Tennessee clinicals for FNU students

Tennessee at a glance

FNU's licensure page counts Tennessee among the states whose education requirements its CNM, FNP, PMHNP and WHNP graduates meet. What sets Tennessee apart is the legislature's scrutiny of nursing programs based in other states, FNU included.

The out-of-state program moratorium

SB 2013/HB 1905 carries a long label: Tennessee Nursing Education Integrity and Oversight Act. Its core order: a two-year Board of Nursing freeze on approving applications from nursing programs headquartered outside Tennessee, including ones seeking student clinical placements. APRN and pre-licensure programs get equal treatment.

A program the Board approved before the effective date keeps that approval but must hand over requested data, placement statistics and preceptor lists included. One secondary source dates the bill's effect to April 27, 2026, pending confirmation of official enactment. No current Board rule on record expressly obliges a school based elsewhere to get approval before a clinical placement.

FNU's position isn't public. An undated FNU portal page, older than the bill, names Tennessee's Board as one that had approved FNU. Ask your Clinical Advisor and Clinical Credentialing whether Tennessee sites are open for your term.

Restricted practice: every NP has a supervising physician

AANP classes Tennessee as restricted: NPs practice under physician supervision, with limits on Schedule II to IV prescribing and opioid supply. So any NP preceptor you approach has a supervising physician, which widens the pool for some tracks.

For FNP students, a physician or NCCPA-certified PA can supervise as much as 40% of the practicum. WHNP students can count physician-supervised visits toward their required totals, and PMHNP time with a psychiatrist has no ceiling. The FNP preceptor page explains how to split hours.

A preceptor incentive that names Kentucky schools

Here an FNU student's preceptor may qualify for a state-funded payment. The Tennessee Center for Health Workforce Development co-runs the THA Nurse Preceptor Incentive Program with the Tennessee Hospital Association, drawing on a state grant. Each cycle, a preceptor who reaches 70 hours or more precepting one-to-one earns a fixed payment while grant money lasts.

Eligibility normally follows enrollment in an accredited Tennessee program. The exception covers hours worked inside Tennessee by students whose schools are in Kentucky or Virginia, Missouri or Arkansas, or Mississippi, Alabama or Georgia. FNU is based in Kentucky, so your Tennessee hours may qualify; THA decides.

What THA asks of the preceptor

• An unrestricted Tennessee or multistate LPN, RN or APRN license
• US citizenship or permanent residence
• The UTHSC preceptor course, which has a separate module for NP preceptors
• For the Fall 2026 cycle, hours between August 1 and December 1, 2026, with documentation due December 10, 2026

Physicians and PAs aren't eligible, so it only helps when your preceptor is a nurse.

Where Tennessee students look

Treat these 2025 Census metros and large systems as search areas; no site here has agreed in advance to host FNU students.

• Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin: about 2.20 million
• Memphis, TN-MS-AR: about 1.02 million of its 1.34 million in Tennessee
• Knoxville: about 968,000
• Chattanooga, TN-GA: about 438,000 of its 595,000 in Tennessee

Large systems include Covenant Health and Erlanger, plus Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Ballad Health and Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare. The Memphis and Chattanooga metros reach into Mississippi, Arkansas and Georgia, so check licensing for any site across the line. Outside the metros, your RCF and the Community Map are the quickest leads.

Your license for Tennessee sites

Compact recognition in Tennessee dates to January 19, 2018. If your primary residence is Tennessee or another compact state, such as Kentucky or North Carolina, your multistate license works at Tennessee sites. For telehealth, the patient's state decides. The RN license page has the verification steps.

Nurse-midwifery students in Tennessee

AANP's rating describes NPs, not certified nurse-midwives, and Tennessee's CNM rules aren't set out here, so ask the Board or your RCF about a midwife preceptor's scope. FNU's rules still apply: it wants a CNM or CM as primary preceptor where possible, and at least eight of your 40 births must be hospital births. The nurse-midwifery preceptor page has the full picture.

Why Tennessee students choose us

Every Tennessee search starts with what FNU has told you about the state for your term, since that answer is FNU's to give. Then we hunt for a preceptor suited to your track, prepare the CSAF details with you, and stay on call if the preceptor drops. The approval itself belongs to your RCF and Clinical Credentialing; tell us about your plan.