Utah clinicals for Sacred Heart University's online NP students
On Sacred Heart University's September 2026 licensure disclosures, Utah is "Yes" for every FNP and PMHNP program. What sets Utah apart is a single rule, R156-31b-609, that governs every nursing program from another state placing students in Utah facilities, graduate programs included, and it reaches your preceptor's license as well as the school's paperwork.
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.
R156-31b-609 applies to graduate programs too
Many states review only the pre-licensure schools that send students across their borders. Utah does not stop there. Its licensing division (DOPL) and the Utah nursing board want any outside program seeking clinical or practicum placements in Utah agencies to meet four conditions first:
- Standing at home: the school's own state has approved the program, and a nursing accreditor with federal Department of Education recognition accredits it
- Faculty: whoever supervises students face to face in Utah is on the program's staff, meets the accreditor's and home state's faculty standards, works through a college or university, and carries a Utah or compact-state license
- Oversight: the program has a written plan for choosing and supervising faculty, preceptors and clinical sites
- A yearly count: by each August 1 the program tells the Board how many of its students trained in Utah, attests that every in-person teacher and preceptor is Utah- or compact-licensed, and confirms its accreditation is current
Those duties belong to Sacred Heart, not to you. Research found no public record of Sacred Heart's Utah filings, so put the Utah question to the MSN Online NP Programs Clinical Coordinator before your preceptor search is far along.
Utah's answers on the disclosure table
| Program | Utah | Delivery | Clinical hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| MSN FNP | Yes | Online | 540 |
| MSN PMHNP | Yes | Online | 540 |
| FNP or PMHNP post-master's certificate | Yes | Online | 540 |
| BSN-to-DNP FNP | Yes | Hybrid, regular campus classes | 1,000 (guide) |
| Clinical Nurse Leader | Yes | Online | 420 or 400/500 (sources differ) |
Answers can change, and checking them is on you under the catalog. Confirm Utah with Sacred Heart before enrolling or moving, and see the disclosures guide for the full list.
A Utah or compact license for your preceptor
One condition lands on your preceptor. The preceptors an outside program relies on in Utah need a clean license issued by Utah or by a Nurse Licensure Compact member. A Salt Lake City NP licensed in Utah passes it easily. Sacred Heart's own screen runs alongside it (credentials, board certification for physicians and NPs, and a year of primary-care work for FNP courses), and the preceptor requirements page has the PMHNP list.
AANP rates Utah full practice. Utah's APRN Compact law dates to March 24, 2022; Wyoming, Delaware and the two Dakotas have enacted the same compact, and it stays dormant until a seventh state signs on.
The Wasatch Front and St. George
Most Utah searches start along the Wasatch Front, where 2025 Census estimates count about 1.31 million residents in Salt Lake City-Murray, roughly 673,000 in Ogden and roughly 773,000 in Provo-Orem-Lehi. St. George, far to the south, holds about 214,000. Students tend to name three systems: MountainStar Healthcare, part of HCA, plus Intermountain Health and University of Utah Health. None is a known Sacred Heart site, and a partnering system's own approval would come before Sacred Heart's. Research turned up no Utah preceptor tax credit or stipend, so your pitch rests on what Sacred Heart offers preceptors.
Your RN license in Utah
Utah has accepted multistate RN licenses since January 19, 2018. Sacred Heart asks for an RN license in good order for whichever state hosts your clinical hours, filed in your Health Account, so a compact license from Idaho, Colorado or any member state works. Nevada sits outside the compact, which matters near St. George: a Nevada nurse training in Utah needs a Utah license. Read the RN license guide.
Why Utah students choose us
Utah rewards a placement desk that reads the rules first. Your placement advisor checks each candidate's Utah or compact license before anything else, confirms the Sacred Heart credentials, and hands you the site contact for the Contract Request Form early enough for the affiliation agreement. Tell us your county through the contact form.
Questions Sacred Heart students ask
Does Utah require Sacred Heart to do anything before I train there?
Yes. R156-31b-609 asks any out-of-state nursing program to meet DOPL's and the Utah board's conditions before its students train in Utah agencies, then to report every August 1, with no carve-out for graduate study. Your academic advisor or the NP clinical coordinator can tell you how Sacred Heart handles Utah.
Can a physician in Utah precept me under the Utah rule?
Sacred Heart accepts MDs and DOs for FNP and psychiatry-certified physicians for PMHNP. Utah's rule speaks of preceptors licensed in Utah or a compact state, so a physician with a Utah license is the cleanest fit. Ask the NP clinical coordinator before relying on a physician licensed only in another state.
Will Utah's APRN Compact law help me after graduation?
Not yet. Five states, Utah among them, have passed the APRN Compact, and it needs seven before it operates. Until that happens, a Utah APRN license covers practice in Utah only, and each other state issues its own. Watch the Utah board's announcements if you expect to practice across state lines.
I live in Nevada near St. George. Can I use a Utah site?
Nevada is not a Nurse Licensure Compact member, so a Nevada license by itself stops at the state line. Plan on a Utah RN license before your compliance deadline. Nevada is a "Yes" state on Sacred Heart's NP disclosures, so a Nevada site stays an option 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 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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