Tennessee: where Graceland University's MSN stops and what still applies
Graceland University's June 2020 chart gives Tennessee a flat answer: the MSN, with its NP tracks and certificates, will not lead to licensure there. Tennessee lawmakers have since turned to nursing schools from other states, so an up-to-date reply from Graceland matters more than ever. This page is for Tennessee DNP and RN-BSN students, nurses moving in or out, and residents checking their status.
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Graceland's Tennessee rows, June 2020
| Chart | Answer printed | How to read it |
|---|---|---|
| MSN, with the RN-to-MSN and post-graduate certificates | NO | The MSN "will not lead to licensure in the state of Tennessee." Do not count on it for a Tennessee NP license. |
| DNP | No | Post-licensure wording: the degree creates no license in any state. |
| RN to BSN | No | The same post-licensure wording; your current RN license carries you. |
| BSN to RN | Unknown | The on-campus pre-licensure program, which prepares graduates for Iowa licensure. |
The Tennessee MSN row gives no reason for its answer. The School of Nursing, reachable through the contact on its web page, can say whether anything has changed; the licensure disclosures guide reads the chart as a whole.
A 2026 bill aimed at programs from other states
SB 2013 (HB 1905 in the House), titled the Nursing Education Integrity and Oversight Act, directs the Board of Nursing to freeze, for two years, new approvals for any nursing school headquartered in another state that seeks to run, admit students or send them to clinical sites in Tennessee, with no carve-out for RN-BSN or APRN programs.
Schools approved before the law starts keep that approval but must hand over data on request, preceptor lists included, and by June 30, 2027 the state's Center for Nursing Advancement is to propose standards for schools elsewhere that use Tennessee preceptors and sites.
Two cautions. One secondary report gives April 27, 2026 as the date, but official enactment could not be confirmed, and no current board rule was found requiring approval before a clinical placement. Whether Graceland holds any Tennessee approval is for the School of Nursing to answer.
Supervision rules and Tennessee's large systems
AANP rates Tennessee restricted. NPs there work under physician supervision, with caps on Schedule II-IV prescribing and on the size of opioid supplies.
Nurses studying in Tennessee commonly look at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare in Memphis, Covenant Health around Knoxville, Erlanger in Chattanooga and Ballad Health in the northeast corner. Each writes its own terms for students.
The THA preceptor incentive and its school list
A state grant funds a preceptor incentive run by the Tennessee Hospital Association with the Tennessee Center for Health Workforce Development. While funds last, it rewards nurse preceptors with an unrestricted Tennessee or multistate license who log at least 70 hours teaching a student one on one and finish the UTHSC preceptor course.
Eligible students normally attend accredited Tennessee programs, though schools in Missouri, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Virginia and Kentucky qualify when the hours happen in Tennessee. Graceland's School of Nursing sits in Independence, Missouri, while Iowa's board approves its graduate programs, so a preceptor should ask THA before relying on it. The fall 2026 window is August 1 through December 1, with paperwork due December 10.
Licenses, telehealth and patients located in Tennessee
Tennessee has been in the compact since the current version started on January 19, 2018, so nurses holding a multistate license from their compact home state can work there as RNs. Each license you train on still needs a board verification for Graceland.
Tennessee matters to some students who never live there. If you are a Graceland PMHNP student elsewhere and your telehealth preceptor sees patients located in Tennessee, you need a license valid where each patient sits, and Graceland notes that a compact license can meet that. See PMHNP telehealth hours.
Who we help from Tennessee
Tennessee nurses in Graceland's post-licensure programs, the DNP and the RN-BSN, are this page's main readers, with one caveat: the 2026 bill does not set post-licensure programs apart, so get the School of Nursing's word before planning practice hours or a practice experience in Tennessee.
When Graceland tells you where hours may happen, we get to work on that map: DNP students get a practice site and mentor matched to the project, RN-BSN students an organization that fits the course, and NP students cleared for a nearby meets state such as Georgia get preceptors whose Appendix A and Appendix B details are already gathered. Moving? Read relocating during the program, then use the form below.
Questions Graceland students ask
Can I earn Graceland's PMHNP while living in Tennessee?
Graceland's June 2020 chart says the MSN, PMHNP track included, will not lead to licensure in Tennessee, so a Tennessee NP license should not be the plan. Find out from the School of Nursing if Tennessee residents are admitted today, and from the Tennessee Board of Nursing what APRN licensure requires.
Is Tennessee's moratorium on out-of-state programs in force?
Our research could not confirm official enactment. The bill says it takes effect on becoming law, and one secondary report dates that April 27, 2026. Check the General Assembly's bill page and the Board of Nursing for its status, and ask the School of Nursing what it means for you.
Is there a neighboring state where Graceland's MSN meets requirements?
Six of the eight states around Tennessee: Virginia, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas and Missouri. Kentucky and North Carolina are marked no. A practicum across the line would not turn the Tennessee answer into a yes, since each row speaks only for its own state, and it would still need the School of Nursing's sign-off.
I'm a Tennessee APRN starting Graceland's DNP. Does the chart matter?
The DNP row is post-licensure wording: you keep practicing on your current licenses and the doctorate adds none. The live question is where your practice hours happen. Graceland expects them near home, supervised by a practice mentor at an agreed site, and the 2026 bill makes it worth asking about Tennessee specifically.
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.
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