Practicum in South Dakota: a guide for Liberty students

Where South Dakota stands for each Liberty track

We found no extra South Dakota step on Liberty's licensure pages, unlike its neighbor to the north; compare the North Dakota page. Where hour totals conflict between Liberty's sources, the clinical hours page sets them side by side.

No board approval, but the board still has expectations

The board has written guidance for nursing programs based in other states, last revised in June 2020, and it states plainly that the board doesn't approve those programs. When a student goes to a direct-care clinical setting, the agreement is made by the program from out of state with the South Dakota agency or preceptor.

What South Dakota expects of the program

• A minimum of one faculty member who holds a South Dakota license or the privilege to practice there. Overseeing RN students takes an RN license, and overseeing APRN students takes an APRN license.
• Under ARSD 20:48:07:49, faculty teaching APRN students who are located in South Dakota hold a South Dakota APRN license or the privilege to practice.

Those duties sit with Liberty, not you, but they bear on whether an NP placement can proceed, so confirm with Liberty's practicum team that faculty coverage is in place for your term. The site agreement itself is part of Liberty's paperwork; our preceptor site contract page covers what's known.

Full practice, after a transition

AANP lists South Dakota as a full practice state, with one condition. A newly licensed NP reaches full practice only after 1,040 hours working under a collaborative agreement in writing with a certified NP, a certified nurse midwife or a physician. A preceptor early in their career may still be inside that period, so ask where they stand before their details go to Liberty.

For the programs the board does approve, ARSD 20:48:07:34 sets two preceptor standards: a license at the student's intended level or higher, and, for APRN preceptors, a role, focus or specialty comparable to what the student is training for. It's written for South Dakota's own programs, but it makes a useful yardstick for leads. Liberty's criteria decide; see preceptor requirements.

Sioux Falls, Rapid City and the miles between

Sioux Falls is the largest metro, with about 305,000 people on the South Dakota side in the 2025 Census estimates. Rapid City follows at about 157,000, then the Aberdeen micropolitan area at about 42,000. Our research turned up three large systems, Monument Health, Sanford Health and Avera Health, and the South Dakota Department of Health suits Community Health students.

The Sioux Falls metro reaches into Minnesota, where Liberty asks for a Minnesota RN license. We found no state preceptor incentive for South Dakota.

Your license and the two compacts

South Dakota put the Nurse Licensure Compact into effect on January 19, 2018. Because of that, Liberty accepts a South Dakota or multistate RN license for practicum here. The RN license for practicum page covers moves and license changes.

On February 5, 2024, South Dakota signed the APRN Compact, joining Delaware, North Dakota, Utah and Wyoming. That compact needs a seventh state before it operates, and it doesn't touch student practicum.

Why South Dakota students choose us

We search for South Dakota preceptors and sites that fit your Liberty track, including in the smaller towns between the metros, and prepare what your Gate course and Liberty's contract steps need. Site and preceptor approval rests with Liberty, and we work alongside its practicum team.