South Dakota clinicals for ETSU students
South Dakota appears as a meets-requirements state on every East Tennessee State University (ETSU) disclosure. South Dakota's Board of Nursing leaves programs from other states to arrange placements with clinics and preceptors themselves, and asks mainly that the school keep a faculty member able to practice in South Dakota.
Studying from South Dakota?
Tell us where you live and which ETSU practicum is next.
ETSU's South Dakota results
| ETSU page | Program | South Dakota |
|---|---|---|
| College of Nursing MSN page (updated September 2025) | BSN and MSN | Meets |
| College of Nursing DNP page (updated April 2026) | ETSU DNP and ETSU-TTU joint DNP | Meets |
| University consumer information pages (tables updated June 2025) | MSN and DNP | Meets |
| University consumer information page (updated July 2024) | ETSU-TTU joint DNP | Meets |
Every column says meets, so the College and university pages line up. The comparison for all states is on ETSU's licensure disclosures.
A board that stays out of approvals
South Dakota's Board keeps out of the approval business for schools based elsewhere, and its information sheet for those programs says so directly. Placing a student in a South Dakota clinic is a matter between the school and the clinic or preceptor.
What the Board does want is a faculty member on the school's side who can practice in South Dakota, by license or privilege: RN-level for RN students, APRN-level for APRN students. A separate distance education rule says the same about faculty teaching APRN students who are physically in the state. That is the College's side of the arrangement, and a good reason to raise a South Dakota site early with the graduate clinical coordinator, since ETSU sizes up each out-of-state site on its own.
Looking ahead to a South Dakota APRN license
Planning to practice in South Dakota later? At licensure the Board wants proof of at least 500 clinical hours tied to your role and population, and graduate coursework in three areas: pathophysiology or physiology, health and physical assessment, and pharmacology. ETSU's MSN FNP and PMHNP plans of study each list 540 clinical hours; confirm the breakdown for your own catalog year.
For preceptors, programs the Board approves follow ARSD 20:48:07:34: a license no lower than your target level and, for APRN preceptors, a role and specialty close to yours. Use it as a yardstick when weighing a candidate; ETSU's clinical faculty decide.
Sioux Falls, Rapid City and the systems students research
In AANP's summary, a South Dakota NP reaches full practice after 1,040 hours of practice tied to a written collaboration agreement, with a physician, certified NP or certified nurse midwife as partner. Sioux Falls, whose metro edges into Minnesota, is home to about 305,000 South Dakotans; Rapid City and the Aberdeen micropolitan area come next. Monument Health is one system to research, and Sanford Health and Avera Health are the other two, each with its own student rules.
Multistate RN licenses have worked in South Dakota since January 2018, which covers student clinicals, and the APRN Compact became law there in February 2024 but is still waiting on more states.
Why South Dakota students choose us
With the Board leaving agreements to schools and sites, the quality of what you bring to a South Dakota clinic decides how quickly things move. We find a preceptor near you in the right role and population, confirm license level and specialty, and give you everything the Intent Form and ProjectConcert call for, contract flag included. Tell us where you are.
Questions ETSU students ask
Does South Dakota approve ETSU's nursing programs?
It approves no programs based in other states. A South Dakota placement rests on an agreement between ETSU and the clinic or preceptor, and the Board expects ETSU to have a faculty member able to practice in the state. ETSU then makes its own decision on your site, as it does for any clinic beyond Tennessee.
Will ETSU's NP clinical hours satisfy South Dakota APRN licensure?
South Dakota's floor is 500 clinical hours matched to your role and population, along with graduate pathophysiology, assessment and pharmacology. ETSU's MSN FNP and PMHNP plans list 540 clinical hours. Compare your catalog year's plan of study with the Board's current requirements, and ask the College about anything unclear.
Will the APRN Compact let me practice in other states after ETSU?
Not yet. South Dakota adopted it in February 2024 as one of five states, yet it stays inactive until seven states have signed on. For now, plan on an APRN license in each state where you will practice after graduation.
What if the best site near Sioux Falls is in Minnesota?
A Minnesota site answers to Minnesota's board, and ETSU's pages disagree there: the College of Nursing lists Minnesota as undetermined while the university's pages say it meets. Clear that with the College first; staying on the South Dakota side keeps you where both lists agree.
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
Start your placement plan
Program, city and semester is all we need to begin.