Delaware clinicals for Liberty nursing students

Delaware's notice rule for out-of-state schools

Delaware's nursing education standards include 24 Del. Admin. Code 1900-2.4.1.9.4.1.5. It says a school based in another state has to tell the Board in advance whenever it wants to use Delaware clinical facilities. It also owes the Board a set of documents before its first use of a Delaware facility:

• a current copy of each faculty member's and preceptor's license, Delaware or compact (multistate)
• each faculty member and preceptor by name, with the site assigned to them
• a copy of its written agreement with each clinical agency
• the school's own standards for clinical faculty and for preceptors
• evidence that its state board approved the program, or that the program holds national accreditation

Next to it, provision 1900-2.4.1.9.4.1.4 has the Board approve each facility used for clinical experience before any student is assigned there. The approval rests on forms the school files, and Board representatives may visit. The standards are addressed to "all nursing education programs" and draw no line between pre-licensure, RN-to-BSN and graduate study.

What the rule does to your timeline

The code gives no number of days, and Liberty publishes no Delaware lead time. The order is still clear: the notice and documents come before a Delaware facility is used, and facility approval comes before students are assigned.

Several items in that packet start with you: the preceptor's name, the site, a signed agreement and a copy of the preceptor's Delaware or multistate license. A Delaware preceptor confirmed while you're still in your Gate course leaves room for all of it; one found the week the term opens doesn't. The Gate courses page shows where that paperwork falls, and state board notices covers how Liberty files notices in other states.

Who counts as a preceptor under Delaware's code

Under Delaware's code, a preceptor is a nurse holding a valid license and a BSN or higher degree. Faculty of an online program who serve as a clinical instructor or preceptor in a Delaware facility need a license or privilege to practice at the level the student is preparing for, or a higher one. AANP rates Delaware as full practice.

Liberty adds its own layer, and it isn't fully public. If a physician offers to precept you in Delaware, put the state definition and Liberty's rules side by side and raise it with the practicum team before you accept. Preceptor requirements has what Liberty has published.

Programs, hours and your Delaware license

Delaware has had the Nurse Licensure Compact in place since January 19, 2018, and Liberty accepts a Delaware RN license or a multistate one. Delaware also enacted the APRN Compact, signed August 4, 2021, but only five states have enacted it and it won't operate until seven do. That matters after graduation; your practicum runs on the RN license. See RN license for practicum.

Wilmington, Dover and Seaford

In the Census Bureau's 2025 estimates, the Delaware share of the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metro is about 588,000 people. The Dover metro has about 195,000, and the Seaford micropolitan area about 277,000. Beebe Healthcare, Bayhealth and ChristianaCare are the main in-state systems. Nemours Children's Health, a pediatric system that operates in several states, runs its Delaware hospital in Wilmington. Our research recorded no Delaware preceptor incentive.

Near a state line, a site's address decides the rules. Liberty's New Jersey page has its own pre-start submission, and Pennsylvania and Maryland have their own boards.

Why Delaware students choose us

We look for a Delaware preceptor and site early enough for the Board steps to run, and we gather what the packet leans on: the preceptor's license copy, the site details and a signed agreement. Liberty approves every site and preceptor, and any filing with the Board is Liberty's. How it works explains our steps, or use the form below.