ETSU nursing programs and clinicals in Virginia
Every licensure list East Tennessee State University (ETSU) publishes puts Virginia among the states where its nursing programs meet requirements. Virginia's Board of Nursing leaves out-of-state graduate programs alone, and state law lets an RN licensed elsewhere complete the clinical work an advanced nursing curriculum calls for.
Studying with ETSU from Virginia?
Tell us your city, ETSU program and next practicum. We look for a Virginia-licensed preceptor whose patients fit your course.
What ETSU says about Virginia
| ETSU page | Program | Result for Virginia |
|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| University consumer information page | BSN | Meets |
Here the pages line up. Virginia is on the College of Nursing's short list of 25 states for the BSN and MSN and on its DNP list, and the university's consumer tables agree for every program. ETSU's graduate catalog even names a Virginia location, the Abingdon-based Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center, though no nursing program is tied to it.
Agreement on paper still falls short of a clinical approval: ETSU weighs each graduate rotation beyond Tennessee individually once you are admitted. The state-by-state comparison lives on ETSU's licensure disclosures.
Virginia's rules for a Tennessee program
Virginia's Board of Nursing places both out-of-state programs and post-licensure programs outside its approval work, so ETSU has no Virginia filing to make before you train there. Two Board rules that sound relevant, one keeping 80% of clinical time inside Virginia and the site approvals in 18VAC90-27, bind only the prelicensure programs Virginia itself approves.
Your own right to train rests on Code of Virginia section 54.1-3001. A nurse whose RN license comes from elsewhere, current and unrestricted, may practice without Virginia licensure while studying in an advanced professional nursing program, as far as that program's required clinical practice goes and no farther.
Virginia and Tennessee sit in the Nurse Licensure Compact together, both counted from January 19, 2018, and neither has enacted the APRN Compact. ETSU's license rule is short: unencumbered, and good for your clinical state, as the RN license page explains.
Who precepts NP students in Virginia
Virginia's practice environment is restricted in AANP's terms: an NP works under a practice agreement with a patient care team physician until attesting to three years' full-time equivalent of clinical experience. In practice, your candidate may be an NP still working on a team agreement or one who has made that attestation, and both can be strong preceptors.
ETSU's side of the question comes from Tennessee. Rule 1000-01-.11, which governs Tennessee-approved programs like ETSU's, asks for a preceptor licensed at or above your target level, with no encumbrance, for the state hosting the rotation. For a Virginia clinic, that points to a preceptor authorized to practice in Virginia. The Preceptor Intent Form records each license number, its state and its expiry, and ETSU's Office of Student Services checks them. More on preceptor requirements.
Where Virginia NP students look
In Southwest Virginia, Ballad Health's own page counts the region among the four its 20 hospitals serve, alongside Northeast Tennessee. Ballad admits advanced practice students only through affiliated schools, so start with ETSU's graduate clinical coordinator.
Across the rest of the state, the large systems include Carilion Clinic, Sentara Health, UVA Health, VCU Health and Inova. Northern Virginia's share of the Washington metro counts about 3.18 million residents, followed by the Virginia Beach and Norfolk area, Richmond and Roanoke. These are places NP students search, not sites holding seats for ETSU students.
Virginia's own Nurse Preceptor Incentive Program rewards preceptors, yet eligibility hinges on the student attending a Virginia public or private nonprofit school of nursing, which leaves out preceptors of ETSU students. Under SB 405, signed on March 31, 2026, the Virginia Nursing Workforce Center now runs it.
Why Virginia ETSU students choose us
Virginia's open door for out-of-state programs makes the preceptor the real work, and that is where we excel. We search your part of Virginia, from Abingdon to Roanoke and beyond, for an NP or physician whose Virginia license and patient mix suit your ETSU course, and we check the license details before anyone is asked. You receive a complete file for the Intent Form and ProjectConcert, with the contract need flagged from the start so ETSU can arrange it.
Your clinical faculty hold the approval and the Office of Student Services runs the credential check; our work is to hand them a complete, accurate file the first time. Begin with how it works.
Questions ETSU students ask
Can I do ETSU nurse practitioner clinicals in Southwest Virginia?
Both ETSU disclosures list Virginia as meeting requirements, and Virginia's board does not require approval of out-of-state graduate programs. ETSU still has to clear any graduate rotation beyond Tennessee on its own terms, after you are admitted. For a Ballad hospital, ask the graduate clinical coordinator first.
Will my Virginia preceptor qualify for Virginia's preceptor incentive?
Not for precepting you. Virginia's Nurse Preceptor Incentive Program covers preceptors of students enrolled in Virginia public or private nonprofit nursing schools, and ETSU is a Tennessee school. Tennessee's own incentive is a separate program for Tennessee-licensed preceptors and hours completed in Tennessee.
Do I need a Virginia nursing license for ETSU clinicals in Virginia?
Not necessarily. Code of Virginia 54.1-3001 lets an out-of-state RN in good standing, enrolled in an advanced nursing program, practice without a Virginia license for required clinical work only. Both states belong to the compact, and ETSU expects your RN license to be unencumbered and valid where your rotation happens.
Can a Virginia RN take ETSU's online RN to BSN?
Both ETSU disclosures list the BSN as meeting Virginia's requirements. Full-time direct-care RNs may complete the final practicum, NRSE 4026, at their own workplace, though ETSU's RN to BSN page adds that state rules can require students living beyond Tennessee to finish clinical hours with a Tennessee facility. Confirm your plan with the College.
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.