Lewis NP clinicals in Virginia
Lewis authorizes online enrollment from Virginia and marks every nurse practitioner route, MSN, BSN to DNP and certificate, as meeting Virginia's licensure requirements. Virginia itself adds little paperwork: its nursing board keeps no approval process for a program like Lewis's, and a state statute lets RNs licensed elsewhere do the clinical hours an advanced curriculum demands. The real task in Virginia is the preceptor search.
Get your placement plan
Tell us your Lewis program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with preceptor and site options in your community that fit your Lewis course.
Virginia on Lewis's NC-SARA tables
Lewis's disclosure tables, linked from its Accreditation and Licensure page and created in March 2026, say Yes to enrollment from Virginia on all 20 graduate nursing programs. On the NP tables the licensure column reads Yes as well.
| Lewis program | Authorized to enroll | Meets Virginia licensure requirements |
|---|---|---|
| MSN NP: FNP, AGACNP, AGPCNP, PMHNP | Yes | Yes |
| BSN to DNP, four NP tracks | Yes | Yes |
| Certificate of Advanced Study, four NP tracks | Yes | Yes |
| DNP, Nursing Education, Healthcare Systems Leadership, MSN/MBA | Yes | No licensure column: no separate state license |
| School Nurse, MSN and non-degree | Yes | No: approved for Illinois only |
Each NP table still carries Lewis's footnote about possible restrictions on clinical rotations in a given state. Virginia's place among Lewis's authorized jurisdictions is set out in the state authorization guide.
No state approval step, plus a clinical exemption
For an Illinois graduate program, the Virginia Board of Nursing is not a gatekeeper. Its education page says programs for already-licensed nurses, and programs based outside Virginia, sit beyond its regulatory reach, and the Virginia rules that do govern clinical sites, including the requirement that most clinical hours happen inside Virginia, bind the state's own prelicensure schools.
The licensure exemptions in Va. Code § 54.1-3001 go a step further for a Lewis NP student licensed in some other state. While you are enrolled in an advanced nursing program whose curriculum requires clinical practice, that out-of-state RN license, if current and unrestricted, carries you through the required clinical work, and only that work. Lewis's own rule still comes first: practicums beyond Illinois can need Lewis's extra permission, so settle the plan with your program advisor before the term.
Practice agreements and Virginia preceptors
AANP rates Virginia restricted practice. Until a Virginia NP can attest to clinical experience equal to about three full-time years, they practice under a written agreement tying them to a patient care team physician. Your preceptor may therefore be an autonomous NP or one working inside a physician-led team; Lewis's faculty approve either way, so describe the arrangement accurately in your portal request.
Virginia runs a state Nurse Preceptor Incentive Program, moved by SB 405 (signed March 31, 2026) to the Virginia Nursing Workforce Center. It is limited to preceptors of students enrolled at Virginia schools of nursing, so precepting a Lewis student falls outside it; mention that early so your preceptor's expectations are clear.
Where Virginia NP students look
The Census Bureau's 2025 estimates show where Virginians live: Northern Virginia's share of the Washington metro tops 3.1 million, Hampton Roads (the Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk metro) passes 1.7 million, greater Richmond is near 1.4 million and the Roanoke area sits a little above 316,000. Five large systems work across those regions: Sentara Health and Inova, the university-based UVA Health and VCU Health, and Carilion Clinic, and each runs its own student intake.
Northern Virginia students sometimes find a preceptor across the river. The District of Columbia is also on Lewis's authorized list, but DC is not a compact jurisdiction, so a DC site calls for a DC license and its own checks. Wherever you look, AGACNP students need hospital units for NURS 62500 and NURS 62700, and PMHNP students need psychiatric services across the lifespan.
Licensing, and why Virginia students choose us
Compact licensing arrived in Virginia in January 2018, so a nurse whose primary residence is Virginia can hold a multistate RN license valid across compact states. Illinois stands apart from the compact; the option Lewis's FAQ offers, an Illinois license and an Illinois practicum, starts with IDFPR, and the RN license guide covers each program.
Lewis leaves identifying preceptors to its NP students, as the identifying preceptors guide explains, with the Clinical Placement Office facilitating and faculty approving. We do that identifying across Virginia, check each preceptor against the specific Lewis course, and hand you a complete portal package with time to spare for review and any new affiliation agreement. Begin on the request form.
Questions Lewis students ask
Must I hold a Virginia RN license for a Lewis practicum in Virginia?
Not necessarily. Virginia's Code lets an RN whose license from elsewhere is current and unrestricted complete the clinical practice an advanced program requires, and nothing more, without a Virginia license. A Virginia license of your own works too. Lewis's MSN asks for a license in Illinois or your state of practice, so confirm your plan with your track coordinator.
Is there a Virginia approval step Lewis must finish before my clinicals?
Not at the state level. Virginia's nursing board places out-of-state and graduate programs outside its approval work, so Lewis has no Virginia application to file. The approvals that matter are Lewis's own: faculty sign-off on your preceptor and site, a contract request in the portal, and whatever agreement the site requires.
Can my Virginia preceptor join the state's Nurse Preceptor Incentive Program?
Not for a Lewis student. Eligibility hinges on the student's school: it has to be a Virginia public or private nonprofit nursing school, so a preceptor working with a student from an Illinois program does not qualify. Tell a prospective preceptor this at the first conversation so nothing is left unclear.
Is Lewis's online PMHNP program open to Virginia nurses?
Yes. Lewis's PMHNP MSN, PMHNP BSN to DNP and PMHNP certificate tables all authorize enrollment from Virginia and mark the program as meeting Virginia licensure requirements. The psychiatric practicums, NURS 63300, NURS 63500 and NURS 63700, span the lifespan, so plan on both adult and child psychiatric settings; the PMHNP practicums guide explains each course.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-25
We check these pages against Lewis's own catalog, program pages and FAQ, its contract portal and Illinois law. Your course, your track coordinator and the Clinical Placement Office have the final word.
Lewis asks you to identify your preceptor. We do the searching.
Tell us your Lewis program, where you live and when your next practicum starts. We find preceptors near you who fit the course and prepare every detail the contract portal asks for, so your request goes in complete.
- Preceptors matched to the practicum: primary care for
NURS 61100andNURS 61800, acute care forNURS 62500, psychiatric care forNURS 63300 - Preceptor, license and site details ready for your preceptor contract request
- In your own community, anywhere Lewis enrolls you and your RN license is valid
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