Sacred Heart University NP clinicals in North Dakota
Sacred Heart University lists North Dakota as "Yes" for its FNP and PMHNP (September 2026). It is also a state whose nursing board looks at an NP program from elsewhere before the first student walks into a North Dakota facility, so two clocks run at once: the North Dakota Board of Nursing's and Sacred Heart's own.
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Tell us your Sacred Heart program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with the preceptor and site options that fit your course.
North Dakota's row, program by program
On Sacred Heart's State Authorization page, each licensure track offered online shows "Yes" for North Dakota as of September 2026. That matters twice here, because the NDBON wants proof that an out-of-state college may teach North Dakotans, and NC-SARA membership, which Sacred Heart has held since January 11, 2017, is one accepted proof. Look again before you enroll or move; the catalog assigns that duty to students.
| Program | North Dakota | How it runs | Precepted hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| MSN FNP | Yes | Online, two on-campus residencies | 540 |
| MSN PMHNP | Yes | Online, in-person practicums | 540, with 100 or more in NU 572 spent on patients under 18 |
| Post-master's FNP certificate | Yes | Online, one residency a year | 540 |
| Post-master's PMHNP certificate | Yes | Online, one residency a year | 540 |
The disclosures guide puts every state on one page.
NDBON recognition before your first shift
North Dakota's distance-education guidelines define pre-licensure broadly, as any track ending in LPN, RN or APRN licensure, which pulls NP programs in. A program placing such students in North Dakota facilities needs the Board's recognition, requested 60 days ahead of planned student activity. With recognition and written notice to the Board, NDCC 43-12.1-04(12) exempts its students, contingent on clinical site availability. Then, each semester and before any student activity, the program files:
- each student's name and license, North Dakota or compact
- the facilities and courses involved, plus each facility's confirmation of clinical space
- preceptor and faculty names, with each one's resume and license (North Dakota or compact)
- the affiliation agreement for each site
Those filings belong to Sacred Heart. You shorten them by bringing a preceptor whose CV and license are ready on day one and a facility that has already confirmed room for you.
Start early: the semester roster has to name your preceptor before you begin, on top of Sacred Heart's own approval chain.
Full practice, and a compact that is still waiting
AANP counts North Dakota among the full-practice states. Separately, North Dakota adopted the APRN Compact in March 2021, alongside Delaware, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming, yet that compact stays dormant until seven states sign on, so each state still licenses its own NPs.
Your clinical hours rest on the RN compact instead, which has covered North Dakota since its January 19, 2018 start, so a multistate license from whichever compact state is home lets you train at a North Dakota site and meets Sacred Heart's demand for a current, unencumbered license in each clinical state. More on the RN license page.
Fargo, Bismarck, Grand Forks and Minot
Four small metros hold most North Dakotans. Fargo's metro counts some 202,000 on the North Dakota side (2025 Census estimates), Bismarck about 140,000, Minot close to 76,000, and Grand Forks roughly 74,500 in-state. Care follows the same map. Sanford Health has two large hospitals, Sanford Medical Center Bismarck and, in Fargo, Sanford Broadway Medical Center; Essentia Health, which spans Minnesota, North Dakota and Wisconsin, operates Essentia Health-Fargo; Grand Forks has Altru Health System; Minot has Trinity Health; and Bismarck also hosts CommonSpirit's CHI St. Alexius Health.
These are places to ask, not promised Sacred Heart sites, and if your preceptor works for a partnering health system, expect its approval to precede Sacred Heart's. Both Fargo and Grand Forks spill into Minnesota; a clinic on that side follows Minnesota rules.
Residency travel from the northern plains
Sacred Heart's in-person residencies take place in Fairfield, Connecticut: the MSN FNP holds a competency residency during NU 552 and another in NU 621, and the certificates hold one each year. From North Dakota that is a flight, so fix those dates before you promise a preceptor a schedule; the residencies page has the details.
What North Dakota students get from us
North Dakota rewards a complete file, and complete is how we deliver it. We find a preceptor near you who fits your Sacred Heart course, collect the preceptor's CV, license and board certification, which serve both Sacred Heart's approval and the NDBON roster, and confirm the facility's contract contact for the Contract Request Form. Your week-10 deadline stays on our calendar, and a backup search is ready if a preceptor leaves. Name your town on the contact form.
Questions Sacred Heart students ask
Is North Dakota one of the states that reviews out-of-state NP programs?
Yes. The NDBON's recognition covers distance programs sending future APRNs into North Dakota facilities, with the request due 60 days before student activity and a roster every semester. Recognition also calls for proof of NC-SARA approval or state authorization, which Sacred Heart's NC-SARA membership speaks to.
Does my North Dakota preceptor need a North Dakota license?
The Board's semester roster asks for each preceptor's North Dakota or compact license, along with a resume. Sacred Heart's FNP rule adds its own test: physician, PA or APRN, licensed where they practice, with board certification required of the physicians and APRNs. A North Dakota-licensed preceptor meets both.
How early should a North Dakota search start?
As soon as you are admitted. A new site can need up to nine months for Sacred Heart's affiliation agreement, the NDBON roster must list your preceptor before you start, and FNP students owe each next placement by week 10 of the course before it. See the week-10 deadline.
Does full practice change anything while I am still a student?
Not directly. Full practice describes how licensed North Dakota NPs work, with no required physician agreement. Your student hours still need Sacred Heart's approval, an affiliation agreement and the Cleared for Clinical email, whoever your preceptor turns out to be.
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
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Program, city and clinical start is all we need to begin.