Virginia nurses in Sacred Heart University's NP programs
Yes on the table and no Board filing: Sacred Heart University's September 2026 disclosures mark Virginia "Yes" for its FNP and PMHNP programs, and Virginia's nursing board keeps its approval work to its own pre-licensure schools. Your Virginia planning centers on the preceptor, the license and one question about the DC side of the Potomac.
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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.
Nothing to file with the Virginia Board
Virginia's nursing board draws its line at its own schools. According to its education page, programs headquartered in other states, and programs that serve nurses who already hold licenses, fall outside what it regulates or approves. Rules you may come across, like holding four-fifths of clinical hours within Virginia's borders or the 18VAC90-27 site approvals, apply to Virginia-approved pre-licensure schools. For a Sacred Heart NP, RN-BSN or CNL student, no Virginia application stands between you and a clinical site.
What remains is Sacred Heart's own chain, from advisor approval through the NP clinical coordinator's review to the CRF, and a brand-new site's contract with Sacred Heart may need up to nine months. See how approval works.
Sacred Heart's answers for Virginia
| Program | Virginia | Format | Clinical hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| MSN FNP | Yes | Online | 540 |
| MSN PMHNP | Yes | Online | 540 |
| Post-master's FNP / PMHNP certificates | Yes | Online | 540 each |
| BSN-to-DNP FNP | Yes | Hybrid | 1,000 post-baccalaureate (guide) |
| Clinical Nurse Leader | Yes | Online | 420 (guide) or 400/500 (catalog) |
Northern Virginia sits inside the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria metro, and the District of Columbia's row reads "No" on both NP families. If a preceptor you find practices on the District side, ask Sacred Heart before you build a semester around that site. The full table lives on the disclosures page.
The out-of-state student exemption, and Sacred Heart's rule
Section 54.1-3001 of the Virginia Code carves out a licensure exemption for graduate nursing students. An RN whose license from elsewhere (another state, DC or a US territory) is current and carries no restrictions can complete the clinical work that an advanced nursing curriculum calls for, with no Virginia license needed.
Sacred Heart asks for more: an RN license, active and unencumbered, for each state in which your clinical hours take place, shown in your Health Account. January 19, 2018 is when Virginia entered the compact, with Maryland, North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky and West Virginia also members, so most nurses nearby satisfy both tests with one multistate card. Holding a license only from a state outside the compact? Ask your advisor before relying on the exemption. See the RN license guide.
Practice agreements and who can precept you
AANP rates Virginia restricted. Virginia NPs sign a practice agreement with a physician on a patient care team until they can attest to the full-time equivalent of three years in clinical practice, so a newer NP preceptor will usually have a physician partner in the background. Whatever the agreement status, Sacred Heart judges the preceptor on its own terms: FNP courses accept physicians, PAs and APRNs with a year of primary care (certification required of the physicians and APRNs), and PMHNP courses turn to psychiatric NPs and psychiatry-certified doctors. Details are on preceptor requirements.
NPIP pays only for Virginia schools' students
Virginia's Nurse Preceptor Incentive Program pays preceptors who hold Virginia licenses as physicians, physician assistants, APRNs, RNs or LPNs, with payments rising through hour bands that begin at 25 to 70 per semester and top out at 206 to 250. The governor's March 31, 2026 signature on SB 405 moved the program out of VDH and placed it with the Virginia Nursing Workforce Center, which belongs to the Virginia Health Workforce Development Authority; the Center handles hours logged since July 1, 2026. Eligibility hinges on the student, who has to be enrolled at a Virginia nursing school, public or private nonprofit. Precepting you does not qualify.
Northern Virginia, Hampton Roads, Richmond, Roanoke
About 3.18 million of the Washington metro's 6.47 million people live on the Virginia side, per 2025 Census estimates. Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk adds about 1.74 million Virginians. Greater Richmond holds roughly 1.39 million, while the Roanoke metro counts near 317,000. The large systems students weigh include Inova and Sentara Health, and also UVA Health, Carilion Clinic and VCU Health; treat them as search areas, not confirmed Sacred Heart sites.
Why Virginia students choose us
With no Board filing to wait on, speed comes down to the preceptor and the contract. Your placement advisor locates a nearby preceptor matched to Sacred Heart's rules, keeps Northern Virginia searches on the Virginia side, and delivers the site contact for your CRF early. Start on the contact form.
Questions Sacred Heart students ask
Does Sacred Heart need Virginia Board approval for my clinicals?
There is none to get. Virginia's board places out-of-state programs, along with programs for nurses already licensed, beyond its regulation and approval. Sacred Heart's own approvals still apply: your academic advisor, the NP clinical coordinator and an affiliation agreement with the site.
Will Virginia's NPIP pay my preceptor?
Not for precepting a Sacred Heart student. The incentive turns on where the student is enrolled, and that school has to be a public or private nonprofit nursing program in Virginia. Administration has passed to the Virginia Nursing Workforce Center, and a preceptor who also teaches local students can still apply for those hours.
Can I do NP clinicals in Washington, DC, from Northern Virginia?
Be careful. The District of Columbia reads "No" on Sacred Heart's FNP and PMHNP disclosures, and research found no Sacred Heart statement on DC clinical sites for Virginia residents. Ask your academic advisor before committing, and keep your first search inside Virginia, where the answer is "Yes".
Do I need a Virginia RN license if I live in Maryland?
Maryland belongs to the Nurse Licensure Compact, so the multistate license Maryland issues reaches Virginia sites. Sacred Heart needs that license to be active and unencumbered where you train, and your Health Account must show it before clearance. A single-state Maryland license would not travel, so check which type you hold.
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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