Your RN license and where your Graceland practicum hours can happen
Graceland University checks two things about your license: an unencumbered RN license in your home state, and one in every approved state where your practicum hours take place. Proof must be a verification from the state board, not a copy of your card, and no license may carry an adverse action from any state.
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Tell us your Graceland program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with the preceptor and site options that fit your course.
The two licenses Graceland looks for
Page 30 of the 2026 Graduate Student Handbook sets the standard. Every graduate student keeps a current, unencumbered RN license in their state of residence. On top of that, you must hold an unencumbered RN license in any approved state where your practicum or practice requirements are completed. For most students those are the same state; for anyone who crosses a state line to reach a clinic or hospital, they are not.
Page 51 repeats the point for the FNP, AGACNP and PMHNP tracks: a valid, unencumbered license in the approved state where the practicum sites are located. The word "approved" matters. Holding a license in a state does not by itself make it a state where Graceland offers practicum experiences, and Graceland publishes no list of those states; the state licensure disclosures page explains how to confirm yours.
Your preceptor faces a parallel rule: a current, unencumbered license valid where the practicum site sits. The preceptor requirements page covers their other credentials.
Unencumbered is not the whole test
Graceland adds a stricter line that catches some applicants off guard: "Licenses cannot have any adverse action by any state, even if that license is still considered unencumbered." A past board action in a state where you no longer practice still counts, even when your current license is clear.
The Iowa rules Graceland's handbook cites add a floor of their own. Under 481 IAC 616.10(6), nursing courses with a clinical or practicum component may not be taken by a person who has been denied licensure by the board, or whose license is currently suspended, surrendered or revoked in any United States jurisdiction. The handbook still quotes the rule under its pre-2025 number in 655 IAC.
If anything sits on your license history, raise it with your track coordinator before practicum paperwork goes in. That conversation belongs early in the program, when there is room to adjust your plans.
Proof: a board verification, not a card
Graceland no longer takes copies. The handbook says the student must provide verification of licensure from the appropriate state board, and that "a copy of the RN license is no longer accepted as proof." A photo of a wallet card, a screenshot of a renewal notice or a printout from an employer will not clear the item.
The verification goes into GF47im, the Medical Document Manager in Graceland's Castle Branch account, next to your immunizations and insurance card. Upload a verification for each state that matters to you: your home state and every state where your practicum hours will happen. When a license renews during the program, refresh the verification so your file shows a current expiration date. The Castle Branch page covers the account and its deadlines.
The compact and your practicum state
The Nurse Licensure Compact makes Graceland's two-state rule far simpler for most students. If you live in a compact state and hold its multistate license, that one license lets you practice in every other state that has implemented the compact. Missouri and Iowa, Graceland's two campus states, joined on the same day: January 19, 2018.
| State | Nurse Licensure Compact |
|---|---|
| Missouri | Implemented January 19, 2018 |
| Iowa | Implemented January 19, 2018 |
| Kansas | Implemented July 1, 2019 |
| Nebraska | Implemented January 19, 2018 |
| Oklahoma | Implemented January 19, 2018 |
| Arkansas | Implemented January 19, 2018 |
| Illinois | Not a member |
| Minnesota | Not a member |
Nine states are outside it altogether. In the Midwest that means Illinois, Michigan and Minnesota; on the coasts, New York, California and Oregon; and Alaska, Hawaii and Nevada as well. Massachusetts has passed the compact and is still implementing it. A practicum in any of these needs that state's own RN license. For students near St. Louis or the Quad Cities, Illinois is the neighbor to watch, because an out-of-state multistate license gives you no right to practice across the Illinois line.
State boards add rules of their own for students. Iowa's board requires an active Iowa or multistate license of every post-licensure student in a clinical setting in the state. Kansas treats an APRN student at a Kansas clinical site as working on their RN license, which can be a Kansas single-state license or a multistate one.
PMHNP telehealth: the patient's state counts
PMHNP students may complete up to two terms or 450 hours of practicum as telehealth, and that brings a third licensing question. Graceland's handbook says the law requires the student to be licensed in whatever state a telehealth patient is sitting in during the appointment, and the preceptor must be licensed there too.
The handbook adds that a compact license and compact states meet this requirement. A multistate license covers patients who join from other compact states. A patient who joins from California, New York or another state outside the compact needs a license from that state. Before you commit to a telehealth-heavy preceptor, ask where their patients usually join from. The PMHNP telehealth page covers the hour limits.
BSN-to-DNP students and moves mid-program
Graceland's graduate catalog asks every MSN applicant for a current, unencumbered RN license in the United States or its territories. The BSN-to-DNP is the exception in timing: it admits students after the BSN is complete, and Graceland's DNP catalog requires them to pass NCLEX and hold an RN license within the first trimester of the program. That license then has to meet the same home-state and practicum-state tests long before the first NP practicum.
A move changes the picture. A new home state raises a new residence-license question, and possibly a new approved-state question for your practicums. Graceland warns that relocating to another state during a program could affect whether a student can continue. Read the relocation page before you sign a lease in a new state.
Why Graceland students choose us
Your license decides which sites are open to you, so that is where our search starts. Your placement advisor confirms your home state, your license type and any state lines within driving distance before the search begins, and every preceptor and site we bring you sits where your license lets you practice.
When a clinic across a state line is the best fit, we tell you before you commit, so there is time for a verification or a second license. For PMHNP students planning telehealth hours, we confirm where the preceptor's patients are located. Each match comes with the preceptor license details Appendix B asks for, ready for Graceland's review. Send your state and track through the form below to begin.
Questions Graceland students ask
Does Graceland accept a copy of my RN license?
No. Graceland's handbook says a copy of the RN license is no longer accepted as proof. You must provide verification of licensure from the appropriate state board and upload it to the Medical Document Manager in Castle Branch, for your home state and for each state where your practicum hours will happen.
I live in Kansas. Can I do Graceland practicum hours in Missouri?
Kansas and Missouri have both implemented the compact, so if your Kansas license is multistate, it covers practice in Missouri. Graceland also requires the practicum state to be one where it is approved to offer practicum experiences, and it publishes no list, so confirm with the School of Nursing and upload a board verification of your license.
Must my Graceland preceptor be licensed where I live?
Graceland requires the preceptor to hold a current, unencumbered license where the practicum site is, which may differ from where you live. The exception is PMHNP telehealth: both the preceptor and the student must be licensed in the state where each patient is during the appointment.
What if my license had a board action years ago?
Graceland's handbook says licenses cannot have any adverse action by any state, even if the license is still considered unencumbered, and that wording reaches past actions in other states. Talk to your track coordinator before you apply or submit practicum paperwork, so you know how the School of Nursing views your situation.
Do I need another license for a practicum in a non-compact state?
Yes. A practicum in a state outside the compact, such as Illinois, Minnesota, California or New York, needs that state's own unencumbered RN license, and Graceland must be approved to offer practicum experiences there. Apply early, because the board verification has to be in Castle Branch by your paperwork deadline.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-25
We check these pages against Graceland's own catalog, program pages and Graduate Student Handbook. Your handbook, your track coordinator and the contract coordinators have the final word.
Graceland's practicums are arranged by you, with Graceland's help. We do the searching.
Tell us your Graceland track, your city and your next practicum. We find preceptors who fit the course, line up what Appendix A and Appendix B ask for, and aim everything at Graceland's paperwork deadline for your term.
- Preceptors matched to the course: primary care for FNP, hospital and ICU clinicians for AGACNP, psychiatrists and PMHNPs for PMHNP
- Site address, contract contact and preceptor details ready before the June 15, October 15 or February 15 deadline
- Close to home in your approved state, with a second preceptor planned for Graceland's two-preceptor rule
Start your placement plan
Track, city and practicum start is all we need to begin.