Ohio and Sacred Heart University's online nurse practitioner tracks
Ohio residents can study in Sacred Heart University's online FNP or PMHNP program; both show "Yes" for Ohio in the September 2026 disclosures. Ohio's nursing law asks nothing of the school before you train, yet the statute that exempts NP students names the kind of clinician who supervises them, and that wording should shape your preceptor search.
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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.
How Sacred Heart answers for Ohio
Look up Ohio on Sacred Heart's disclosure page and the FNP and PMHNP columns both read "Yes" (September 2026). NC-SARA membership has been Sacred Heart's since January 11, 2017. Before enrolling, and again before any move, confirm the entry yourself; the catalog makes that a student task.
| Sacred Heart program | Ohio entry | Delivery | Hours with a preceptor |
|---|---|---|---|
| MSN FNP (42 credits) | Yes | Online plus in-person clinicals | 540 across four clinical courses |
| Post-master's FNP certificate (24 credits) | Yes | Online | 540 |
| MSN PMHNP (42 credits) | Yes | Online plus in-person clinicals | 540 across three clinical courses |
| Post-master's PMHNP certificate | Yes | Online | 540 |
Other states: the full disclosure breakdown.
ORC 4723.32: an exemption, not an application
No approval or notification step for programs from other states appears anywhere in the Ohio Revised Code. What Ohio offers instead is division (F) of section 4723.32, which lifts licensure requirements from an APRN student whose program leads to a national certification exam, while that student works under the program's auspices.
Read the last clause of (F) closely. It names the supervisor as an advanced practice registered nurse acting for the program as faculty, teaching assistant or preceptor. Sacred Heart's FNP list runs wider, to MDs, DOs and PAs, so in Ohio an APRN preceptor is the cleanest match. If a physician or PA is your strongest lead, put the question to the MSN Online NP Programs Clinical Coordinator before submitting. Our research did not check Ohio's Department of Higher Education, so direct that question to Sacred Heart as well.
The Ohio misstep: committing to a physician or PA preceptor without first asking how Sacred Heart reads the APRN wording in 4723.32(F).
Standard care arrangements and a newer compact
AANP files Ohio under reduced practice. Ohio NPs keep a standard care arrangement with a collaborating physician or podiatrist throughout their careers, and where they may prescribe Schedule II drugs depends on the setting. PMHNP students may want to ask a prospective preceptor how those setting limits play out in daily practice.
Ohio came to the Nurse Licensure Compact late, on January 1, 2023. An Ohio resident's multistate license covers Ohio sites and satisfies Sacred Heart's rule of an active, unencumbered RN license wherever clinicals happen, and nurses from other compact states may train in Ohio on their own multistate license, a group the Ohio Board of Nursing reports on. Ohio has not enacted the APRN Compact. See the RN license guide.
Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Dayton
Ohio is a big-metro state. Columbus stands near 2.24 million people in the 2025 Census estimates and Cleveland near 2.17 million; Cincinnati's metro totals 2.31 million, roughly 1.76 million of them Ohioans; Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek adds about 827,000. Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals are the Cleveland names, OhioHealth and the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center the Columbus ones, and Bon Secours Mercy Health is the Cincinnati one.
Use them as starting points, never as promised sites; a preceptor on a partnering system's staff needs that system's approval ahead of Sacred Heart's. Cincinnati's metro crosses into Kentucky and Indiana, and a clinic over the river falls under Kentucky or Indiana rules.
Fairfield dates on an Ohio calendar
You will be in Fairfield, Connecticut, for Sacred Heart's residencies: two competency residencies in the MSN FNP, one in NU 552 and one in NU 621, and one a year in the certificates. Share those dates with your Ohio preceptor at the first meeting so the clinical schedule absorbs the trip. The residencies page notes where Sacred Heart's sources disagree.
Why Ohio students choose us
Our Ohio searches open with the preceptor 4723.32(F) describes, an APRN in your specialty, and widen only once Sacred Heart has answered. You receive a preceptor matched to your course; the CV, license and board certification the MSN Online NP Programs Clinical Coordinator reviews; and the site contact the Contract Request Form needs. We follow the week-10 deadline for each next course and move fast if a preceptor drops. Begin with the contact form.
Questions Sacred Heart students ask
Must Sacred Heart notify Ohio's nursing board before my first Ohio shift?
Nothing in the Ohio Revised Code requires it. Section 4723.32 simply exempts students working under their program's auspices, with an NP student overseen by an APRN who is the program's faculty member, teaching assistant or preceptor. Sacred Heart still approves your site and sets up its own affiliation agreement before you start.
Could my FNP preceptor in Ohio be a physician?
Sacred Heart's FNP rules allow a board-certified MD or DO with a year of primary care experience. Ohio's exemption, though, describes APRN supervision, so ask the MSN Online NP Programs Clinical Coordinator how Sacred Heart applies it before you commit. An Ohio APRN in family practice sidesteps the question.
Who can precept Sacred Heart PMHNP hours in Ohio?
Sacred Heart's student guide lists MD, DO and APRN preceptors for PMHNP, with board certification where appropriate and at least a year of clinical experience. In Ohio a PMHNP fits both that list and 4723.32(F). Plan ahead for NU 572: at least 100 of its 180 hours involve patients under 18.
Is there an Ohio incentive I can offer a preceptor?
None is recorded in our Ohio research. Sacred Heart's own thanks to preceptors includes an affiliate title, subject to the Dean's approval, and precepting hours toward certification renewal. The preceptor page puts it in terms a busy clinician can read quickly.
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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