Spring Arbor clinicals in Minnesota

01Minnesota and SAU's programs

Minnesota is one of the 46 states on SAU's authorized list. SAU faculty approve each preceptor and site before every rotation; our approval page explains what they review and where approvals stall.

02What Minnesota law says, and what big sites add

The Board approves programs it describes as conducted in Minnesota and has no separate process for schools elsewhere. State law is generous to students who are already nurses: Minn. Stat. 148.271(6) lets an RN licensed elsewhere practice in Minnesota as part of formal study, a graduate degree for example. Minn. R. 6305.0300 subp. 1, which deals with the separate exemption for students in approved programs, requires that whoever oversees those students be licensed and currently registered as a Minnesota RN.

Large sites can ask for more than the statute does. For its NP clinical education program, Mayo Clinic requires four things: a school affiliation agreement, a currently registered and unencumbered Minnesota license, a cleared Minnesota Department of Human Services background study, and an SAU faculty member of record licensed in Minnesota as an RN or APRN. Treat those as the realistic bar at any major system, and see affiliation agreements for how SAU handles them.

03Faculty licensing: a question to ask early

Students report, in 2019 forum posts, that SAU could not support clinicals in some states because it had no clinical instructor licensed there. SAU's current posting for online NP adjunct faculty asks for NPs licensed in a short list of states that includes Minnesota. SAU hasn't said what that means for placements, so ask your program director whether faculty coverage is in place for your Minnesota rotation before you commit a preceptor.

04Who precepts, and where students look

Minnesota NPs must log 2,080 hours under a collaborative arrangement, with a physician or another APRN, before they practice on their own. On SAU's side, the 2023-24 catalog opens NP practicums to local certified NPs, physicians and PAs whom faculty approve.

The Twin Cities hold most of the state's people, with Rochester, Duluth and St. Cloud well behind. Systems worth a call include Allina Health, HealthPartners, Mayo Clinic, Essentia Health and M Health Fairview. One funding note: Minnesota's MERC program helps training sites with clinical education costs, but it pays neither preceptors nor sites for students whose program is based outside Minnesota, so it won't feature in an SAU request.

05Licensing for Minnesota clinicals

Minnesota remains outside the nurse compact, with no pending bill to bring it in. A multistate license from elsewhere therefore doesn't carry practice rights here. The statute's student exemption may cover some out-of-state RNs, but SAU's 2023-24 catalog asks for an unrestricted RN license in the state of practice and sites like Mayo expect a Minnesota license, so plan on holding one. See RN license for clinicals.

06Why Spring Arbor students in Minnesota choose us

Our Minnesota search covers smaller practices as well as the big systems; we check each against your SAU track and build the paperwork, including any site-specific items, before SAU's four-week mark. SAU faculty make the approval call on a file that is already complete. Send us your details.