ETSU nursing campuses and where each program's clinicals happen
East Tennessee State University (ETSU) teaches nursing from Roy S. Nicks Hall in Johnson City, runs Accelerated BSN cohorts in Kingsport and Sevierville, and delivers its graduate programs online. Where your clinicals happen depends on the program: the College assigns BSN clinicals, LPN to BSN clinicals run in three Tennessee regions, and graduate students train in person with a preceptor near home.
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Tell us your ETSU program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with the preceptor and site options that fit your ETSU course.
Johnson City and Roy S. Nicks Hall
The main campus is in Johnson City, at 1276 Gilbreath Drive. The College of Nursing is housed in Roy S. Nicks Hall, 365 Stout Drive, and describes itself as one of the largest colleges of nursing in the Southeast. Two offices a clinical student deals with sit inside it: the Office of Student Services in Nicks Hall 2-230 and the Office of Practice in 310 Nicks Hall.
Main-campus students use the skills lab in Nicks Hall, and ETSU also points to simulation facilities in Bishop Hall. The Graduate School is a separate office, in Burgin Dossett Hall, Suite 309. The Traditional BSN runs in person here, and the Accelerated BSN admits a Johnson City cohort each summer.
Online graduate students may seldom visit the building, but the offices behind their clinicals work there. The who does what page explains each office's part.
Kingsport and Sevierville
ETSU at Kingsport has two campuses. The Allandale campus, at 1501 University Boulevard, hosts general education and the Accelerated BSN that ETSU labels 'ETSU/HVMC', and its nursing skills lab is on the third floor. The Downtown campus, at 300 W. Market St., handles transfer referrals and continuing learning.
ETSU at Sevierville is a regional off-campus site for junior- and senior-level programs, including the Accelerated BSN, the RN to BSN and the LPN to BSN, and it has its own skills lab. Each Accelerated BSN campus admits in a different term:
| Campus | Cohort admits in | Skills lab |
|---|---|---|
| Johnson City | Summer | Nicks Hall |
| Kingsport (Allandale campus) | Spring | Third floor, Allandale campus |
| Sevierville | Fall | On the Sevierville campus |
ETSU publishes no list of the clinical sites used by its Kingsport or Sevierville cohorts. The College assigns pre-licensure clinicals, and the catalog warns that courses are not offered every semester at every location or clinical facility. See BSN clinicals.
LPN to BSN: three Tennessee regions
The LPN to BSN mixes Zoom and online courses with clinical intensives. Semester 2 includes one on-site weekend intensive for skills validation, simulation and hands-on practice, which prepares students for the in-person clinicals that start in semester 3.
Clinicals run in three regions: Northeast Tennessee (such as Johnson City), East Tennessee (such as Knoxville, Sevierville and Crossville) and Middle Tennessee (such as Nashville, Columbia and Manchester). Vanderbilt University Medical Center is an option only for VUMC employees.
ETSU rules out LPN to BSN clinicals beyond the Tennessee line. The College aims for placements close to a student's permanent home but makes no promise, and students should expect weekend clinical days of 12 hours, anywhere from Friday to Sunday. The LPN to BSN page covers the course sequence.
LPN to BSN clinicals stay inside Tennessee. If you live near the Virginia or North Carolina border, plan travel around the three Tennessee regions rather than a site across the line.
Online graduate programs, in-person clinicals
The MSN, the certificates and both DNP programs are delivered online, but clinical hours happen in person. MSN coursework is asynchronous, with each practicum completed under a preceptor near the student. ETSU Online tells Nursing Administration students they will not need to visit campus at all, while Nursing Education practicums call for a preceptor on site. Certificate clinicals are in person too, with local or distance placement arranged through the College as needed.
The ETSU DNP adds semester intensives, and its pages describe them differently: ETSU Online speaks of an intensive lasting 2 to 5 days as each semester opens, attended in person or by Zoom, its FAQ says 2 to 3 days, and the College DNP page says one or two per semester. Ask your program which pattern applies to your cohort. DNP clinical hours may be completed in your home community when approved.
The ETSU-TTU joint DNP meets for intensives each May and August, currently on Zoom, for 2 to 4 days. RN to BSN coursework is online apart from the final practicum, NRSE 4026.
The College's clinics and the wider region
The Office of Practice runs nurse-managed clinics in Johnson City, in Mountain City in Johnson County and in Sneedville in Hancock County, and students can request precepted rotations there on fixed dates; see the nurse-led clinics page.
Beyond ETSU's own sites, the Tri-Cities region crosses state lines. ETSU's BSN page names Ballad Health as a partner; Ballad runs 20 hospitals across 29 counties in Northeast Tennessee, Southwest Virginia, Northwest North Carolina and Southeast Kentucky, with Johnson City Medical Center, Holston Valley and Bristol Regional among its teaching hospitals. Graduate placements with any health system follow that system's own rules; the Northeast Tennessee preceptors page covers the region.
ETSU's graduate catalog also names two locations outside Tennessee, the Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center in Abingdon and the Lenoir-Rhyne University Center for Graduate Studies in Asheville, North Carolina. No nursing program link to either was found.
When your clinical site is in another state
A graduate placement beyond Tennessee needs sign-off from the relevant regulators, and ETSU weighs each one individually once a student has been admitted. The RN to BSN page warns that state regulations may send out-of-state residents to a Tennessee institution or agency for their clinical hours. A graduate student who relocates can stay enrolled only when the new state's nursing board permits it, and both the College and the records office need to hear about the move.
ETSU's two licensure disclosures also disagree for several states, so read both before you plan a site across a border. Start with clinicals outside Tennessee.
Where we fit
Graduate students lead their own preceptor search, and that is where we work. From the Tri-Cities to Knoxville, or in another state entirely as an online student, we search close to your address for a clinician whose caseload suits the course you are about to take.
Each placement comes with its paperwork assembled: the preceptor's licenses and certifications with their expiration dates, the site's patient mix and your planned hours, in the shape ETSU's form and ProjectConcert upload expect. We mention the site agreement at the outset, so the College is not rushed. ETSU's reviewers make the call, and they see a complete file. Use the form below to tell us where you live and which course is next.
Questions ETSU students ask
Where is the ETSU College of Nursing?
In Roy S. Nicks Hall, 365 Stout Drive, on the main ETSU campus in Johnson City, Tennessee. The Office of Student Services is in Nicks Hall 2-230 and the Office of Practice in 310 Nicks Hall. The Graduate School is a separate office in Burgin Dossett Hall, Suite 309.
Does ETSU offer nursing in Kingsport and Sevierville?
Yes. The Accelerated BSN, which the catalog calls Continuous Enrollment, runs in Johnson City, Kingsport and Sevierville, each admitting in a different term: Johnson City in summer, Kingsport in spring and Sevierville in fall. Sevierville also serves RN to BSN and LPN to BSN students as a regional site for junior- and senior-level programs.
Do online ETSU MSN students ever come to campus?
According to ETSU Online, Nursing Administration students can finish without a campus visit, and MSN courses run asynchronously. Your clinical hours are completed face to face, under a preceptor close to home, and Nursing Education practicums need an on-site preceptor. Some Nursing Education faculty also require synchronous sessions, which are held online.
Can I do ETSU clinicals near my home outside Tennessee?
Graduate students can ask, but a placement beyond Tennessee needs regulator approval and an individual review by ETSU after admission. LPN to BSN clinicals stay in Tennessee, and RN to BSN students living elsewhere may need to complete hours at a Tennessee institution or agency. Check ETSU's licensure disclosures for your state first.
Are ETSU DNP intensives held in Johnson City?
ETSU Online says ETSU DNP intensives can be attended in person or by Zoom, though ETSU's pages disagree on their length and frequency. The ETSU-TTU joint DNP holds its intensives each May and August, currently on Zoom. Ask your program director which format and dates apply to your cohort.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-25
We check these pages against ETSU's own catalog, College of Nursing pages, plans of study and ProjectConcert guides. Your plan of study, your syllabus, your course faculty and the graduate clinical coordinator have the final word.
ETSU asks you to lead the preceptor search. We make it the fastest part of your program.
Tell us your ETSU concentration, where you live and which semester your next practicum starts. We find preceptors who fit the course's patient population and prepare everything your Preceptor Intent Form and ProjectConcert entry need.
- Preceptors matched to the course: young and middle adults for
NRSE 5012, older adults forNRSE 5014, women forNRSE 5022, children forNRSE 5024, psychiatric care forNRSE 5405 - Credentials, license numbers, certification dates and the site's patient mix ready for faculty approval
- In your own community, in Northeast Tennessee or wherever ETSU approves your clinicals
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