Washington State clinicals for Ball State nursing students
Washington shows as Authorized on Ball State's map for both the MS in Nursing and the post-master's FNP certificate, although the certificate's application page leaves Washington out; the DNP is closed. Washington's board adds a gate of its own: distance programs from other states need its approval before placing students, and those placements are meant for Washington residents.
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Tell us your Ball State program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with preceptor and site options in your community that fit your Ball State course.
Ball State's Washington status, with one conflict
Washington is the state where Ball State's certificate sources disagree most sharply, so read the middle row closely.
| Ball State program | Washington status | Source detail |
|---|---|---|
| MS in Nursing: FNP, Nurse Educator, Leadership and Management | Authorized | State Authorization Map |
| Post-Master's Certificate in Nursing, FNP | Authorized on the map only | Map entry saved August 2025 lists Washington; the application page names eight states without it; the Graduate Nursing Handbook 2025-26 says Indiana and Ohio |
| Doctor of Nursing Practice, all cognates | Not Authorized | State Authorization Map |
A Washington applicant to the certificate should get written confirmation from the Office of State Authorizations or admissions first. On licensure, Ball State offers no state-by-state finding and points you to WABON, the Washington State Board of Nursing. The certificate guide lays out the three versions side by side.
WABON's gate for distance programs
Oregon asks almost nothing of NP programs from elsewhere; its northern neighbor asks a lot. WABON must approve a distance program based in another state before any of that program's students begins clinical work in Washington.
| Expectation | Detail |
|---|---|
| Approval first | The program applies and is approved before placing students |
| Equivalent standards | The program shows its standards match Washington's |
| Oversight in the state | The program supervises and evaluates its students in Washington |
| Accreditation and reports | National accreditation kept current; reports filed every year |
| Residents first | Approved out-of-state placements are described as for Washington residents, with exceptions case by case |
| Rules in flux | A CR-101 filed December 5, 2025 opened the education rules to revision, clinical placement barriers included |
WABON's approved list covers MSN and NP tracks among others. Whether Ball State appears on it was not confirmed for this guide, so put that question to the Graduate Clinical Placement Coordinator before an agency signs, and revisit WABON's education page each term.
ARNP preceptors: the two Washington limits
Washington calls nurse practitioners ARNPs, and its education rules put two limits on who precepts an ARNP student.
| Condition | What it rules out |
|---|---|
| Active, unencumbered ARNP, MD or DO license, or the equivalent in another state | Preceptors without an advanced practice or physician license |
| No family relationship or personal friendship with the student | A friend or relative, even a well-qualified one |
One more Washington condition falls on the school rather than on you: anyone from an out-of-state program who teaches ARNP practice in the state needs a Washington ARNP license. AANP counts Washington among its full practice states. Ball State's handbook also mentions that students living in some states may also be evaluated by a clinical supervisor; your course faculty can say whether Washington is one.
Seattle, Spokane and the two borders
Census estimates for 2025 show about 4.16 million people around Seattle, Tacoma and Bellevue, roughly 608,000 around Spokane, close to 545,000 Washington residents in the Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro metro and about 324,000 around Kennewick and Richland. Examples of where NP students look include PeaceHealth, the Providence system with Providence Swedish, Virginia Mason Franciscan Health, MultiCare and UW Medicine, plus independent practices and community clinics.
Idaho is closed to every Ball State nursing program, which rules out clinics on the Idaho side of the border. Oregon is open for both the master's and the certificate, yet Oregon issues only single-state licenses, so a Washington multistate license gives no right to practice there.
License basics and why Washington students choose us
Washington's compact participation took effect January 31, 2024, and your RN license goes into American Data Bank before your first clinical semester; see the RN license guide. With WABON in the picture, the twelve months of planning Ball State recommends, and a standby agency every semester (finding your own preceptor), matter even more. We test each Washington preceptor against the license and no-friends-or-family limits, place the four primary care courses and the closing 180-hour practicum with suitable practices, and have the affiliation agreement file ready a semester early. If someone withdraws, we find the successor. Request a Washington placement.
Questions Ball State students ask
Can an ARNP who is a close friend precept me in Washington?
Not under Washington's rules, which disqualify relatives and personal friends from precepting an ARNP student regardless of credentials. That limit is the state's own and sits on top of whatever Ball State's clinical packet asks. A colleague you know only through work is a different case, but mention any close relationship to your course faculty.
I live in Vancouver, Washington. Could my Ball State clinicals be across the line in Portland?
Ball State's map opens Oregon for the MS in Nursing, so residence is not the obstacle. The license is: Oregon is not a compact state, so you would have to add an Oregon license, and your course faculty must approve the site. Oregon's board, for its part, does not require out-of-state NP programs to seek approval.
Is Ball State's DNP open to Washington nurses?
No. Of the six places where Ball State's doctorate is open, Alaska is the only western one, and Washington is missing from the list for the FNP cognate and every other. Washington RNs can reach FNP certification through the MS in Nursing FNP concentration, or the certificate once its status is confirmed.
Will WABON's rulemaking change out-of-state clinical placements?
Possibly. The CR-101 WABON filed on December 5, 2025 opens its nursing education rules, including the out-of-state program rule, and names barriers related to clinical placements among the topics. Until new rules are adopted, the approval and residency terms described above stand, so check WABON's education page each term.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-26
We check these pages against Ball State's own catalog, graduate handbook, program pages and State Authorization Map, and Indiana rules. Your course faculty, your advisor and the Graduate Clinical Placement Coordinator have the final word.
Ball State asks you to find your preceptor. We find one near you.
Tell us your Ball State track, where you live and when your next clinical course starts. We find preceptors near you who fit the course, confirm the practice will sign Ball State's affiliation agreement, and line up a backup, so the School of Nursing can clear the site before the semester.
- Preceptors matched to the course: pediatrics for
NUR 682, women's health forNUR 684, adult primary care forNUR 681andNUR 683 - Outside your own unit or clinic, in a state where Ball State's program is authorized
- Across Indiana, from Muncie to Evansville, and in the other states Ball State accepts
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Program, city and start date is all we need to begin.