Wilmington University nursing from Washington State
Washington draws a split result on the State Licensures by Program table that Wilmington University publishes. The RN to BSN does not meet Washington's educational licensing requirements, and the BSN to DNP is Not Determined Yet. Five programs meet, among them the MSN-FNP and both NP Graduate Certificates, alongside the DNP and MSN Leadership. Before any clinical there, Washington's Board of Nursing also has to approve the out-of-state program.
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Washington on WilmU's table
Washington holds the table's only Does not meet entry for a WilmU nursing program, and it belongs to the RN to BSN.
| WilmU program | Status in Washington |
|---|---|
| RN to BSN | Does not meet Educational Licensing Requirements |
| BSN to DNP | Not Determined Yet |
| MSN Leadership | Meets Educational Licensing Requirements |
| MSN-FNP | Meets Educational Licensing Requirements |
| Post-master's FNP (FNP Graduate Certificate) | Meets Educational Licensing Requirements |
| Post-master's PMHNP (PMHNP Graduate Certificate) | Meets Educational Licensing Requirements |
| DNP | Meets Educational Licensing Requirements |
Does not meet is WilmU's licensure-preparation finding for the RN to BSN in Washington; the BSN to DNP's Not Determined Yet is an open item, not a no. Washington nurses interested in the RN to BSN should speak with the Chair or Assistant Chair of WilmU's RN to BSN and MSN Leadership programs before enrolling, while BSN to DNP applicants should take their question to both chairs who share BSN to DNP advising. The licensure table guide covers the categories.
For the MSN-FNP and both certificates, which meet, the deciding question moves to Washington's own clinical rule.
Washington's approval rule for distance programs
Washington's requirement lives in WAC 246-840-571. Distance programs from other states get no clinical or practice experiences in Washington until the state's Board of Nursing, known as WABON, signs off. The school applies, demonstrates equivalence with Washington's program standards, oversees and evaluates its students on Washington soil, keeps its national accreditation and reports annually. WABON's approved list already includes schools from other states offering nurse practitioner, master's and RN-to-bachelor's tracks.
Two conditions deserve attention. An approved school from elsewhere may place only Washington residents, with WABON weighing exceptions individually, and anyone on its faculty teaching ARNP practice in Washington holds that state's ARNP license. Whether WilmU's NP tracks sit on WABON's roster is the first question for WilmU's Online Learning office.
Change may be coming. In December 2025 WABON began formal rulemaking on these education rules, easing barriers to clinical placement among its aims, so confirm the rule's current wording before relying on it.
Who can precept and where NP students look
Washington sets its own bar for ARNP preceptors. An ARNP student's preceptor is a licensed ARNP, MD or DO in good standing (an equivalent license from another state also counts), and never a family member or personal friend of the student. AANP rates Washington full practice.
Greater Seattle, with Tacoma and Bellevue, holds about 4.2 million residents; Spokane, Kennewick-Richland and the Washington share of the Portland metro trail well behind. Virginia Mason Franciscan Health, PeaceHealth, Providence (based in Renton), MultiCare and UW Medicine are the large systems, named here as examples of where NP students look.
A legislature-created grant, administered by WABON, rewards preceptors of nursing students, yet its rules leave out programs from other states even when every hour is spent in Washington.
Licensing for Washington clinicals
Compact licensing is new in Washington, which began honoring multistate RN licenses on January 31, 2024, so a license from another compact state now carries practice privileges there. Separately, WilmU wants every NP clinical backed by RN licensure for the state where it happens; our RN license for clinicals guide explains how to confirm which license counts.
There is no APRN Compact in Washington. After graduation, an NP there applies for a Washington ARNP license, the state's title for nurse practitioners.
Why Washington students choose us
If you are looking for a preceptor in Washington for GRN 7122 or GRN 7223, we plan around WABON's rules from the first call: your residency, the preceptor's license type and the bar on relatives and friends. We search Seattle, Tacoma, Spokane and Kennewick-Richland, verify each clinician's ARNP, MD or DO license, and put the full picture in front of your WilmU faculty, who make the call. Tell us your course and city.
Questions WilmU students ask
Does WilmU's RN to BSN work for Washington nurses?
WilmU's table says the RN to BSN does not meet Washington's educational licensing requirements, the only Does not meet entry for any WilmU nursing program in any state. If you live in Washington, talk with the Chair or Assistant Chair of WilmU's RN to BSN and MSN Leadership programs before enrolling.
Can I do WilmU MSN-FNP clinicals in Washington?
The MSN-FNP meets Washington's educational licensing requirements on WilmU's table. Clinicals are a separate hurdle: a program from outside Washington needs WABON's approval first, and placements under it go to Washington residents. Ask WilmU's Online Learning office whether your track has WABON approval.
Can a family member or friend be my preceptor in Washington?
No. Washington's rules keep family members and personal friends from precepting an ARNP student, and the preceptor needs an ARNP, MD or DO license in good standing, from Washington or an equivalent elsewhere. WilmU's public pages carry no relative rule of their own, so check with your course faculty as well.
Does Washington's preceptor grant cover WilmU students' preceptors?
No. The grant rewards experienced preceptors at the ARNP, RN and LPN levels, and WABON's page is explicit that a program based in another state stays ineligible even when every clinical hour is completed in Washington. Plan any Washington preceptorship without it.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-27
We check these pages against Wilmington University's own program and curriculum pages, the 2026-27 graduate catalog, the College of Nursing and Health Sciences policies and the State Licensures by Program page. Your NP Program Chair, your course faculty and the College have the final word.
A WilmU practicum coming up? Your preceptor search starts here.
Tell us your WilmU program, where you live and when your next practicum starts. Whether WilmU's faculty help with your placement or you are starting the search yourself, we find preceptors who fit the course, check the health system's own intake steps, and organize the preceptor's license and credentials well before the first day.
- Preceptors matched to the course: family practice across the lifespan for
GRN 7121toGRN 7124, psychiatric mental health forGRN 7221toGRN 7224, doctorally prepared for the DNP - Clinicians who meet Delaware's rule for APRN program preceptors: an active APRN, PA, pharmacist or physician license in a comparable focus
- Close to home, in a state where you hold an RN license, with each system's onboarding mapped out early
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