Tennessee clinicals for IWU students, and the out-of-state moratorium bill
IWU's 2022 disclosures list Tennessee as meeting requirements for its nurse practitioner programs. The open question is a 2026 bill telling the Board to freeze approvals for nursing programs based outside Tennessee, clinical placements included, so ask IWU where it stands before you line up a Tennessee site.
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What IWU has disclosed for Tennessee
IWU, an NC-SARA institution, filed disclosures on September 30, 2022 that put Tennessee in the meets column for its MSN FNP and PMHNP, the two certificates for master's-prepared nurses, and the BSN-to-DNP in either specialty. The June 2024 ASN-to-MSN FNP disclosure leaves Tennessee not yet determined. IWU has published no list of states it excludes, so ask IWU admissions to confirm your program.
| Program | IWU's disclosure for Tennessee | Delivery | Clinical hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| MSN FNP | Meets (2022) | Online, plus a health-assessment residency in Marion | 850 and 800 patient encounters |
| MSN PMHNP | Meets (2022) | Online, plus a Marion residency and two intensives | 820 |
| BSN-to-DNP, FNP or PMHNP | Meets (2022) | Online, plus four Marion residencies | 1,000 or more |
| ASN-to-MSN FNP | Not yet determined | Online | 850 |
The Nursing Education Integrity and Oversight Act
Tennessee lawmakers filed SB 2013 and HB 1905 to create T.C.A. 63-7-501 to 63-7-506. The core instruction is a two-year pause: the Board of Nursing would neither accept nor approve applications from any nursing program headquartered beyond Tennessee's borders, whether it wants to operate there, enroll Tennesseans or send students into Tennessee clinicals. APRN programs get no carve-out.
A program approved before the start date keeps its approval, with a new duty to hand the Board or the Tennessee Center for Nursing Advancement whatever data they ask for, preceptor lists and placement numbers included. By June 30, 2027 the Center is to propose new standards for programs from elsewhere that draw on Tennessee clinicians and sites.
One secondary source dates the law to April 27, 2026, but official enactment was not confirmed, and no current Board rule in Chapter 1000-01 was found that expressly demands approval before a clinical placement. Before you spend weeks courting a Tennessee clinic, ask your program faculty whether IWU holds Tennessee approval and how the pause touches new placements.
Confirm IWU's Tennessee status with your program faculty before you ask any Tennessee clinician to precept you.
Supervision rules and a state incentive IWU students miss
AANP rates Tennessee restricted. NPs there practice under a supervising physician, and the state caps both their Schedule II–IV prescribing and the opioid quantities they supply. Your NP preceptor works inside that arrangement, and IWU reviews each one against its NP Clinical Guidelines; preceptor requirements lists what to gather.
State grant money funds the Tennessee Hospital Association's Nurse Preceptor Incentive Program, whose awards go to preceptors who complete 70 or more hours of one-on-one precepting in a cycle and a UTHSC preceptor course (it includes an NP module). The students must attend accredited Tennessee programs or schools in seven bordering states, from Kentucky and Virginia down to Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi, plus Arkansas and Missouri. Indiana is not one of them, so an IWU student's hours earn nothing in the fall 2026 cycle, which runs August 1 to December 1.
Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville and Chattanooga
The Nashville metro leads with about 2.2 million people. Roughly 1.02 million Tennesseans live in the Memphis metro, Knoxville's holds some 968,000, and about 438,000 live in the Tennessee part of Chattanooga's. Erlanger, Covenant Health and Ballad Health come up in many NP searches, alongside Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare and Vanderbilt University Medical Center. These are markers of where care concentrates, not systems that have agreed to host IWU students.
Your license, and the trips north to Marion
Wherever you train, IWU expects your RN license for that state to be active and unencumbered. Tennessee's compact membership was implemented on January 19, 2018, so a Tennessee multistate license, or one from another compact state that is your home, covers clinicals here. No APRN Compact law exists in Tennessee. Your onsite residencies still happen in Marion, Indiana, so plan the trips north around your clinical calendar; the Marion residencies page lists them by program, and RN license for clinicals covers licenses.
Why Tennessee IWU students choose us
We search for preceptors near you in Middle, East or West Tennessee, match each to your IWU course, and prepare the credentials and site details IWU reviews before approval. If a preceptor pulls out, the replacement search starts immediately. See how it works.
Questions IWU students ask
Does Tennessee's moratorium bill stop IWU students from doing clinicals there?
It depends on IWU's status. The bill freezes new approvals for programs based outside Tennessee, while already-approved programs hold on to approval but face added reporting. Official enactment was not confirmed during research for this page, so ask your program faculty how IWU is handling Tennessee placements right now.
Will my Tennessee preceptor qualify for the state's preceptor incentive?
Not for precepting you. The incentive counts students at accredited Tennessee programs and at schools in seven neighboring states, and Indiana is not one of them. Your preceptor may still qualify through students from eligible schools, but hours spent with an IWU student fall outside the program.
Can a Tennessee NP who works under physician supervision precept me?
Yes. Supervision is the standard arrangement in a restricted-practice state and does not stop an NP from teaching. IWU's review weighs credentials and how well the practice suits your course, following the NP Clinical Guidelines.
Which RN license do I need for a Tennessee clinical site?
An active, unencumbered license valid in Tennessee. If Tennessee is your home state, its multistate license works; if you live in another compact state, your multistate license from there covers Tennessee too. Nurses from states outside the compact would need a Tennessee license before starting.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-24
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