Sacred Heart University NP programs for Florida nurses
Florida is a "Yes" state for Sacred Heart University's FNP and PMHNP programs on the September 2026 disclosures, and Florida's Board of Nursing regulates schools that train new nurses rather than graduate programs from elsewhere. The harder part is the market: restricted practice, big systems and a state funding stream for clinical hours that favors Florida-based schools.
Get your placement plan
Tell us your Sacred Heart program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with the preceptor and site options that fit your course.
Florida's line in the disclosures
Every FNP and PMHNP program Sacred Heart offers carries a "Yes" for Florida as of September 2026. Sacred Heart reaches Florida as an NC-SARA member, and its catalog asks you to verify your own state's status, so do that before enrolling.
| Program | Florida | Format | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| MSN FNP | Yes | Online, clinicals in your community | 540 plus residency lab hours |
| Post-master's FNP certificate | Yes | Online | 540 |
| MSN PMHNP | Yes | Online | 540 |
| Post-master's PMHNP certificate | Yes | Online | 540 |
| MSN CNL | Yes | Online | 420 (guide) or 400/500 (catalog) |
The disclosures guide explains the whole table.
What Florida's Board approves, and what it leaves alone
Florida's program-approval statute (464.019) concerns any institution hoping to train new nurses, meaning prelicensure students, in Florida, and the Board's own education pages keep to that same territory. Nothing located in Florida law requires a graduate or RN-BSN program based elsewhere to seek approval or give advance notice before placing a student.
Your approvals therefore come from Sacred Heart: the academic advisor, the MSN Online NP Programs Clinical Coordinator, the Contract Request Form and the affiliation agreement, all mapped in our placement process guide.
Restricted practice and protocol physicians
AANP places Florida in its restricted category: a subset of Florida NPs keep a physician protocol in place throughout their careers, exemptions aside. Where an NP works under a protocol, the protocol physician is another person to approach, and Sacred Heart's FNP list welcomes MDs and DOs who hold board certification and at least a year in primary care, alongside PAs and APRNs. Psychiatric rotations call for a PMHNP or an MD or DO certified in psychiatry; see preceptor requirements.
TEACH money follows Florida schools
Florida pays certain clinics for hosting students through TEACH, short for Training, Education, and Clinicals in Health, a program AHCA runs under section 409.91256. The eligible sites are safety-net settings: rural health clinics, FQHCs, CCBHCs, community mental health centers, plus some nonprofits located in shortage areas. Each is reimbursed for every clinical hour a primary care APRN student (or a nursing student) spends there, if the legislature funds it and up to a yearly cap per facility. Preceptors must be Florida-licensed, and the whole section expires July 1, 2034.
The catch: only students of accredited Florida-based programs count toward it. A community health center choosing between two student requests earns TEACH support for the Florida school's student and none for yours. Win the slot on other terms, with a clear course plan, dependable days and a file that arrives complete.
Four metros to search
Census estimates for 2025 put about 6.4 million people in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach area, 3.4 million around Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, just under 3 million in Orlando's metro (with Kissimmee and Sanford) and 1.8 million in Jacksonville's. Systems students ask about include BayCare Health System, Baptist Health South Florida, UF Health, HCA Florida Healthcare and Florida-headquartered AdventHealth. Treat them as prospects only. When a system partners with Sacred Heart, it approves the placement before Sacred Heart signs off on your preceptor.
Moving to Florida mid-program
Florida draws relocating nurses, and Sacred Heart puts the licensure homework for a new state on you; its disclosures warn that skipping it can leave you unable to obtain clinical placements there. Florida entered the compact on January 19, 2018, which means any member state's multistate license covers a Florida clinic and meets Sacred Heart's active, unencumbered license rule. Tell your academic advisor before you move, since a new site means a new Contract Request Form and possibly a new affiliation agreement. See the RN license guide.
Why Florida students work with us
Florida's big systems and the TEACH incentive make independent practices the smart first call, and that is where we concentrate: primary care, psychiatric and pediatric practices with preceptors who meet Sacred Heart's criteria. You get a complete approval packet and a placement advisor on call through every rotation, from Jacksonville to Miami. Send your course and county through the contact form.
Questions Sacred Heart students ask
Can Florida nurses enroll in Sacred Heart's online FNP?
Yes. As of September 2026 Sacred Heart's disclosures list Florida as "Yes" for the MSN FNP, the post-master's FNP certificate and the BSN-to-DNP FNP. You identify a Florida site and preceptor, Sacred Heart approves them and sets up the affiliation agreement, and you start after the Cleared for Clinical email.
Must Florida's nursing board sign off before my Sacred Heart clinicals?
Nothing in Florida law found so far requires it. Section 464.019 governs prelicensure programs operating in Florida and does not reach graduate programs from other states. What you need instead is Sacred Heart's approval chain, a confirmed affiliation agreement and the Cleared for Clinical email.
Will a Florida clinic receive TEACH reimbursement for my hours?
No. The reimbursement is tied to students of accredited programs located in Florida, and a Sacred Heart student falls outside that group. Be upfront about it, and lead with what makes you easy to host: a clear course plan, a dependable schedule and complete paperwork.
Does my Florida multistate license cover clinicals in Georgia?
Georgia's compact membership began the same day as Florida's, January 19, 2018, so a Florida multistate license reaches a Georgia site. Georgia layers on its own conditions for students and preceptors of out-of-state programs, which our Georgia guide explains in full.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-25
We check these pages against Sacred Heart's own catalog, program pages and 2026-27 student guides. Your student guide, your academic advisor and your course faculty have the final word.
Sacred Heart asks you to secure your clinical placement. We make that the easy part.
Tell us your Sacred Heart program, your city and your next clinical course. We find preceptors who fit the course and prepare what your advisor, the NP clinical coordinator and the Contract Request Form ask for, early enough for the affiliation agreement.
- Preceptors matched to the course: primary care of adults, women and children for FNP, psychiatric care across the lifespan for PMHNP
- Preceptor CV, license, board certification and the site's contract contact ready before your week-10 deadline
- Close to home in any state where Sacred Heart's program meets licensure requirements, with New York's rule planned around
Start your placement plan
Program, city and clinical start is all we need to begin.