Olivet nursing clinicals across Virginia
Olivet Nazarene University approves Virginia for FNP practicum hours, and Virginia law has a clause that fits students like you: if your RN license is from another state, you may do the clinical work your advanced nursing program calls for with no Virginia license. The Virginia Board of Nursing, for its part, does not approve graduate programs from other states.
Get your placement plan
Tell us your Olivet program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with the preceptor and site options that fit your Olivet course.
Virginia's exemption for advanced practice students
Under section 54.1-3001 of Virginia's code, you can skip Virginia licensure for your clinicals if three things hold: your RN license, issued by DC, a U.S. territory or some other state, is current and unrestricted; you are enrolled in an advanced professional nursing program; and that program requires clinical practice. The exemption stops at the clinical work your curriculum requires. Pre-licensure students have their own exemption, but it reaches only programs Virginia has approved. The clause matters most for nurses whose license comes from outside the compact; Illinois licenses are one example.
Virginia's board describes its own reach narrowly: programs from other states, and post-licensure programs, sit outside what it regulates or approves. Two of its better-known rules, the requirement that 80% of clinical experience happen in-state and the site approvals in 18VAC90-27, are written for pre-licensure schools the board has approved. For you, that leaves three gates in Virginia: Olivet's approved-state list, Olivet's approval of your preceptor, and the site's onboarding.
Virginia in Olivet's licensure files
For Virginia FNP students, every clinical course can stay in-state. Certificate students ask the SON Clinical Coordinator whether the FNP entry covers them, and NEL students pick practicum sites inside approved states. The RN-BSN is not part of the disclosures; Olivet tells RN-BSN students outside Illinois to complete practicum hours in their own community. More detail is on Olivet's licensure disclosures.
| Olivet file | Program | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Out-of-state APRN disclosure, March 12, 2026 | Family Nurse Practitioner | Approved |
| Same disclosure | Post-Graduate APRN (FNP) certificate | Not separately named |
| BSN licensure review, 2024 | Bachelor of Science in Nursing | Met |
| Professional licensure disclosures page | Nursing Education & Leadership tracks, RN-BSN | Not on the page |
Patient care teams and Virginia's metros
Virginia is restricted in AANP's categories. A Virginia NP practices under a practice agreement, signed with a physician who belongs to the NP's patient care team, unless the NP attests to having the equivalent of three years' full-time clinical experience.
Of the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria metro's roughly 6.5 million people, about 3.2 million live in Virginia. Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk holds close to 1.8 million, almost all on the Virginia side, while Richmond has near 1.4 million and Roanoke around 317,000. Large systems NP students research include Inova, Carilion Clinic, UVA Health, Sentara Health and VCU Health, each with its own student requirements.
NPIP, licensing and the neighbors
Virginia's Nurse Preceptor Incentive Program, NPIP for short, pays on a sliding scale by semester hours, but only to Virginia-licensed preceptors whose students are enrolled at a nonprofit private or public nursing school in Virginia. SB 405, which became law on March 31, 2026, handed NPIP from the Virginia Department of Health to a new home, the Virginia Nursing Workforce Center; applications there cover hours completed from July 1, 2026. Olivet students attend an Illinois university, so an Olivet rotation does not count toward NPIP.
Virginia was a compact state from the first day, January 19, 2018, though it has no APRN Compact law. Beyond its borders, Olivet approves DC, Maryland, North Carolina, Kentucky and West Virginia for FNP hours. Tennessee is on the Not Approved list, so students in southwest Virginia keep their FNP hours on the Virginia side of the line.
Why Virginia students in Olivet programs choose us
Olivet puts the first search in your hands, starting with the people you know professionally and personally, and FNP students can ask for the coordinator's help once 30 attempts have failed. Virginia searches span very different regions, from Northern Virginia and Richmond to Virginia Beach and Roanoke, and we work each one directly for NPs whose practice fits your Olivet course. Every approval item Olivet needs and every onboarding step the site sets is prepared with you, your drug screen timing stays on our calendar, and a preceptor who leaves is replaced quickly. Begin a Virginia search.
Questions Olivet students ask
Must I hold a Virginia RN license to train there?
Not always. As a compact member, Virginia honors multistate licenses issued by other compact home states, and section 54.1-3001 separately exempts nurses licensed elsewhere during the clinical practice their advanced program requires. Talk through your own case, and Olivet's license expectations, with the SON Clinical Coordinator.
Does the Virginia Board of Nursing approve Olivet's FNP program?
No. By the board's own description, programs from other states and post-licensure programs fall outside its regulation and approval, and its in-state hour and site rules govern Virginia pre-licensure schools. Where Olivet FNP hours may happen is decided by Olivet's own disclosure, which marks Virginia approved.
Can my Virginia preceptor apply for NPIP for my rotation?
Not for an Olivet rotation. NPIP only pays for teaching students enrolled at Virginia's own nursing schools, and Olivet's School of Nursing is in Bourbonnais, Illinois. Preceptors can still check their eligibility for other students with the Virginia Nursing Workforce Center, which took the program over in 2026.
I live in Northern Virginia. Can I train in DC or Maryland?
Both are on Olivet's approved list for FNP practicum hours, so crossing the line is allowed. Settle the license question first: Maryland is a compact state, and for a District of Columbia site, ask the DC board which license it expects. Olivet approves the preceptor in every case.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-25
We check these pages against Olivet's own handbooks, program pages, fee sheet and licensure disclosures. Your handbook version, your Canvas clinical requirements course, your faculty and the SON Clinical Coordinator have the final word.
Olivet asks you to start with your own network. We make the search the easy part of your program.
Tell us your Olivet track, where you live and when your next clinical course starts. We find preceptors whose patients fit the course, inside Olivet's approved states, and prepare everything Olivet's approval and the site's onboarding need.
- Preceptors matched to the course: adults and older adults for
NRSG 636C, women's health forNRSG 637C, children forNRSG 638C, education and leadership forNRSG 620 - Credentials, license and site details ready before your clinical course opens, with the drug screen timing on your calendar
- In your own community, in Illinois or any state Olivet approves for your clinicals
Start your placement plan
Track, city and start date is all we need to begin.