Liberty practicum in New Jersey: open to every track
New Jersey is open to Liberty practicum across the board, from the DNP – FNP to RN-to-BSN. The one extra step is Liberty's own: before your start date, the university submits your program, preceptor and site information. If you commute toward New York City, keep NP hours on the New Jersey side.
Get your placement plan
Tell us your Liberty track and where you live. A placement advisor replies with what a Liberty-ready preceptor and site look like for you.
Which Liberty programs can hold practicum in New Jersey
Every one of them. On Liberty's state licensure pages, New Jersey carries an approved-for-practicum answer for each online nursing program. Liberty still reviews each site and preceptor you put forward; the notes below are program rules that travel with you.
| Liberty program | Practicum in New Jersey | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| DNP – FNP | Approved | In person; Liberty allows no telehealth sites for FNP |
| PMHNP tracks: both DNPs and the certificate | Approved | Telehealth can cover up to 50% of hours |
| DNP (post-master's) | Approved | Needs 560 or more DNP practicum hours |
| MSN tracks, including MSN/MBA and MSN/MSHA | Approved | You pick the facility; a preceptor site contract is required |
| RN-to-BSN | Approved | Community observation hours in NURS 440 |
The information Liberty sends New Jersey before day one
Liberty's New Jersey page for its NP programs says the university submits program, preceptor and site information before the clinical start date. The School of Nursing files it, not you. New Jersey is one of a few states where Liberty's pages name a step like this; our page on state board notices covers the others.
The practical effect is timing. Your preceptor and site have to be settled, and your paperwork cleared through your Gate course, early enough for Liberty to send the details before you start. Liberty doesn't publish a lead time in days, so raise it with the practicum team (APRN.DNPPracticum@liberty.edu). If your preceptor changes, ask whether the submission needs updating.
The state's own rulebook is quieter. Our research turned up no New Jersey Board of Nursing rule requiring a program based elsewhere to seek approval or file notice. The program rules in N.J.A.C. 13:37, Subchapter 1, apply to programs that New Jersey institutions run. The board's own website was unreachable during that research, so plan around Liberty's page.
Reduced practice: the NPs you'll ask to precept
The AANP classes New Jersey as reduced practice. To order medications and devices, an NP here has to keep joint protocols in place with a collaborating physician. That's the NP's own practice arrangement; it isn't a Liberty rule about who may precept you.
Liberty doesn't publish its FNP preceptor credentials. For PMHNP students, an older Liberty FAQ named PMHNPs and psychiatrists as approved preceptors and wanted half of each practicum's hours spent with a prescriber, so check whether that still applies before you approach anyone. The preceptor requirements page tracks what's public. Our research turned up no New Jersey preceptor incentive.
Systems, metros and the Hudson
Among New Jersey's large systems are Cooper University Health Care in Camden, Virtua Health, Atlantic Health System, Hackensack Meridian Health and RWJBarnabas Health. They're examples, not Liberty partners; a private practice or community clinic can serve just as well if Liberty approves it.
By Census estimates, the New York-Newark-Jersey City metro holds about 7.1 million New Jersey residents and the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metro about 1.4 million; Trenton-Princeton and Atlantic City-Hammonton are smaller hubs. The two big metros cross different lines. New York is closed to Liberty NP and PMHNP certificate practicum; Pennsylvania is approved for every Liberty program.
Working in Manhattan doesn't make a New York site usable: Liberty won't place FNP or PMHNP practicum there, even with a New York license.
Your RN license for New Jersey clinicals
New Jersey's implementation date for the Nurse Licensure Compact was November 15, 2021. Liberty requires an RN license valid in the practicum state, so a New Jersey license or a multistate license from your compact home state both work here. A single-state license from a non-compact state doesn't; you'd need a New Jersey license first.
The APRN Compact isn't law in New Jersey and isn't running in any state yet; it doesn't affect a student training on an RN license. See RN licenses for practicum for the wider rule.
Why New Jersey students choose us
Our placement desk works leads across New Jersey for a preceptor and practice that fit your Liberty track, then gathers the preceptor's CV, license and site particulars for your Gate course. Liberty alone approves sites and preceptors, and each New Jersey lead reaches that review complete. To get started, send your track and nearest town through the form below; how it works covers the steps.
Questions Liberty students ask
Does New Jersey have to approve my Liberty clinical site?
Not as far as our research found. Liberty's New Jersey page describes a submission, not an approval: the university sends program, preceptor and site information before the start date. No board rule on record requires out-of-state programs to get approval first either, though the board's own website couldn't be checked.
Can I do Liberty FNP hours at a New York City clinic if I live in New Jersey?
No. Liberty's New York pages say it can't place FNP, PMHNP or PMHNP certificate students in practicum there because of the New York board's rules for nurse practitioners. Your site has to be in New Jersey or another approved state, such as Pennsylvania, with an RN license that's valid where the site is.
Can a Liberty PMHNP student in New Jersey count telehealth hours?
Yes, up to a point. Liberty lets PMHNP students, including those in the certificate, count telehealth for up to 50% of practicum hours; the rest are in person with an approved preceptor. FNP students can't use telehealth sites at all, so an FNP plan in New Jersey has to be fully in person.
Can Liberty MSN students do practicum at their own New Jersey hospital?
Sometimes. Under Liberty's 2022-23 MSN handbook, a workplace could host practicum only when the hours were unpaid, a Clinical Program Affiliation Agreement covered the site, course requirements were met and your placement sat outside your usual unit or department. Check the current rule with Liberty before you ask your manager.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-23
We check these pages against Liberty's own published sources. The practicum team and Liberty's current handbook have the final word.
More leads, sooner, for your practicum.
Tell us your Liberty program, your county and when your practicum starts. We look for a preceptor and site that fit Liberty's rules for your track, and help you get the Gate-course paperwork right.
- Matched to your track: FNP, PMHNP, DNP or MSN
- Paperwork ready for the Gate course and the site contract
- In person near you, or telehealth where your track allows it
Start your placement plan
A placement advisor replies with what a Liberty-ready preceptor and site look like for you.