New York and Sacred Heart NP clinicals
Sacred Heart University's nurse practitioner students complete no clinical hours in New York, wherever they live. New York residents can still enroll in the FNP and PMHNP programs; they train in a neighboring state and hold an RN license from that state. Programs that do not lead to APRN licensure, such as the RN-BSN, the CNL, Nursing Education and NMEL tracks and the post-master's DNP, may use New York agencies.
Live in New York? Train next door
Tell us where you live and which licenses you hold; we search across the border for you.
The rule and where it comes from
Sacred Heart states the rule on its online State Authorizations page: because of requirements set by the New York Office of the Professions, the College of Nursing "is restricted from offering clinical placements for APRN licensure programs in the state of New York." The graduate catalog repeats the restriction for students from any other state, Connecticut included, and the APRN preceptor portal gives would-be preceptors the same message about FNP hours.
New York publishes its side as well. Its State Education Department requires any nursing program based outside the state, or delivered online, to hold the department's registration or approval before sending students into New York clinical rotations, and its NP guidance cautions that rotating through the state without a registered program could be illegal. The requirement reaches every out-of-state and online program, and Sacred Heart frames it that way: as a limit on what the school may offer in New York.
New York's rule lists federal Armed Forces and VA facilities as exceptions. Sacred Heart's own disclosure for New York makes no exception of that kind: it says students are unable to complete any clinical work in the state.
Which Sacred Heart programs the rule covers
The line runs between programs that lead to APRN licensure and programs that do not. Sacred Heart's page names the second group, the RN-BSN, "non-FNP/MSN" and post-master's DNP programs, and says their students may complete preceptorships in New York agencies because those programs do not lead to advanced practice licensure.
| Program | Leads to APRN licensure? | Clinical hours in New York? |
|---|---|---|
| Online MSN FNP | Yes | No |
| Online MSN PMHNP | Yes | No |
| Post-master's FNP and PMHNP certificates | Yes | No |
| BSN-to-DNP FNP (hybrid) | Yes | No; coordinator-matched sites also exclude New York |
| Online MSN CNL, Nursing Education, NMEL | No | Allowed in New York agencies |
| Online RN-BSN | No | Allowed in New York agencies |
| Post-master's DNP | No | Allowed in New York agencies |
The RN-BSN-MSN straddles the line. Its BSN practicum courses, NU 376 and NU 387, belong with the non-licensure group, while an FNP or PMHNP track's clinical courses follow the New York rule. Read your plan course by course, confirm it with your academic advisor, and see the RN-to-BSN-to-MSN page for how the two halves connect.
New York residents: training next door
Living in New York keeps no one out of the NP programs. The disclosure table marks New York "Yes" for the FNP and PMHNP, and Sacred Heart's nursing disclosures spell out the route: New York residents "may complete their clinical hours in a neighboring state," provided they hold a valid RN license in that state.
Enrollment carries the agreement with it. Sacred Heart's note for New York says that enrolling means agreeing to complete clinical work outside the state, so the commute, the second license and the clinical schedule belong in your plan before the first clinical course, not after it.
For most New York residents the choice comes down to Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts or Vermont, whichever is closest and can license you in time. From Westchester, Connecticut and New Jersey are the short drives; from the Capital Region, Massachusetts and Vermont sit close by; from the Southern Tier or western New York, Pennsylvania is the natural neighbor.
| State | RN licensing board | Compact note |
|---|---|---|
| Connecticut | Department of Public Health, with the Board of Examiners for Nursing | Compact member since October 1, 2025 |
| New Jersey | New Jersey Board of Nursing | Compact member since November 15, 2021 |
| Pennsylvania | Pennsylvania State Board of Nursing | Compact member since July 7, 2025 |
| Massachusetts | Board of Registration in Nursing | Compact enacted in 2024 but not yet in effect |
| Vermont | Vermont Board of Nursing | Compact member since February 1, 2022 |
What New York residents add to their paperwork
New York has stayed out of the Nurse Licensure Compact. Its RN license works inside New York only, and multistate licenses are issued to residents of member states, so a New Yorker training next door applies to that state's board for a license of its own. The RN license page covers the compact in detail; Sacred Heart checks the license in your Health Account before it clears you.
The extra items to plan for
- A license issued by your training state, active and unencumbered, uploaded to your Health Account.
- The additional New York Statewide Criminal History Record Search that Sacred Heart requires of current and former New York residents (see the background check page).
- The CHA Health & Safety Test, passed at 85 or better, if your clinical site is in Connecticut.
- Whatever the out-of-state site adds on its own list, such as a recent background report, a drug screen or its onboarding forms.
The rule follows the address where you see patients, not the preceptor's employer: a Northwell practice in New York is off-limits, while a Northwell hospital in Danbury or Norwalk, Connecticut, is on the Connecticut side of the line.
Timing a cross-border placement
A cross-border placement runs on the same Sacred Heart clock as any other, with the license added at the front. FNP students have their next site and preceptor due by week 10 of the course before it, starting with week 10 of NU 552; PMHNP students work to the Clinical Placement Team's published deadlines. The week-10 deadline page lays out both.
Start the license application as soon as you know which state you will train in, because the Cleared for Clinical email waits on a complete Health Account. Then look at the site: one that already holds an agreement with Sacred Heart moves quickly, while a practice Sacred Heart has never contracted with first needs an affiliation agreement, which can take up to nine months, as the affiliation agreements page explains.
Build the commute into your weekly schedule honestly. Clinical days in NU 561 and NU 621 add up to 180 hours each, and a site an hour or more away shapes how many shifts a week you can manage alongside work.
How we search across the New York border
We begin with your map and your licenses. You tell us where you live and which states license you, or will soon; we search preceptors in Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts or Vermont within a commute you can sustain all semester, and we confirm that every practice we propose sits outside New York.
Each candidate arrives with the CV, license and board certification Sacred Heart's NP coordinator reviews and the site's contract contact for the Contract Request Form. For Connecticut sites we flag the CHA test; for any state, we flag onboarding items early so nothing surprises you in the week before your first shift.
Send us your county, the licenses you hold and the clinical course coming up next, and the cross-border search begins with your placement advisor.
Questions Sacred Heart students ask
Can I complete Sacred Heart FNP clinical hours in New York if I live there?
No. Sacred Heart places no APRN licensure students in New York clinical sites, whatever their home state. New York residents can still enroll in the FNP; they complete their hours in a neighboring state such as Connecticut, New Jersey or Pennsylvania and hold a valid RN license from that state.
Does the New York rule apply to Sacred Heart's PMHNP programs?
Yes. The MSN PMHNP and the post-master's PMHNP certificate lead to APRN licensure, so they fall under the same restriction as the FNP programs. Psychiatric clinical hours in NU 571, NU 572 and NU 573 happen outside New York, including the pediatric hours NU 572 requires.
Can Clinical Nurse Leader or Nursing Education students do their practicum in New York?
Yes. Sacred Heart's State Authorizations page lets students in programs that do not lead to advanced practice licensure, including the RN-BSN, the CNL, Nursing Education and NMEL tracks and the post-master's DNP, complete their preceptorships in New York agencies. Only the NP programs carry the restriction.
What about a VA or military facility in New York?
New York's own registration rule exempts federal Armed Forces and VA facilities, but Sacred Heart's disclosure for New York says students cannot complete any clinical work in the state and lists no exception. Treat those sites as unavailable unless Sacred Heart's Clinical Placement Team tells you otherwise in writing.
My preceptor lives in New York but practices in Connecticut. Does that work?
It can. The rule concerns where the clinical work happens, not where anyone lives. Sacred Heart's preceptor requirements ask for a preceptor licensed in the state of practice, so a Connecticut practice needs a preceptor with a Connecticut license, and you need an RN license valid in Connecticut too.
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 University Online, State Authorizations
- Sacred Heart University College of Nursing, Nursing Licensure & Certification Disclosures
- Sacred Heart University 2026-2027 Graduate Catalog, Master of Science in Nursing
- New York State Education Department, Office of the Professions, Registered Professional Nursing FAQ
- New York State Education Department, Office of the Professions, Nurse Practitioner FAQs
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.