NKU nursing programs for Indiana residents

Indiana predates the recent growth of the NP admission list. It was among the original eight states, together with Ohio, Kentucky, Illinois, Michigan, Georgia, Colorado and Nevada, before Florida, Virginia and West Virginia were added between October 2025 and January 2026.

AANP puts Indiana in its reduced-practice group, meaning some part of every Indiana NP's practice runs under a formal collaboration with a physician. For your clinicals, the NP who precepts you likely has a collaborating physician in the background, and both can be useful contacts when you ask for a rotation.

NKU's credential list is the part that decides who qualifies. FNP students can train with an NP, MD, DO or PA in primary care, with specialty offices capped at 125 hours. AGACNP students need acute care hospitals, where ER or urgent care may cover up to half the hours. PMHNP students work with a PMHNP or psychiatrist. NKU accepts PAs only where the state allows them to precept, so ask your concentration coordinator before relying on one. The full rules are on who can precept.

Indiana's board accredits the in-state schools whose graduates sit for a first RN or LPN license. RN-BSN and graduate programs, by the Board's own statement, fall outside that review, and the eligibility rule at 848 IAC 1-2-4 names pre-licensure RN and PN programs alone. No approval step turned up for an out-of-state graduate or RN-BSN program placing students in Indiana.

So for NKU students here, the requirements that matter are NKU's: a preceptor in an approved state, a site with an affiliation agreement or one NKU can negotiate, and a complete self-placement request.

In central Indiana, a search often begins with Indiana University Health, Community Health Network or Ascension St. Vincent in the Indianapolis area. Parkview Health and Franciscan Health are two more large systems, and Fort Wayne is the state's next-biggest metro. Private primary care, psychiatric and hospitalist groups belong on the list too.

Southern Indiana sits inside the Louisville metro, and the state's southeastern corner belongs to Greater Cincinnati. Because NKU approves Kentucky and Ohio as well, a preceptor across the river is an option. Northwest Indiana belongs to the Chicago metro, and Illinois is approved too, but it stands outside the compact, which changes the license question.

Indiana's compact participation began July 1, 2020, so a multistate license issued here covers rotations in Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio. Illinois is different: it stands outside the compact, and a rotation there calls for an Illinois license. NKU itself asks for a current, unencumbered RN license where you're licensed and practice. See RN licensing for NKU clinicals.

We know the tri-state map well. A placement advisor searches both sides of the river for a clinician who matches your concentration, then assembles the preceptor's CV, license and signed NKU responsibilities form and hands you a site contact ready for NKU's affiliation agreement. NKU approves every placement; our part is handing its reviewers a finished request that already fits the rules. Send your details through the form below, and read how our service runs meanwhile.