MRU clinicals in Louisiana start with a Board approval
Before a nursing program based in another state offers clinical experiences in Louisiana, graduate programs included, it needs approval from the Louisiana State Board of Nursing, requested at least six months in advance. For an MRU student living there, the first question about any Louisiana preceptor is whether MRU has that approval.
Plan your Louisiana clinicals
Tell us your MRU program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with what an MRU-ready preceptor and site look like for you.
Can a Louisiana resident enroll? Program by program
SARA membership puts Louisiana on MRU's list, and the NC-SARA disclosure rates the three NP tracks "Meets" there. MRU's catalog is more cautious, taking responsibility for Florida licensure requirements only and sending students elsewhere to their own regulator: for you, the Louisiana State Board of Nursing (LSBN).
| Program | Louisiana residents | Format | Clinical load |
|---|---|---|---|
| MSN-FNP | May enroll | Campus in Miami Springs or online | MSN5700, MSN6050, MSN6150, MSN6400 |
| FNP Post-Master's Certificate | May enroll | Campus in Miami Springs or online | The same courses, subject to a gap analysis |
| PMHNP Post-Master's Certificate | May enroll | Online delivery | 765 hours |
| AGACNP Post-Master's Certificate | May enroll | Online, with a mandatory three-day campus visit | 810 hours |
| DNP | May enroll holding Louisiana multistate status or Florida licensure | Offsite, online | 765 practice hours |
| MSN Healthcare Systems Leadership | May enroll | Campus in Miami Springs or online | 180 hours |
| RN-to-BSN | May enroll | Campus in Miami Springs or online | 135 hours |
| ASN, BSN, MSN Direct Entry | Taught only in Florida | On campus | 450, 675, 495 hours |
What LAC 46:XLVII.3539 asks of out-of-state programs
It applies to both undergraduate and graduate programs administered from outside Louisiana. It works in this order:
- Request at least six months aheadThe program writes to the Board identifying the agencies and units it plans to use, and encloses a clinical facility survey form, forms on faculty qualifications, its catalog, curriculum and syllabi, and its NCLEX and certification pass data. It must hold home-state approval, regional accreditation and Board-recognized national nursing accreditation.
- Board approvalThe Board's approval can stay in force for a maximum of three years; renewal is by petition.
- Faculty licensed in LouisianaEvery faculty member who teaches in Louisiana needs three things: two years of clinical practice, a graduate degree in nursing, and a Louisiana RN and/or APRN license that is current.
- Graduate student reportingFor each graduate student, the program files the Board's clinical experience spreadsheet no later than two weeks after that student's experience begins.
- Oversight during the rotationEvery week, at minimum, faculty talk with the student and preceptor, and they visit the site once or more per semester or quarter. On any clinical day, one faculty member may cover no more than nine APRN students (1:9).
A preceptor who agrees in August cannot open a Louisiana rotation in September if MRU holds no LSBN approval. Ask MRU first.
Collaborative practice and Louisiana's systems
AANP classes Louisiana as reduced practice, so at least one element of what an NP does is covered by a state-regulated collaborative agreement with a physician. Expect your NP preceptor to have a collaborating physician. Which preceptor types MRU accepts is set by its handbook; MRU's preceptor requirements covers the public part.
Baton Rouge (about 889,000 people in 2025) and New Orleans-Metairie (about 971,000) are close in size. Next come Lafayette, at roughly 424,000, and Shreveport-Bossier City, at roughly 383,000. NP students in Louisiana tend to weigh Baton Rouge General, Willis-Knighton Health, Ochsner Health, FMOL Health and LCMC Health. Listing them says nothing about whether they host MRU students. We found no Louisiana preceptor incentive.
Your license: Louisiana joined the Compact in 2019
The Compact took effect for Louisiana on 1 July 2019. With a Louisiana multistate RN license you can train in any Compact state, and you satisfy the DNP's Florida-or-Compact admission rule. Practical nurses answer to a separate board, the Board of Practical Nurse Examiners, which does not affect RN students.
MRU's clearance runs alongside the Board's timetable: American Data Bank checks, the Level II fingerprint check, and liability insurance proof due 15 days before the externship. Clinicals outside Florida sets out the order.
The placement desk's part in Louisiana
We search around New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Shreveport or your own parish for a preceptor who suits your MRU course, and help you put together the preceptor and site facts that both MRU's credential check and a Board filing lean on. Should a preceptor withdraw, the search reopens. MRU approves or declines each one. Start here.
Questions MRU students ask
How far ahead does MRU need to apply to Louisiana?
At least six months before the clinical offering starts, under LAC 46:XLVII.3539. Approval can then last up to three years. If MRU already holds approval that covers your course, the lead time may be shorter; if it does not, a six-month runway applies. Your answer sits with the Office of Academic Affairs.
Will MRU faculty visit my Louisiana site?
Louisiana's rule expects it. For precepted clinicals, it has program faculty checking in with you and your preceptor no less than weekly and coming to the site no less than once per semester or quarter. MRU publishes nothing about faculty site visits, so ask how it meets that requirement for Louisiana placements.
Could I do my hours in Mississippi instead?
It would not avoid paperwork. Mississippi's Institutions of Higher Learning board treats out-of-state clinicals as physical presence and reviews the program, a process that can take up to three months and should be requested four months ahead. Your Louisiana multistate license would cover you there. See our Mississippi page.
Who files the Louisiana paperwork, me or MRU?
MRU, as the program. The rule addresses the program, so the request letter, facility survey form, faculty forms and the graduate clinical experience spreadsheet are MRU's to submit. Your part is supplying accurate preceptor, agency and unit details early, since the letter names clinical agencies and units.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-24
We check these pages against MRU's own catalog, addenda and program pages. The nursing student handbook on the MRU student portal and MRU's Office of Academic Affairs have the final word.
MRU says secure your own preceptor. We start the search now.
Tell us your MRU program, where you live and when your next clinical course starts. We look for preceptors who fit the course and help you gather what MRU checks before approving them.
- Preceptors matched to the course: adult primary care for
MSN5700, women's health, pediatrics, psychiatric or acute care - Credentials, license and site details collected before MRU's credential check
- Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach, or wherever in a SARA state you live
Start your placement plan
Program, city and start date is all we need to begin.