Washington is listed as not authorized for all of NKU's online nursing programs, and it is not one of the 11 states NKU's nurse practitioner tracks accept. Within the West, Nevada welcomes applicants to all of NKU's online programs, while Alaska and Montana are open to everything except NP training.
Tell us your NKU track and where you live. A placement advisor replies with the preceptor and site that fit NKU's rules for you.
| Program group | Washington |
|---|---|
| NP concentrations, NP certificates, NP-to-PMHNP | Not an admission state |
| MSN Nursing Education and Nurse Executive Leadership | Not authorized |
| Post-master's DNP | Not authorized |
| Online RN-to-BSN | Not authorized |
Both copies of NKU's table agree on Washington. And because NKU accepts only preceptors practicing in states it has approved, Washington clinicians are outside NKU's preceptor pool too. Our state authorization page sets out each program row.
Washington regulates distance programs closely. Under WAC 246-840-571, a nursing school that teaches Washington students at a distance from another state must hold WABON approval before any of them starts a clinical or practice experience there. The school applies, shows its program matches Washington's standards, supervises and evaluates its students on Washington soil, keeps national accreditation and reports every year. WABON's approved list takes in RN-to-BSN, MSN and NP tracks, but it authorizes approved placements for Washington residents only, with exceptions decided case by case.
An out-of-state school's ARNP faculty teaching in Washington must carry Washington ARNP licenses. Preceptors for ARNP students must be licensed, actively and without encumbrance, as an ARNP, MD or DO (or hold the equivalent from another state), and must have no family or friendship tie to the student. In December 2025 (a CR-101 filed on the 5th), WABON opened rulemaking on these education sections, clinical placement barriers included, so expect changes.
Washington's compact licenses took effect on January 31, 2024. AANP lists Washington as full practice. The main systems are MultiCare Health System, Providence (headquartered in Renton, with Providence Swedish), PeaceHealth, Virginia Mason Franciscan Health and UW Medicine. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Spokane-Spokane Valley, Kennewick-Richland and the Washington side of Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro are the main metros. WABON's student nurse preceptorship grant is closed to out-of-state programs, wherever the hours are worked.
Oregon and Idaho, Washington's neighbors, are both not authorized. Nevada is open to all NKU online programs, NP tracks included, but it is outside the compact, so a move there means a Nevada RN license. Alaska, also a non-compact state, and Montana, a compact state, take applicants for every non-NP option NKU offers: both non-NP MSNs, the doctorate and the bachelor's completion program.
Look at NKU's current list of NP admission states and your program's row on the state table before you commit to relocating. Current NKU students eyeing a move to Washington should weigh NKU's disclosure, which says field placements in a restricted state may prove impossible to finish.
Washington nurses weighing Nevada, Alaska or Montana come to us for a realistic read on the clinical side of that move. A placement advisor checks how deep the preceptor pool runs for your NKU track in the target state and how far ahead of a 7-week session to begin. When the move is done, we run the full search and deliver a complete Medatrax packet. Contact us.
No. All three of NKU's PMHNP routes (the MSN concentration, the post-master's certificate and the NP-to-PMHNP) are limited to residents of its 11 admission states, and the westernmost of those are Colorado and Nevada. The rest of NKU's online nursing catalog is closed to Washington residents too.
Under WAC 246-840-571, any out-of-state distance program needs WABON approval before placing students in Washington clinicals, and approved placements are meant for Washington residents. NKU lists Washington as not authorized, so this route is closed to NKU students today. WABON also keeps a public list of approved out-of-state programs.
No. WABON's preceptorship grant is limited to in-state programs, so hours worked in Washington for a school elsewhere do not qualify. NKU's own thanks to preceptors in approved states comes as an end-of-term professional development provision, certification hours letters and an annual award.
Raise it with your advisor and concentration coordinator early. Relocating mid-program can change your standing with NKU, and Washington's not-authorized listing puts your remaining clinicals in doubt, so settle the timing with NKU before you sign a lease or give notice at work.
Last checked 2026-09-24
We check these pages against NKU's own published sources. NKU's School of Nursing and your Canvas clinical shells have the final word.
Tell us your NKU track, where you live and which 7-week session your clinical starts. We find a preceptor and site that fit NKU's rules for your track and have your self-placement request ready well inside the 90-day window.
A placement advisor replies with the preceptor and site that fit NKU's rules for you.