Spring Arbor nursing clinicals in Michigan

01Michigan at a glance

Michigan is on SAU's authorized list, and SAU's main licensure disclosure names Michigan as the state where its nursing programs may lead to licensure or certification. For other states, SAU says it is still determining, program by program, whether their requirements are met, and it sends students to their own board.

02Home campus: the residency and what SAU places itself

SAU's main campus lies some eight miles west of Jackson, in Spring Arbor itself. MSN students come here once for NUR 602R, a four-day residency tied to NUR 602 health assessment that ends with a head-to-toe check-off. BSN-entry students attend in year two, RN-to-MSN students in year three. Under the 2023-24 catalog you pass it before any practicum; confirm your current sequence in Brightspace. See our residency page.

Living near campus doesn't change who finds your preceptor. SAU places its own campus BSN and ABSN students, the ABSN at sites within 75 miles of Spring Arbor, and the campus BSN has named Henry Ford Allegiance Health and Hillsdale Hospital as partners. Online MSN, certificate and DNP students still choose their own preceptor where they live, and faculty approve it.

03Who can precept you in Michigan

AANP rates Michigan as restricted, because a physician has to delegate an NP's controlled-substance prescribing. That limits the NP's own prescribing, not their ability to teach you. SAU's 2023-24 catalog accepts a certified NP, a physician or a PA for NP practicums, each local and approved by faculty, and NUR 780B also allows a master's-prepared nurse in a specialty field.

A Michigan detail helps when you vet an NP. Michigan grants its NP specialty certification only on top of a current Michigan RN license and a national certification the Board accepts, so a preceptor's Michigan NP credential tells faculty a good deal and is worth confirming through LARA.

Many searches begin with the big systems: Trinity Health Michigan, McLaren Health Care, University of Michigan Health, Corewell Health and Henry Ford Health. The Detroit, Grand Rapids, Lansing and Flint metros hold most of the state's people. Large systems may want an affiliation agreement in place, so ask SAU whether one exists before you approach a clinic.

04Licensing: a Michigan license, not a compact one

Michigan is not a compact state; a bill to join, HB 4246, is pending. A multistate license from another state therefore does not let you practice here, and SAU's catalog asks for an unrestricted RN license in your state of practice. Already licensed in Michigan? You're set. Moving in? Apply early, because Michigan wants a criminal background check, one-time training on spotting human trafficking, and two hours of implicit bias training done within five years before the license issues. More in RN license for clinicals.

05Why Spring Arbor students in Michigan choose us

Start with what SAU offers: the program director keeps a list of local clinicians who have volunteered to host SAU students, and you can check which nearby sites already hold SAU agreements. We add leads across Michigan, test each against your track's preceptor rules, and ready the clinical agreement, affiliation and preceptor verification paperwork before SAU's four-week mark. Then SAU's own faculty decide on each Michigan preceptor and site, and a home-state file built this way gives them nothing to chase. Share your track and start term through the contact form.