Rivier and Rhode Island nursing students
Rhode Island is green in every column of Rivier University's State Guide, and it is one of four states, with Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont, where even the pre-licensure ASN/BSN column is green. NP students there study online, train with a Rhode Island preceptor, and come to Nashua for the campus intensives without leaving New England.
Get your placement plan
Tell us your Rivier program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with the preceptor and site options that fit your Rivier course.
Every column green
| Program | Color | Key |
|---|---|---|
| FNP (MSN and post-master's certificate) | Green | OK to accept |
| PMHNP (MSN and post-master's certificate) | Green | OK to accept |
| Nursing Education (MSN and certificate) | Green | OK to accept |
| Leadership in Health Systems Management | Green | OK to accept |
| DNP (Professional Practice and Systems Leadership) | Green | OK to accept |
| ASN/BSN pre-licensure | Green | OK to accept |
| RN-BSN | Green | OK to accept |
Green is Rivier's code for OK to accept. The chart still has no AG-ACNP line, so acute care applicants should check with the Program Director; the State Guide page has the full key.
What green pre-licensure means for Rhode Islanders
Rivier's BSN, Accelerated BSN and ASN are on-campus programs in Nashua, and Rivier assigns their clinical agencies, which may be anywhere within a 60-mile radius of the University. A green pre-licensure cell tells a Rhode Island applicant that Rivier can accept them; the clinicals stay in Rivier's region. Undergraduates who change state after acceptance give the Dean 90 days' written notice, like graduate students. BSN and ABSN clinicals are covered in detail.
NP practicums in Rhode Island
Rhode Island is in AANP's full practice tier. That makes independent FNPs and PMH-certified NPs genuine preceptor prospects beside physicians and psychiatrists, as long as they have the two years in practice Rivier asks for on your track.
The state has one metro, Providence-Warwick, which spills over into Massachusetts. Brown University Health is one system to research; the others include Care New England, CharterCARE and South County Health, and each posts its own terms for visiting students. Rhode Island's education regulation (216-RICR-40-05-3) is mainly about approving the state's own basic programs; the FAQ below takes up its clinical placement registry.
Your license and campus days
Rhode Island rejoined the compact effective January 1, 2024, and qualified residents have received multistate licenses ever since. One of those satisfies Rivier's practicum-state rule at home and extends to on-campus work in New Hampshire. Rhode Island has no APRN Compact law. The license page handles other situations.
Campus work in Nashua means three FNP intensives adding up to nine days, three weekends for the PMHNP, or ten days for the AG-ACNP; campus intensives lists the dates.
Why Rhode Island students choose us
A small state calls for a thorough search. We canvass Rhode Island practice by practice for preceptors who meet Rivier's rules, confirm each one's license and CV are ready for Rivier's review, and line up the site contact for the contract well before the four-month mark. Rivier's graduate faculty decide on the site, starting from a complete request.
Questions Rivier students ask
Can I take Rivier's Accelerated BSN if I live in Rhode Island?
Rivier can accept you: the State Guide marks Rhode Island green for pre-licensure ASN/BSN. The Accelerated BSN is taught on campus in Nashua, and Rivier assigns its clinical agencies within about 60 miles of the University. Plan to study and train in Rivier's region rather than in Rhode Island.
Will my Rhode Island license cover the FNP intensives in Nashua?
Rivier's older 2018 practicum form linked the FNP's on-campus activities to a New Hampshire RN license. New Hampshire's licensing office, for its part, says a multistate license from a compact state makes a separate New Hampshire license unnecessary. Rhode Island has issued multistate licenses to qualified residents since January 2024; confirm the campus-day rule with your course faculty.
Can an independent nurse practitioner precept me in Rhode Island?
Yes. AANP classifies the state as full practice, so NP-owned practices are real options: an FNP in outpatient family practice for the FNP track, or a PMH-certified nurse for the PMHNP, each with two or more years in practice. Physicians and psychiatrists qualify too under Rivier's Handbook.
Should a Rivier student know about Rhode Island's placement registry?
It helps. Rhode Island requires its own Board-approved schools to prove, through their clinical agency agreements, real involvement in a central registry for clinical placements. Schools from other states go unmentioned in that rule. If your Rhode Island site raises the registry, forward the question to Rivier's Clinical Practicum Coordinator well before the contract is drafted.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-26
We check these pages against Rivier's own Nursing Student Handbook, program sheets, catalog, academic calendar and State Guide. Your program of study, your course faculty, your Program Director and the Clinical Practicum Coordinator have the final word.
Rivier asks you to identify a qualified preceptor. We make that the easy part.
Tell us your Rivier track, where you live and which semester your next practicum starts. We find preceptors who meet your track's rules, check early whether the site can contract with Rivier, and prepare everything the Preceptor Request Form asks for, well ahead of August 1 and December 1.
- Preceptors matched to the track: an MD, DO or FNP in outpatient family practice for
NURS 511, a psychiatrist or PMH-certified NP forNURS 521, a hospitalist or intensivist forNURS 638P - Preceptor license, credentials and CV ready for the Preceptor Request Form, with the site's contact details for the contract
- In your own area, in New Hampshire or any state Rivier's State Guide accepts
Start your placement plan
Track, city and semester is all we need to begin.