FIU nursing from Hawaii: where the Board has spoken, and where it has not
The Hawaii Board of Nursing has taken positions on mainland pre-licensure students and on online post-licensure programs, yet no Hawaii source speaks to graduate NP students from another state. Florida International University (FIU) lists Hawaii, like every state except Florida, as not determined for licensure. Whether an island site can work is the first thing to settle with FIU's Office of Clinical Education.
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Three kinds of program, three answers from Hawaii
| Program type | Hawaii's position |
|---|---|
| Pre-licensure BSN from another state | In September 2016 the Board's Education Committee agreed that a North Dakota BSN program could not bring a pre-license student to Hawaii for clinicals. State law, HRS 457-13(2), shields only students of programs the Board itself accredits. |
| Online post-licensure, such as RN to BSN | According to the Board's FAQ, programs of this kind with no Hawaii campus get no Board approval, there is no application to file, and no notice is owed. |
| Graduate and NP programs | Nothing from Hawaii addresses them directly. |
FIU's RN to BSN fits the middle row; its MSN, post-graduate certificates and DNP fall into the last. That blank is exactly why FIU, rather than a would-be preceptor, gets the first call.
FIU's side, and the license you already hold
FIU's professional licensure page vouches for Florida and treats Hawaii, as it does every other state, as not determined, adding that you should contact the state's licensing agency before starting. Admission to the MSN or DNP requires a current Florida RN license. The online AGPCNP and PNP tracks may place students past FIU's four South Florida counties, although FIU does not say whether that reaches Hawaii; clinicals outside South Florida has the questions to ask.
Hawaii belongs to no licensure compact, so a multistate license earned elsewhere carries no privilege on the islands and a Hawaii-issued license is needed. It has not enacted the APRN Compact either. An island nurse at FIU ends up holding two licenses, Hawaii's and Florida's, as the Florida RN license page lays out.
The preceptor tax credit, and who can claim it
Hawaii writes a preceptor incentive into its tax code. Its Healthcare Preceptor Income Tax Credit rests on Act 43 of 2018, codified at HRS 235-110.25, and it is nonrefundable. Hawaii-resident APRNs, physicians and pharmacists who keep a primary care practice on the islands can claim it for unpaid clinical rotations they supervise; the state health department certifies each rotation, and a statewide limit applies every year.
The credit is limited to academic programs with Hawaii accreditation or a Hawaii location whose students are mostly island residents, so a preceptor supervising an FIU student falls outside it. Build your request around what FIU offers its preceptors instead, covered on preceptor recognition. Knowing this before the first conversation keeps your request accurate. On AANP's map, NPs in Hawaii have full practice.
Island systems, and the distance to Miami
The Census Bureau's 2025 count for Urban Honolulu is near 989,000 people, by far the largest market, with the Big Island's Hilo-Kailua area at about 210,000 and Maui's Kahului-Wailuku at about 161,000. Among the island employers of NP preceptors are Queen's, Kaiser Permanente's Hawaii region, HHSC (the Hawaii Health Systems Corporation) and the Hawaii Pacific Health group, which lists Pali Momi, Wilcox, Kapiolani and Straub. Each is an example only, and each would need an FIU contract before any rotation.
Travel is the other island reality. FIU's MSN FAQ says the online tracks may require one to three campus visits a semester, so build flights to the Modesto A. Maidique Campus into your budget; see campus visits.
Why Hawaii students trust us with their FIU search
An island search rewards preparation, and preparation is our strength. After FIU's Office of Clinical Education confirms a Hawaii site can serve your track, we approach preceptors on your island who fit the practicum, adult-gerontology primary care for NGR 6201L or pediatric primary care for NGR 6301L, and walk them through FIU's process.
We gather the details the Preceptor Request Form asks for, check whether an FIU contract already covers the site, and plan on the semester-before calendar so a new contract has time. Site and preceptor approval stays with FIU's Office of Clinical Education and faculty, who get a file from us that leaves nothing to chase. If a preceptor steps away, we are already working on the next. Tell us your island and semester using the form below.
Questions FIU students ask
Can I do my FIU RN to BSN practicum in Hawaii?
Hawaii's Board neither approves nor expects notice from distance post-licensure programs that are based elsewhere and have no campus in the islands. FIU's rules still govern: its RN to BSN suggests finding a preceptor within your own facility, and its 2021 information package asks out-of-state students to identify themselves to the Program Coordinator.
Can a Hawaii preceptor claim the state credit for teaching me?
Not for an FIU student, as the program describes it. Eligible rotations belong to programs with Hawaii accreditation or a Hawaii base, where more than half the students are island residents. FIU is a Florida program, so mention FIU's own preceptor recognition instead.
Does a multistate nursing license work in Hawaii?
Not in Hawaii. The islands stand outside the Nurse Licensure Compact, which means another state's multistate license grants no right to practice there, and you need a Hawaii-issued license. The Florida license FIU requires sits alongside it as a separate credential.
Do FIU faculty need a Hawaii license to supervise me?
For out-of-state online post-licensure programs, the Board's FAQ requires a Hawaii license only of faculty physically present in the islands to teach or precept. No Hawaii source covers graduate programs, so leave that point to FIU's Office of Clinical Education when you propose a Hawaii site.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-26
We check these pages against FIU's own graduate handbook, preceptor manual, plans of study, catalog and licensure pages. Your plan of study, your course faculty, your clinical faculty and FIU's Office of Clinical Education have the final word.
FIU asks you to identify your clinical site. We make that the easy part.
Tell us your FIU track, where you live and which semester your next practicum starts. We find preceptors whose patients fit the course, check early whether the site already holds an FIU contract, and prepare everything the Preceptor Request Form asks for.
- Preceptors matched to the course: adult and older-adult primary care for
NGR 6201L, pediatric primary care forNGR 6301L, an organizational mentor forNGR 7940C - Preceptor, facility, license and schedule details ready for the Preceptor Request Form, weeks ahead of the contract clock
- Across Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach and Monroe, or beyond them where FIU approves your site
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