UofM nursing students living in Kentucky
Kentucky makes the program side simple and the license side specific. Kentucky's Board of Nursing (KBN) asks no approval of programs from other states, and Kentucky is on UofM's list of 16 authorized states. The rule with teeth falls on your preceptor, who must be licensed in Kentucky as an APRN.
Get your placement plan
Tell us your UofM program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with the preceptor and site options that fit your UofM course.
KBN's position on programs from other states
KBN approves and oversees only the pre-licensure programs that start inside Kentucky. Everyone else gets a plain message: a nursing program based elsewhere needs no KBN approval, even one with no Kentucky campus that runs a clinical component in the state. RN to BSN programs are beyond its reach entirely.
So an MSN student from UofM faces no Board filing before a Kentucky rotation. What the Board does watch is the licensing of whoever supervises you, covered in the license section below.
UofM programs at a glance for Kentuckians
UofM's graduate tracks put coursework online and clinical hours in your own area, so a Kentucky address means Kentucky practicums. Both of UofM's main state sources count Kentucky in.
| Track | Kentucky per UofM | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| MSN in FNP, AG-ACNP or PMHNP | Authorized list; disclosure yes | Sources agree |
| Post-graduate NP certificates | Authorized list; disclosure yes | Same as the MSN |
| MSN or certificate in Education or Leadership | Authorized list | No APRN disclosure applies |
| RN to BSN | Online through UofM Global | Only California residents are turned away |
| Traditional or Accelerated BSN | Campus-based | Held in Tennessee, with assigned clinicals in West Tennessee and north Mississippi |
For states where UofM's sources clash, see the state authorization guide.
Licenses: yours and your preceptor's
KBN's guidance for online graduate programs that train APRNs sets a two-license standard. Whoever precepts you in Kentucky, and whichever faculty member oversees you in a Kentucky clinical setting, needs Kentucky's RN license and Kentucky's APRN license, both current and without restrictions. KBN trims that to the APRN license alone for faculty whose home is another compact state. The practical upshot: an NP preceptor licensed only in another state will not satisfy KBN for a Kentucky rotation.
Your own license runs through the Nurse Licensure Compact, which Kentucky has implemented. UofM's rule accepts RN licensure from Tennessee or from the approved state where you do clinicals, and a Kentucky multistate license reaches both. For nurses licensed in another state who pass through Kentucky on a clinical rotation, KBN cites a KRS 314.101 exemption that hinges on the school, which must take part in SARA or be licensed through Kentucky's Council on Postsecondary Education; UofM Global names NC-SARA as its route to online students beyond Tennessee. The RN license guide has more.
The NP license after graduation is its own matter, since the APRN Compact is not in force. AANP places Kentucky in reduced practice: prescribing controlled and non-controlled drugs takes agreements with a physician unless the Board exempts the NP, and first-year licensees meet added rules about employer settings.
Clinical ground from Louisville to Bowling Green
Louisville anchors Kentucky's largest metro, followed by Lexington, the northern Kentucky counties around Cincinnati, and Bowling Green. Baptist Health, UofL Health, St. Elizabeth Healthcare, UK HealthCare and Norton Healthcare count among the state's major systems, and each sets its own student process, so read them as reference points rather than sites promised to UofM students. The local-area guide covers what close to home means at UofM.
Campus visits and UofM's state lists
Over the program, an NP student makes no more than three trips to campus, each lasting a day to three days and scheduled at least six months in advance; the January 2027 visit binds every NP track. Which campus hosts is not published. LCON's home is Memphis, and it also teaches nursing at Lambuth in Jackson, both well across Tennessee from Louisville or Lexington, so block each session as travel time when you set clinical days. The intensives guide explains the sessions.
Kentucky shows up on the partnerships office's list and in the disclosures. Even so, UofM's residency page limits online applicants to authorized states and leaves students outside Tennessee to check advanced licensure rules themselves, so ask LCON to confirm Kentucky for your track before you apply.
Why Kentucky students trust Memphis Preceptor
However much UofM helps with placement, we line up a Kentucky preceptor and practice site that fit its rules, and every NP preceptor we put forward holds the Kentucky APRN license KBN expects. We package the credentials and practice details for UofM's preceptor agreement form, map your schedule around campus weeks, and have another name ready should your preceptor's plans shift. Start your Kentucky search.
Questions UofM students ask
Must KBN sign off before a UofM rotation in Kentucky?
No sign-off is needed. KBN states that a nursing program headquartered in another state owes it no approval, even when the program's only Kentucky footprint is a clinical placement. Its approval work covers pre-licensure programs born in Kentucky. Where its rules touch your practicum is licensing, above all your preceptor's.
Which Kentucky licenses must my NP preceptor carry?
Both of Kentucky's: the RN and the APRN, each active and unrestricted, under KBN's guidance for online APRN programs. The RN half is waived only for faculty living in another compact state. We check the preceptor's Kentucky credentials before any paperwork goes to UofM.
Is Kentucky on UofM's list of authorized states?
Yes. The Office of Community Partnerships and Practice includes Kentucky in its roster of 16, and UofM's licensure disclosures mark its three NP tracks as meeting Kentucky requirements. UofM's state sources disagree about other states, so confirm your track with LCON before you apply.
Can I do clinicals at the Kentucky hospital where I work?
Usually not. UofM's rule steers practicum hours away from your present employer, allowing an exception only in compelling circumstances that faculty and program administration approve and put on record. Plan on a different Kentucky site; the workplace clinicals guide explains how the exception works.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-27
We check these pages against UofM's 2026-27 catalog, the LCON Academic Bulletin, program pages and licensure disclosures. Your clinical faculty and your plan of study have the final word.
Whether UofM helps or you start alone, we find the preceptor.
Tell us your UofM concentration, your next practicum and the town you train near. We find preceptors and sites that fit the course and prepare what the preceptor agreement form needs, early enough for approval before the first clinical day.
- Preceptors matched to the rotation rules: an NP preceptor, family practice for FNP, inpatient and critical care for AG-ACNP
- License, certification and site details ready for the preceptor agreement form, with your Complio items in order
- Across the Mid-South, Tennessee and the states UofM serves
Start your placement plan
Your concentration, your town and your next clinical semester is all we need to begin.