The RN license you need for USI clinicals, state by state
The University of Southern Indiana requires an unencumbered RN license to be admitted, to stay enrolled, and in every state where you see patients as a student. In telehealth the rule follows the patient, so the state on your license has to match the place where the care is received.
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What USI requires, in three places
USI states the license rule at admission, during enrollment and at the clinical site. The Full Admission Requirements page says: "Students must hold an unencumbered license as a Registered Nurse in all states where they will be involved in a clinical setting." The handbook's compliance rules add that keeping an unencumbered RN license is required for continued enrollment, not only for getting in.
You also sign to it. The Graduate Nursing Professional Behavior Agreement, which is uploaded to your CastleBranch (DISA) account, has you initial a line accepting that you need an unencumbered RN license in each state where you take part in clinical experiences.
Unencumbered means the license carries no restrictions, conditions or discipline from a board. A license that is active but restricted does not meet USI's rule, even in the state where you work every day.
How USI checks your license
Your license details go on Part One of the Preceptor Packet (Form G), which asks for your nursing license number and state along with your USI course and term. The office-use box on page 2 carries separate checks for the student's license and the preceptor's license, and the approval steps that follow come after both are verified. The Preceptor Packet page covers the rest of Form G.
Once you begin, the host state's rules govern what you do. USI expects you to practice within the Nurse Practice Act of the state where your clinical experiences take place, and to follow that state's scope of practice for any procedure. A student who lives in one state and completes hours in another follows the second state's rules for those hours.
The Nurse Licensure Compact across the tri-state
Many USI students live near Evansville and look for preceptors in Indiana, Kentucky or Illinois. The three states sit differently under the Nurse Licensure Compact, according to NCSBN's implementation data:
| State | Compact status | What it means for a USI clinical |
|---|---|---|
| Indiana | Member, in effect since July 1, 2020 | A multistate license from a compact home state can carry a privilege to practice here |
| Kentucky | Member, in effect since January 19, 2018 | The same multistate privilege applies |
| Illinois | Not a member | A multistate license gives no privilege; plan on an Illinois RN license |
USI's handbook words its rule as a license in every state where you do clinicals and does not say how it treats a multistate privilege. If you plan to rely on one, confirm with the Nursing Clinical Coordinator before the packet goes in. Kentucky's board also publishes its own position on students from out-of-state programs, covered on the Kentucky clinicals page.
The separate APRN Compact does not change any of this yet. Only five states (Delaware, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming) have enacted it, and it does not operate until seven do. Your student clinicals rest on your RN license either way.
Telehealth follows the patient
For FNP and PMHNP students, telehealth hours raise a second licensing question. USI's Course Requirements page says "The student must be licensed in the same state where the patient is located during the encounter." Both you and the preceptor have to be in the same room at the approved clinic, with only the patient connecting from elsewhere, and the patient's location decides which license applies.
A practice near a state line can see patients from two or three states in one afternoon. Before you count a telehealth encounter, check where that patient was and whether your license covers that state. Telephone-only visits and asynchronous messages earn no clinical credit at all, so the check matters for the live encounters you actually count. The hour caps and the same-room rule are on the telehealth hours page.
Moving or crossing a state line mid-program
Your license and your address are linked in USI's rules. The online graduate programs work only with certain states; relocating to a state outside the recognized list means you cannot go on with coursework unless you are on active military status, and you must notify the Program Chair and APRN Director before you relocate. The relocation page walks through that process, and the licensure disclosure page shows where residents cannot enroll.
A move can also change which license you would list. Update the Nursing Clinical Coordinator before your next Preceptor Packet goes in, since the license number on Form G has to match what the program verifies. Alaska adds its own step: APRN students there apply to the Alaska Board of Nursing for a preceptorship and the program selects the preceptor (the Alaska rule).
How we match sites to your license
Every preceptor and site we propose sits in a state where you can practice as an RN, and we confirm that before an introduction, not after. For students near Evansville, that means weighing Indiana and Kentucky options first and treating any Illinois site as one that needs its own license, and it means flagging practices with a heavy telehealth load whose patients cross state lines.
We record your license and your preceptor's credentials exactly as Form G asks, so both verifications move cleanly, and we plan the full Fall, Spring and Summer sequence around the states where you hold a license. For the step-by-step view, read how it works; the form below opens your search.
Questions USI students ask
Does a multistate license from Indiana cover clinicals in Kentucky?
Indiana and Kentucky are both Nurse Licensure Compact states, so a multistate license with Indiana as your home state normally carries a privilege to practice in Kentucky. USI's own wording asks for an RN license in every state where you do clinicals, so confirm with the Nursing Clinical Coordinator that your multistate privilege satisfies the program before you count on it.
Can I do USI clinicals in Illinois with an Indiana license?
Plan on getting an Illinois RN license. Illinois is not a compact member, so a multistate license from Indiana or Kentucky gives no practice privilege there, and USI requires a license in every state where you take part in clinical experiences. Apply early, so the Illinois license is in hand before your site goes through USI's verification.
What happens if my RN license is restricted during the program?
USI makes an unencumbered RN license a condition of continued enrollment, not just admission, so a restriction affects your standing in the program. Contact the Graduate Chair and APRN Director right away, and hold off on clinical plans until the program tells you how to proceed.
Do I need my NP license to start USI clinicals?
No. You begin clinicals as a registered nurse working in the student role, and USI's requirements are written around the RN license. The advanced practice license comes after graduation and board certification. The APRN Compact, which would let one advanced practice license work across member states, is still short of the states it needs to operate.
Which license number goes on the Preceptor Packet?
Part One of Form G asks for your nursing license number and the issuing state. Use the license that covers the state where the clinical site sits, since USI verifies the student license before it approves the preceptor and site. If you hold more than one license, list the one that applies to that site.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-25
We check these pages against USI's own bulletin, program pages and Graduate Nursing Handbook. Your handbook, course faculty and the Nursing Clinical Coordinator have the final word.
- University of Southern Indiana, Graduate Nursing Handbook: Full Admission Requirements
- University of Southern Indiana, Graduate Nursing Handbook: Course Requirements
- University of Southern Indiana, Graduate Nursing Professional Behavior Agreement (PDF)
- University of Southern Indiana, Graduate Nursing Program
- NCSBN, Nurse Licensure Compact implementation map (PDF)
USI makes the search your job. We make it the easy part.
Tell us your USI track, your city and your next clinical semester. We find preceptors who fit the NRSG course and fill the Preceptor Packet and Clinical Education Agreement request with typed, complete details, well before USI's 6-week window.
- Preceptors matched to the course: family primary care for FNP, acute care teams for AGACNP, PMHNPs and psychiatrists for PMHNP
- Preceptor license, certification, years of practice and the site's agreement signer ready for the packet
- Fall, Spring and Summer planned together, close to home in a state USI enrolls
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