Maryland practicum for Liberty nursing students

Maryland at a glance

A School of Nursing admissions page last modified in 2023 still names Maryland as one of only three approved DNP states. Liberty's current lookup is broader and replaces it.

What Maryland asks of out-of-state programs

Our research found nothing from the Maryland Board of Nursing requiring a program based elsewhere to be approved before its students start clinicals in Maryland. On its education page, the Board handles out-of-state programs as a licensure matter: it provides a substantial-equivalency tool and publishes which out-of-state pre-licensure programs are approved and which are not.

Health Occupations § 8-301(d)(2), part of Maryland's Nurse Practice Act, lets a student in an accredited graduate APRN program practice advanced practice nursing within that program without a license. That exemption doesn't replace Liberty's requirement: you still need an RN license that is valid in Maryland.

Thinking past graduation? Before the Board certifies anyone from an NP program as an advanced practice nurse, it reviews and approves that program; schools missing from its list file a Program Approval Form. We found no record of Liberty's status there, so check before you plan to practice here.

Your license for a Maryland practicum

Maryland's Nurse Licensure Compact membership took effect on January 19, 2018. COMAR 10.27.01.03(B) allows a nurse with a multistate privilege to practice in Maryland, subject to Maryland law. So a Maryland RN license works, and so does a multistate license from another compact state such as Virginia. The RN license guide explains how Liberty applies the compact.

The DC suburbs and other border metros

The Washington-Arlington-Alexandria metro takes in about 2.5 million Marylanders. Liberty isn't approved for clinicals in DC for its NP tracks, and its other programs can't hold a practicum, mentorship or shadow experience there. If a preceptor splits time between Maryland and DC offices, plan around the Maryland one.

Baltimore-Columbia-Towson is the state's largest metro; Lexington Park and Hagerstown-Martinsburg are smaller. Hagerstown's metro runs into West Virginia, where a site counts as a West Virginia practicum.

Full practice, and where students look

AANP rates Maryland as full practice, with one step at the start: an NP declares 18 months of mentorship with a physician or a certified NP. Liberty's own preceptor approval is separate, and its FNP preceptor credentials aren't published, so ask the practicum team if you're unsure about a candidate.

Among the biggest systems are MedStar Health, Luminis Health, Johns Hopkins Medicine, LifeBridge Health and the University of Maryland Medical System.

Maryland's NP preceptor tax credit: who qualifies

Under Tax-General § 10-739, NPs and licensed physicians can claim a Maryland income tax credit for unpaid precepting of NP students in a preceptorship approved by the Board of Nursing. The statute is marked effective until June 30, 2030.

Conditions as the statute records them

• The preceptor finishes three or more rotations, each lasting 90 hours or longer.
• The training is community-based, in an area that the Maryland Department of Health lists as a health care workforce shortage area.
• The student is enrolled as an NP student in a program the State Board of Nursing recognizes.
• The precepting is unpaid. The credit is a set amount per rotation, capped per preceptor each year and statewide each year.

Could it reach a Liberty student? Only FNP and PMHNP students fit the NP-student condition. A preceptor who charges a fee falls outside the unpaid rule (see preceptor fees). Whether Liberty's program counts as recognized by the Board isn't recorded, so the preceptor should ask the Department of Health.

Why Maryland students choose us

We search for Maryland preceptors and sites that fit your Liberty track, keep the search on the Maryland side of the DC line, and prepare the paperwork Liberty asks for. Final approval of each site and preceptor sits with Liberty, and every lead we bring is on the open side of the line. The form below starts the conversation.