How Washington's rules shape who can precept a Gonzaga student
Gonzaga is a Washington nursing program, so Washington's education rules sit underneath its preceptor requirements. The state also sets the nurse practitioner's scope, changes the title from ARNP to APRN in 2027, and runs a grant for nurse preceptors of in-state programs. Here is what each of those means for your placement.
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Why Washington's rules reach every Gonzaga student
Gonzaga's Department of Nursing appears on WABON's approved in-state program list dated August 24, 2026, covering the MSN FNP and PMHNP tracks and the DNP. As an in-state program it follows WABON's education rules, WAC 246-840-500 through 246-840-571, and its clinical packets cite one by number: WAC 246-840-533, the rule on preceptors and faculty oversight. Gonzaga's own criteria, on the preceptor requirements page, are built on top of it.
In-state status also shapes access. WABON authorizes out-of-state programs' Washington placements for Washington residents only, a limit that comes from WAC 246-840-571 and does not reach Gonzaga. The board itself is the Washington State Board of Nursing, known as WABON since July 24, 2023 and formerly the Nursing Care Quality Assurance Commission.
What WAC 246-840-533 asks of a preceptor
The rule sets a floor under every Gonzaga placement.
- A nursing preceptor holds an active, unencumbered license at or above the level the student is preparing for, which for an NP student means an ARNP, with at least a year of experience at that level.
- An interdisciplinary preceptor, a licensed provider who is not a nurse, such as an MD, DO or PA, may precept with a license and a year of experience suited to the learning objectives.
- Every preceptor is oriented in advance to the course objectives and to written expectations for the role.
- The preceptor is not immediate family and has no financial, business or professional relationship that would get in the way of an impartial evaluation.
- A preceptor supervises no more than two students at any one time.
- Faculty confer with each primary preceptor and the student at the beginning, middle and end of the experience.
That last line is the source of Gonzaga's three points of contact, and the relationship line is why a direct supervisor cannot precept you. WABON opened rulemaking on these sections in December 2025, so watch the board's page for changes.
Full practice and the compact
The American Association of Nurse Practitioners classes Washington as a full practice state. For your search, that means NP-led primary care and psychiatric practices are part of the landscape, and a clinic run by nurse practitioners is exactly what an FNP student needs to meet Gonzaga's rule that at least half of the hours are with an NP. The FNP nurse practitioner hours rule covers how to plan that share.
Washington also belongs to the Nurse Licensure Compact, implemented on January 31, 2024 according to NCSBN's table. A multistate Washington RN license carries a privilege to practice as an RN in other compact states, among them Idaho, Montana, Arizona, Utah and Wyoming within Gonzaga's ten. Oregon, California, Nevada and Alaska sit outside the compact, and an ARNP license remains a Washington license either way.
ARNP now, APRN from June 30, 2027
House Bill 2416 changes Washington's protected title from ARNP to Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN) on June 30, 2027. Until then, legal documents and prescriptions use ARNP, although current ARNPs may already use APRN in advertising. On your site request, list the preceptor's credential as it appears on the license, which in Washington means ARNP through mid-2027.
The change touches your own path as well, since students starting the MSN in 2027 finish after the switch. WABON's ARNP license asks for an active Washington RN license or a multistate RN license from another compact state, national certification sent directly by the certifying body, and an official transcript sent by the school after the degree posts. A graduate who waits more than a year without practicing needs an interim permit and 125 supervised hours for each year since graduation, up to 1,000, so plan certification soon after you finish.
Washington's preceptor grant, as a state mechanism
The legislature created the Washington State Student Nurse Preceptorship Grant, and WABON runs it. It is aimed at nurse preceptors, not at programs or students.
- Who qualifies: licensed LPNs, RNs and ARNPs who meet WAC 246-840-533, have at least a year of experience and work at an approved clinical practice site, meaning one with an affiliation agreement with an approved Washington nursing program. MD, DO and PA preceptors are not eligible.
- Which precepting counts: at least 80 hours with the same student, and at most two students per term. ARNP students count in any clinical term. Out-of-state programs do not qualify, even for hours in Washington.
- How it runs: the preceptor registers for a Statewide Vendor Number with the Office of Financial Management and files a Preceptor Hours Reporting Form, and the nursing program sends WABON a Preceptorship Verification of Hours form. Claims run in quarterly cycles with set deadlines.
Because Gonzaga is an in-state program, ARNP preceptors of Gonzaga NP students in Washington appear to fit the rules. Gonzaga's public pages do not say whether it files the verification form, so a preceptor should ask the Clinical Placement Team, and nurses employed by a government body, such as the VA, should check ethics rules first. WABON's preceptor page has the current cycle dates.
How we apply Washington's rules in your search
Every Washington preceptor we propose is screened against the state floor and Gonzaga's criteria together: the right license level, a year of experience, no family or reporting relationship with you, and room under the two-student cap for your term. We point preceptors to the guides and course objectives on Gonzaga's Preceptor Portal, which support the advance orientation the rule calls for.
When a preceptor already has a student from another program, we confirm the dates so your term fits under the two-student cap rather than colliding with it. The result is a request that clears Washington's rule and Gonzaga's in one pass. For where to find those preceptors, from Spokane to Vancouver, see Washington NP preceptors.
Questions Gonzaga students ask
Can a family friend precept me in Washington?
Washington's rule bars immediate family and any financial, business or professional relationship that could compromise an impartial evaluation, and Gonzaga adds that a preceptor may not be your direct supervisor. A friendship is a judgment call for faculty, so disclose it on your request. For DNP students, the agency liaison checklist rules out friends outright.
Can a physician precept me under Washington's rule?
Yes. WAC 246-840-533 allows interdisciplinary preceptors such as MDs, DOs and PAs with a license and a year of relevant experience. For FNP students, Gonzaga still requires at least half of your hours with a nurse practitioner, so a physician works best as one part of the semester's preceptor mix.
Does the Washington preceptor grant apply outside Washington?
The grant covers nurse preceptors at approved clinical sites in Washington working with approved Washington programs. A Gonzaga student precepting in Oregon or Arizona falls outside it, and physician and PA preceptors fall outside it everywhere. Other states among Gonzaga's ten have their own rules, set out in each state guide.
Should my site request say ARNP or APRN?
Use what appears on the preceptor's license. Washington's title stays ARNP for legal documents and prescriptions until June 30, 2027, when APRN becomes the protected title. Preceptors in other states may already hold an APRN license, and faculty check the credential against the state where you are precepted.
Could WAC 246-840-533 change before I finish?
It could. WABON filed a CR-101 notice on December 5, 2025 to reopen its nursing education rules, WAC 246-840-500 through 246-840-571, including barriers to clinical placement. Until new rules are adopted the current text applies. Check WABON's rulemaking notices, and ask course faculty if a change affects your term.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-25
We check these pages against Gonzaga's catalog, FAQs, preceptor packets and Department of Nursing pages. Your course, the Graduate Nursing Student Handbook and Gonzaga's Clinical Placement Team have the final word.
Gonzaga asks you to find local preceptors first. Let us run that search.
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NURS 661PtoNURS 664P, psychiatric care forNURS 661MtoNURS 663M, an agency liaison for the DNP - Credentials, license, board certification and site contact ready for your site request
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