Graceland University NP practicums in Mississippi
Graceland University's June 2020 MSN chart marks Mississippi "Yes" and adds that the state asks for nothing further on licensure. Practicums follow a different track. In Mississippi it is the Institutions of Higher Learning board, not the nursing board, that expects an out-of-state program to pass a review before its students train in the state.
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Mississippi's rows, read plainly
Graceland's charts all date from June 2020, with no update since.
| Program | Mississippi answer | In practice |
|---|---|---|
| MSN (all three NP tracks, RN-to-MSN, certificates) | Yes | The row says the state needs nothing more, points to NONPF's criteria for evaluating NP programs, and names a graduate degree that qualifies you for national certification, which Graceland says its MSN provides. |
| DNP | No (post-licensure) | Expected for a degree you begin as a licensed nurse; no license comes out of it. |
| RN to BSN | No (post-licensure) | Also expected: it builds on an RN license you already hold. |
| BSN to RN | Unknown | Graceland's campus pre-licensure degree targets Iowa licensure, and Mississippi's board has not approved it. |
"Nothing needed by state" is about licensure once you graduate. Whether Graceland can place you in a Mississippi clinic this year is an approved-states question for the School of Nursing, a distinction the licensure disclosures guide unpacks.
IHL, not the nursing board, reviews out-of-state clinicals
Mississippi divides nursing oversight unusually. The nursing board's approval role covers practical nursing programs. RN degree programs, graduate ones from other states included, answer to the university governing board, IHL (Institutions of Higher Learning).
IHL counts a clinical practicum inside Mississippi as physical presence. An outside program whose students train here is expected to meet Mississippi's standards and pass a review by IHL Nursing Education, a process IHL says may last as long as three months. Appendix S of its procedures manual, dated August 2024, has such programs submit the request no less than four months ahead of the start. The program must also be a SARA participant or, failing that, get distance-education authorization from MCCA. Graceland's NC-SARA membership, held since February 2016, answers that second condition, though not the review.
None of it is yours to file, but it is a good reason to ask your track coordinator early whether Mississippi is approved for your practicum term.
Collaborative practice and the Mississippi map
AANP puts Mississippi among its reduced-practice states: each NP practices under a collaborative arrangement the board has approved, with a physician or dentist licensed in Mississippi. Graceland's pool of preceptors is narrower than that list of collaborators, taking NPs and board-certified or board-eligible physicians and never physician assistants; see who cannot precept you.
Around Jackson, students ask at University of Mississippi Medical Center and at Mississippi Baptist Medical Center, which belongs to Memphis-based Baptist Memorial Health Care. The Gulfport-Biloxi coast and the Hattiesburg area are the other large markets, and Singing River Health System, Forrest Health and North Mississippi Health Services are further names on students' lists. Each keeps its own student process: leads, not confirmed hosts. No Mississippi preceptor incentive is on record.
The north carries a catch. Part of the Memphis metro lies in Mississippi, but its core sits in Tennessee, one of the five states where, per the June 2020 chart, Graceland's MSN won't carry you to licensure. A clinic across that line is a Tennessee practicum with its own approval question.
Licensing for Mississippi practicum hours
Under IHL's standards, a licensed nurse enrolled in an APRN clinical course must carry an unencumbered RN license valid for the state hosting the clinical, and programs from elsewhere that train students here are held to the same bar. Mississippi is a compact state; the current compact took effect there on January 19, 2018.
Graceland has each relevant board, home state and practicum state alike, verify your license; the RN license guide covers how. PMHNP students seeing telehealth patients need licensure where each patient is, and a multistate license reaches only compact states.
Why Mississippi Graceland students choose us
We plan Mississippi searches around the state's longer review clock, so your sites are named well before Graceland's own paperwork deadlines arrive. We gather the preceptor license, credentials and experience and the site's contract contact that Appendix A asks for, keep your search on the Mississippi side of the line unless Graceland has cleared another state, and have the second preceptor lined up from the first conversation. Should a preceptor leave partway through a term, we are already searching for the next one. Start with your course and town.
Questions Graceland students ask
Does "Nothing needed by state" mean my Mississippi practicum needs no approval?
No. That wording from Graceland's June 2020 MSN chart concerns licensure after graduation. Clinical training by out-of-state programs falls under IHL, which expects to review the program before its students train in Mississippi. Ask the School of Nursing whether Mississippi is an approved practicum state for you right now.
Can I train at a Memphis clinic if I live in north Mississippi?
Only if Graceland approves Tennessee as a practicum state for you, and the June 2020 chart puts Tennessee on its short "does not" list for the MSN. Tennessee belongs to the compact too, so your Mississippi multistate license would usually handle the RN side, but Graceland's approval comes first.
Is a Mississippi multistate license enough for hours in Alabama or Louisiana?
On the license itself, generally yes, because both neighbors belong to the compact. Each sets its own terms for programs based elsewhere, though, and Graceland approves every practicum state separately. The Alabama and Louisiana guides lay out what those states expect.
How early should a Mississippi student start looking for a preceptor?
IHL asks outside programs to request their review at least four months ahead, and Graceland's handbook warns that the search can need a year's head start, sometimes more. Starting early gives both processes room.
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
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