indicates what supports successful implementation and delineates obstacles.  For instance, students liked the scheduling flexibility, preceptors saw an opportunity to provide realistic clinical education, and targeting nurses on off shifts and in small units permitted hospitals to offer additional clinical slots.  Although initial faculty concerns failed to materialize, areas surface where system wide changes could aid in model adoption, such as taking a different approach to students developing clinical care plans. Although not set as an educational outcome, the WINNER graduating students distinguish themselves from their cohorts.