Delaware clinicals for Spring Arbor nursing students

01SAU programs in Delaware, side by side

SAU authorized Delaware for all its nursing programs as of September 24, 2026. The catch is a board step that, as written, covers every kind of nursing program.

02Delaware's notice rule for schools based elsewhere

Delaware writes its standards for all nursing education programs, without separating graduate study. Under 24 Del. Admin. Code 1900-2.4.1.9.4.1.5, a school from another state must alert the Delaware Board of Nursing before it places anyone in a Delaware clinical facility, and it must hand over a packet first. That packet holds proof of approval by its own board or of national accreditation, copies of its written agreements with each clinical agency, its standards for clinical faculty and preceptors, a list pairing faculty and preceptors with their sites, and copies of their Delaware or compact licenses.

The paragraph right before that one adds a second gate: each facility needs the board's approval, based on forms the school files, before a student can be assigned to it, and board staff may inspect the site. All of that sits with SAU, but it stacks time on top of SAU's four-week paperwork deadline, so ask the program director how early SAU needs your Delaware site named.

03Choosing a preceptor who fits Delaware and SAU

Delaware's definition of a preceptor is narrow, a licensed nurse whose education runs to at least a bachelor's in nursing, and anyone teaching or precepting in a Delaware facility for an online program must be licensed or privileged at or above the level you are training for (1900-2.4.1.5.17). For an NP student, that points toward an NP preceptor.

SAU's NP tracks also accept physicians and PAs. Before you line up either one in Delaware, ask SAU's program director how the board's nurse-based definition is handled. Our preceptor requirements page lays out SAU's own list.

AANP ranks Delaware as full practice, meaning NPs there need no physician agreement to practice. Students look around Wilmington, which sits in the greater Philadelphia metro, and around Dover and Seaford. Systems include Bayhealth, Beebe Healthcare, ChristianaCare, and Nemours Children's Health, a multi-state pediatric system that runs a children's hospital in Wilmington; PNP-PC students may want to ask there.

04Licensing: the RN compact now, the APRN compact later

Delaware took part in the current Nurse Licensure Compact from its first day, January 19, 2018, so your home state's multistate license is good for clinical work there, and the board's packet itself accepts compact licenses for faculty and preceptors. SAU still wants an unrestricted RN license where you practice; our RN license page has the detail.

Delaware adopted the separate APRN Compact on August 4, 2021. That compact needs seven member states to operate and had five as of 2026, so NP licenses remain state by state for now.

05Why Spring Arbor students in Delaware choose us

Because the board wants names and licenses early, we aim to settle your Delaware preceptor sooner than we would elsewhere, and we collect the license copies, agreement and site details SAU needs for its own review and for the board's packet in one pass. Every approval decision stays with SAU faculty, and we start both files early. Talk to a placement advisor.