Doing Miami Regional University clinicals in Tennessee
Tennessee is a SARA state, so MRU's graduate NP tracks, leadership programs and RN-to-BSN will take you as a resident. The complication is a 2026 bill that halts, for two years, the Board's approval of nursing programs based outside Tennessee; settle with MRU how it affects you before a Tennessee preceptor commits.
Tennessee clinical help
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.
Your MRU choices as a Tennessean
Tennessee's place in SARA satisfies the residency rule behind MRU's online programs, provided you stay a resident until graduation. MRU's NC-SARA licensure disclosure, reviewed in August 2025, shows FNP, AGACNP and PMHNP as "Meets" for Tennessee. The catalog is more conservative, standing behind licensure requirements only for Florida and sending other students to their own board, here the Tennessee Board of Nursing.
| Program | Tennessee residents | Taught | Hours to complete |
|---|---|---|---|
| RN-to-BSN | Accepted | Online or in Miami Springs | 135 clinical in NUR4269, NUR4679, NUR4689 |
| MSN-FNP | Accepted | Online or in Miami Springs | Four clinical courses, total not printed by MRU |
| FNP Post-Master's Certificate | Accepted | Online or in Miami Springs | Same clinical courses as the MSN-FNP |
| PMHNP certificate | Accepted | Online | 765 clinical |
| AGACNP certificate | Accepted | Online plus a required campus weekend | 810 clinical |
| MSN Healthcare Systems Leadership | Accepted | Online or in Miami Springs | 180 practicum |
| DNP | Accepted with a Florida or Compact RN license | Offsite practice, online classes | 765 practice |
| ASN, BSN, MSN Direct Entry | Campus attendance required | Miami Springs only | 450, 675 or 495 |
A two-year pause on out-of-state approvals
A measure filed as SB 2013/HB 1905 and named the Tennessee Nursing Education Integrity and Oversight Act writes new sections 63-7-501 to -506 into T.C.A. For two years, the Board of Nursing may neither accept nor approve applications from nursing programs based outside Tennessee that want approval to run there, enroll Tennessee students or put students into clinicals in the state. APRN, RN-to-BSN and pre-licensure programs are all treated alike. According to the bill's findings, students from many out-of-state programs are being placed in Tennessee "without adequate oversight or accountability".
A program approved before the effective date keeps its approval, yet it must supply any data the Tennessee Center for Nursing Advancement and the Board request, preceptor lists and placement statistics included. By 30 June 2027, the Center has to propose standards that would apply when out-of-state programs use Tennessee sites or preceptors. The bill became law on 27 April 2026 according to one secondary source, a date that could not be checked against an official record. This research also found no Board rule now in force that expressly makes approval a condition of placement.
Before a Tennessee preceptor commits, ask MRU's Office of Academic Affairs in writing whether MRU can place students in Tennessee right now.
Physician supervision and the state's big systems
Tennessee is restricted practice in AANP's classification. NPs there need physician supervision, and both their Schedule II to IV prescribing and their supply of opioids carry limits. Your preceptor's supervising physician may therefore want a say. MRU's own preceptor rules sit in the portal handbook; see preceptor requirements.
Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin is the largest metro, about 2.2 million people in 2025. Memphis counts about 1.02 million Tennesseans in its three-state metro, Knoxville about 968,000, and Chattanooga's Tennessee side about 438,000. NP students commonly look to Erlanger, Covenant Health, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare and Ballad Health; none is described here as working with MRU.
The THA incentive does not cover Florida schools
While funds last, the Tennessee Hospital Association's state grant-funded Nurse Preceptor Incentive Program pays eligible preceptors for every cycle of one-to-one precepting that reaches 70 hours or more. Preceptors need an unrestricted Tennessee or multistate license and must complete a UTHSC preceptor course that has an NP module. Students must attend an accredited Tennessee program, or a school in Alabama, Kentucky, Virginia, Georgia, Arkansas, Mississippi or Missouri with the hours done in Tennessee. Florida is not on the list, so an MRU rotation does not count.
RN licensing in Tennessee
Tennessee has been in the enhanced Nurse Licensure Compact since its 19 January 2018 implementation; the APRN Compact has not passed there. As a resident you would normally hold a Tennessee multistate license, which covers clinicals in the state and satisfies the DNP's license condition. MRU clinicals outside Florida covers the rest.
Why Tennessee students choose us
We search Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville, Chattanooga or wherever you live for someone qualified to supervise your MRU course, then help you gather the preceptor and site information MRU checks. If a preceptor pulls out, the search restarts. MRU approves every preceptor, and only MRU can answer the Tennessee approval question. Contact the placement desk.
Questions MRU students ask
Is Tennessee's out-of-state moratorium actually law?
The bill takes effect when it becomes law, and a secondary source dates that to 27 April 2026, but the research behind this page could not confirm enactment from an official record. Check the bill's status with the Tennessee General Assembly and ask MRU what the Tennessee Board of Nursing has told it.
Could my Tennessee preceptor's name be reported to the state?
Possibly. The bill names preceptor lists among the data that previously approved out-of-state programs must hand over when the Board or the Tennessee Center for Nursing Advancement asks for them. Tell your preceptor this up front so there are no surprises, and let MRU explain what it reports.
Does the moratorium reach MRU's DNP and RN-to-BSN students?
The bill covers any nursing program not based in Tennessee and carves out no RN-to-BSN, graduate or APRN exception. Whether DNP leadership practice hours count as a clinical placement under it is a question for MRU and the Board, so ask before you arrange a Tennessee practice site.
Is MRU's AGACNP certificate workable from Tennessee?
It is online apart from three required days of on-campus skills and simulation in Miami Springs during semester I. The 810 clinical hours run across MSN5040C, MSN5041C and MSN5042C with acute-care preceptors, and the Tennessee approval question applies to each. See AGACNP clinical courses.
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.