Lewis NP students in Washington State
Lewis's tables authorize enrollment from Washington and mark every nurse practitioner route as meeting Washington's licensure requirements. Washington also puts a firm gate in front of distance programs: its nursing board, known as WABON, has to approve an out-of-state program before any of its students start a Washington clinical, so settle Lewis's standing with WABON before you plan a local practicum.
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Washington in Lewis's disclosure tables
All 20 graduate nursing tables that Lewis links from its Accreditation and Licensure page mark Washington Yes for enrollment, and the twelve NP tables add Yes for licensure. The board link Lewis prints for Washington goes to a Department of Health nursing commission page, while WABON posts its rules and approved-program list on its own site.
| Lewis program | Authorized to enroll | Meets Washington 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 |
Lewis's NP tables also warn that clinical rotations can be restricted where licensure is possible, and Washington shows why that footnote matters. The state authorization guide covers the other jurisdictions.
WABON approval comes before a Washington clinical
The controlling regulation is WAC 246-840-571. Under it, a school that teaches Washington residents at a distance from another state must first win WABON's approval: it applies, proves its program is equivalent to Washington's standards, oversees and evaluates its students while they train in Washington, holds on to national accreditation and sends WABON an annual report. Only then do Washington placements begin. WABON's approved roster runs from RN-BSN to MSN and NP tracks, and it authorizes those placements for Washington residents only, weighing exceptions individually.
Nothing on Lewis's public pages mentions WABON. Before you count on a Washington site, look Lewis up on WABON's roster of approved distance programs and ask the Clinical Placement Office where Lewis stands. The rule also wants any out-of-state instructor teaching ARNP practice inside Washington to be licensed there as an ARNP, which is Lewis's question to answer, not yours.
In Washington the program's WABON approval comes first and the preceptor second. Confirm Lewis's status before you spend weeks lining up a site.
Who may precept an ARNP student in Washington
Washington's education rules set two preceptor conditions of their own. No family members and no personal friends may precept an ARNP student, and the preceptor's license, whether ARNP, MD or DO, must be active and unencumbered, with an equivalent license from another state accepted. Lewis's faculty then apply their own approval, so both layers have to be satisfied.
AANP rates Washington full practice, so an established ARNP preceptor typically practices on independent authority. Washington's legislature-created preceptorship grant, run by WABON, excludes programs based outside Washington even when every hour is logged in the state, so precepting a Lewis student falls outside it. The rules may also shift: WABON opened rulemaking on its education chapter with a CR-101 filing in December 2025, partly to ease clinical placement barriers.
Where Washington NP students look
Census estimates for 2025 count roughly 4.2 million people in greater Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, some 608,000 around Spokane, about 545,000 Washingtonians in the Vancouver end of the Portland metro and about 324,000 in Kennewick-Richland. The big names are Providence, a Renton-based system that includes Providence Swedish, along with UW Medicine and PeaceHealth, plus MultiCare Health System and Virginia Mason Franciscan Health, and every one sets its own student process.
Oregon is outside the compact and outside Lewis's enrollment list, so a Vancouver-area student is better off keeping the search on the Washington side unless Lewis directs otherwise. FNP students need four settings in all, and the FNP guide lays out each practicum.
Licensing and why Washington students choose us
Washington began issuing multistate compact licenses at the end of January 2024, so a nurse whose primary residence is Washington can now practice across compact states on one license. Illinois is not in the compact; Lewis's FAQ option of an Illinois license plus an Illinois practicum starts with IDFPR, and the RN license guide has each program's wording.
Lewis asks NP students to identify their own preceptors, with the Clinical Placement Office facilitating and faculty approving, then filing through the contract portal. In Washington we fold the state's extra rules into that search: we confirm the WABON question is settled, screen out preceptors the rule excludes, match each candidate to your exact Lewis course, and deliver a complete portal package early. Start on the request form.
Questions Lewis students ask
Is Lewis approved by WABON for clinical placements in Washington?
Lewis's public pages are silent on it. WABON makes out-of-state distance programs earn its approval before their students set foot in a Washington clinical, and it publishes the approved roster. Look for Lewis there and ask the Clinical Placement Office before counting on a Washington site, because under WAC 246-840-571 the approval precedes everything else.
Could my ARNP friend or a relative be my preceptor in Washington?
No. Under Washington's education rules, whoever precepts an ARNP student must be neither family nor a personal friend of that student, and must hold an active, unencumbered ARNP, MD or DO license, or a comparable one from another state. Lewis's faculty approve every preceptor on top of that, so both sets of rules apply.
Could Washington's clinical placement rules change soon?
They might. WABON's CR-101 filing of December 2025 opened rulemaking across the education sections of chapter 246-840 WAC, with easing clinical placement barriers among the goals. Until new rules are adopted, the current approval requirement stands, so ask Lewis each term whether anything has changed.
What RN license does a Lewis practicum in Washington need?
An RN license valid in Washington. That can be Washington's own, or, because Washington joined the compact in 2024, a multistate license from your compact home state. Lewis's MSN asks for a license in Illinois or your state of practice, the BSN to DNP names the practicum state, and a DNP residency needs a license in the residency state.
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.
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