Practicum in Utah as a Liberty nursing student

Liberty's Utah status by program

Whatever Liberty's criteria, Utah adds a license test of its own for preceptors, set out below. The preceptor requirements page has more on Liberty's side.

Rule R156-31b-609: what Liberty has to show Utah

Utah Admin. Code R156-31b-609 covers nursing programs based in other states. Before such a program places students at a Utah agency or institution for practicum or clinical experiences, it has to show the Division and the Board that:

• the board of nursing in its home state has approved it, and it holds accreditation from a nursing accreditor that the US Department of Education recognizes;
• its faculty work for the program, meet the standards of the accreditor and the home state, have an affiliation with an institution of higher education, and, when they supervise face-to-face, are licensed in good standing in a compact state or in Utah;
• it has a plan covering how clinical sites, and faculty or preceptors, are chosen and supervised.

After that, the program files a report by August 1 every year. It states how many students it sent to Utah facilities, attests that its preceptors and face-to-face clinical faculty hold a Utah or compact state license, and verifies its accreditation. Graduate programs and pre-licensure programs are treated the same under the rule. Liberty's filings are for Liberty to confirm, so check with the practicum team that Utah is in order for your program and term.

The preceptor license test

Any Utah preceptor working with a program from another state must hold a license in good standing, issued either by Utah or by a state belonging to the Nurse Licensure Compact. A preceptor whose only license comes from a state outside the compact doesn't meet that wording, which matters most for PMHNP students hoping to do telehealth hours with someone based elsewhere.

The practice environment itself adds nothing to check: AANP rates Utah as full practice, and our research notes no transition period for new NPs there.

Salt Lake City, Provo, Ogden and St. George

The 2025 Census estimates put Salt Lake City-Murray at about 1.31 million people, Provo-Orem-Lehi at about 773,000, Ogden at about 673,000 and St. George at about 214,000. The large systems are MountainStar Healthcare (part of HCA Healthcare), Intermountain Health and University of Utah Health. Utah Department of Health and Human Services offices are another option for Community Health students. Our research shows no Utah incentive for preceptors.

Licensing, the APRN Compact and Utah's neighbors

The Nurse Licensure Compact took effect in Utah on January 19, 2018, which is why Liberty accepts a Utah or multistate RN license. Utah signed the APRN Compact on March 24, 2022, but it won't operate until seven states enact it. The RN license for practicum page covers license changes.

Across Utah's borders

• Idaho, Wyoming and Colorado: compact states, approved by Liberty.
• Nevada: Liberty's pages ask for a Nevada RN license, not a multistate one.
• Arizona: Liberty's pages say PMHNP students there must hold both an Arizona APRN license and an Arizona RN license, or a multistate RN license; the FNP page repeats that sentence.

Why Utah students choose us

We look for Utah preceptors whose licenses pass the state's test and whose practice fits your Liberty track, then prepare what the Gate course asks for. Liberty approves every site and preceptor and handles Utah's filings, and the license check we run first supports the attestation Liberty makes there.