NC-SARA and clinicals outside Delaware for WilmU students

Field experiences outside Delaware

WilmU's definition of online learning reaches past coursework. It includes field experiences that take place outside Delaware and programs that lead to licensure in another state, and WilmU's state authorization page commits the university to follow all state rules for out-of-state field experiences.

For a nursing student, that means a practicum in Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey or anywhere else beyond Delaware sits inside WilmU's own commitment. The page does not spell out each state's rule, so the Online Learning office, which handles state authorization questions, is the first stop when your clinical will cross a state line.

WilmU's definition does not single out one program. The DNP's experiential engagement and project hours are field experiences too, and because the DNP Project is most often done in the student's own workplace, a DNP student who works across a state line should raise it with the DNP Program Chair before the first practice course.

Each state has its own rules for visiting programs

Beyond SARA, a state's board of nursing may set its own terms for programs from elsewhere that use its clinical sites, and those terms vary widely. Delaware, WilmU's home state, is among the more detailed: out-of-state schools notify the Delaware Board before using Delaware clinical facilities and send proof of approval or accreditation, their clinical agency agreements, preceptor requirements, preceptor names and sites, and each preceptor's current license. The Delaware guide covers it in full.

Pennsylvania takes a lighter line for graduate students. Its nursing regulations allow a nurse who holds an RN license from another U.S. state and studies in an accredited graduate program to complete that program's required clinical work there without a Pennsylvania license, provided the student receives no pay. WilmU's own license condition still applies, so ask which license WilmU expects for a Pennsylvania site; the Pennsylvania guide has the detail.

Every one of our state guides records each board's stance on clinicals run by schools from other states, so the rule is in view before a search begins.

How we plan a search across state lines

WilmU's online NP and DNP students live well beyond New Castle, Brandywine and Dover, and a search that ignores state rules wastes weeks. We start from three facts: your RN license state, the state you want to train in, and your WilmU course.

From there we check your program's row on the licensure table, look up that state's rule for out-of-state programs, and search for clinicians whose license fits the Delaware Board's comparable-focus rule for APRN program preceptors. The file you hand your faculty names the preceptor's license and its state, the site's address and the health system's own intake steps, so a state-specific question gets answered the first time. Tell us where you live and where you want to train.