Washington State and FIU: approval comes before any clinical day
Washington asks more of out-of-state nursing programs than most states. Its Board of Nursing has to approve Florida International University (FIU), or any program based elsewhere, before that program puts a student in a Washington clinical setting. FIU, for its part, has not determined whether its programs meet Washington's licensing requirements. Check both before you commit to a Washington site.
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Tell us your FIU program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with the preceptor and site options that fit your FIU course.
Board approval first: WAC 246-840-571
Washington's rule for distance programs from other states leaves little room for doubt. A school like FIU must apply to Washington's nursing board (WABON), prove its standards are equivalent to Washington's, oversee and grade its own students during their Washington clinicals, hold national accreditation and report every year. Only after approval may it place anyone at a Washington clinic.
WABON publishes the out-of-state programs it has approved, with RN-BSN, MSN and NP tracks from various schools among them; look for FIU there early. The Board also limits approved placements to Washington residents and rules on any exception individually.
No WABON approval for FIU means no Washington placement, however willing the preceptor.
Faculty, preceptors and a rulebook under review
Faculty from an out-of-state program who teach ARNP practice inside Washington need a Washington ARNP license. For preceptors, WABON accepts an ARNP, MD or DO whose license, from Washington or elsewhere, is active and unrestricted, provided there is no family tie or personal friendship between preceptor and student. FIU draws the same line on family and close friends; our page on preceptor requirements has FIU's full list.
Expect change. With a CR-101 filing in December 2025, WABON opened rulemaking on WAC 246-840-500 to 246-840-571, listing easier clinical placements among its aims. Recheck the Board's education page every term.
FIU's side of the question, row by row
Washington's residents-only rule gives that policy row real weight. Moving there partway through? Report it first, then read learner location and moving before planning any Washington rotation, since the two rules interact.
| FIU document | Washington reading |
|---|---|
| Professional Licensure page | Meets Florida; Washington not determined. BSN, MSN and DNP Nurse Anesthesia are listed; the DNP NP tracks and certificates are not. |
| Admission requirements | MSN and DNP: a current Florida RN license before admission, silent on a Washington multistate license. RN to BSN: Florida or multistate accepted. |
| Clinical Education page | Online AGPCNP and PNP students find their own site, which may lie outside South Florida; other states go unmentioned. |
| Policy 1370.001 | Learner location is set at enrollment and changes once you report a move; clinicals count. |
Full practice, the metro areas and the preceptorship grant
AANP groups Washington with the full practice states, where ARNPs need no physician agreement to practice.
| Type | Names |
|---|---|
| Metro areas (2025 census estimates) | Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue (about 4.16 million); Spokane-Spokane Valley (about 608,000); Vancouver's share of Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro (about 545,000); Kennewick-Richland (about 324,000) |
| Large health systems | Providence, including Providence Swedish (Renton); UW Medicine; MultiCare Health System; PeaceHealth; Virginia Mason Franciscan Health |
| State health agency | Washington State Department of Health |
WABON also administers a legislature-created grant that pays qualifying ARNP, RN and LPN preceptors quarterly for each student they take. It is closed to preceptors of out-of-state program students, wherever the hours happen, and to RN-BSN programs.
Compact status and your licenses
Compact licenses have been valid in Washington only since January 2024. There is no APRN Compact law on Washington's books, so an ARNP license there after graduation means a separate WABON application, and FIU's licensure page asks you to contact that board before starting a program if you plan to practice outside Florida. Our Florida RN license page covers how FIU's admission rule treats multistate licenses.
Why FIU students in Washington choose us
In Washington, the order of steps decides everything, and we work in that order. First we check whether FIU appears on WABON's approved list; then we find preceptors near you with the right ARNP, MD or DO license and no personal tie to you. Every lead arrives with the Preceptor Request Form fields gathered and a flag on existing FIU contracts, so the reviewers at FIU get a clean file to approve or return. Talk to us.
Questions FIU students ask
Can FIU place me at a clinical site in Washington?
Two approvals must line up: WABON's approval of FIU as an out-of-state program, and FIU's own agreement to a Washington site. FIU's pages are silent on clinicals in other states, so raise it with the Office of Clinical Education and search WABON's approved program list before contacting clinics.
Must I live in Washington to train there with an out-of-state program?
Generally yes. WABON reserves approved out-of-state placements for people who live in Washington and handles exceptions individually. If you live in Oregon or Idaho and hope to cross the line for a rotation, ask the Board before counting on a Washington site.
Can my Washington preceptor claim the state's preceptorship grant?
Not for an FIU student. Per WABON's grant page, a preceptor working with a student from an out-of-state program is ineligible even if every hour is in Washington, and RN-BSN students do not count either. The grant is reserved for preceptors of students in qualifying Washington programs.
Are Washington's clinical placement rules changing?
They might. WABON started a rulemaking in December 2025 that includes barriers to clinical placement. Until revised rules are adopted, the approval requirement stands as written; check WABON's education page each term and ask FIU how any change affects you.
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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