Wyoming nurses and UNC Wilmington: the notice rule and your options
Wyoming lets out-of-state schools run graduate and RN-to-BSN clinical experiences on its soil without Board approval, but it wants a letter first and a signed facility contract. That touches UNCW's educator practicums, RN-BSN practice experiences and leadership DNP projects. UNCW's nurse practitioner students sit outside it, because their clinical hours are completed in North Carolina.
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Tell us your UNCW program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with the preceptor and site options that fit your UNCW course.
Three things Wyoming asks of a school based elsewhere
The Wyoming State Board of Nursing sets these out in its Chapter 6 rules, and for post-licensure programs like UNCW's online offerings the list is short.
- Hold a registration or SARA approvalAn outside program registers with the Wyoming Department of Education, or holds NC-SARA approval instead. UNCW has participated in SARA since February 8, 2017.
- Send the Board a letterAhead of each student's clinical learning experience in Wyoming, the program notifies the Board in writing, and a sample cover letter is available from the Board. The rule lists MSN, DNP, APRN and RN-to-BSN programs.
- Contract with the facilityBefore the experience starts, school and facility sign a written contract, and the school keeps a copy ready for the Board.
Wyoming publishes no roster of programs that have filed notices, so there is no list to check UNCW against, and UNCW has not said whether it sends them. Nothing published settles whether a classroom-based educator practicum counts as a clinical learning experience, either. Ask UNCW before you settle on a Wyoming site; its state authorization page is the place to start.
UNCW programs through a Wyoming lens
| UNCW program | Hands-on work in Wyoming? | What to plan for |
|---|---|---|
| MSN Nurse Educator | Yes | A Wyoming educational site, a preceptor licensed where the site is, UNCW's agreement and the Board letter |
| Nurse Educator Post-Graduate Certificate | Yes | A site and preceptor you identify, under the same conditions |
| RN-BSN | Yes | Practice experiences, usually in your current role |
| Post APRN DNP and Nurse Executive Leadership DNP | Yes | The DNP project in your licensed state, often at work |
| FNP, AGPCNP, PMHNP and PMHNP certificate | No | Clinical hours in North Carolina |
Two compacts and full practice authority
Wyoming brought the Nurse Licensure Compact into force in January 2018, which lets a Wyoming multistate license satisfy the compact wording in UNCW's NP and leadership DNP admission rules. The APRN Compact is on Wyoming's books as well. Wyoming, Utah, the two Dakotas and Delaware are the only enacting states so far, and the compact needs seven members before it operates. AANP classes Wyoming as a full practice state.
From Cheyenne to Sheridan: example settings
Laramie's Ivinson Memorial Hospital is a UCHealth affiliate and Casper has Banner Wyoming Medical Center; Cheyenne Regional Medical Center, Campbell County Health in Gillette and, farther north, Sheridan Memorial Hospital round out the main hospitals. Cheyenne and Casper are Wyoming's two metro areas, with Gillette the biggest micropolitan area. Think of them as places a staff-development educator or nurse executive might work, not as sites that already partner with UNCW.
For an educator practicum, UNCW approves the site and preceptor and wants a signed agreement at least five weeks before the first practicum course, in step with Wyoming's contract rule. The MSN Nurse Educator page has the program detail.
For NP students, Wyoming is where you study, not where you train
UNCW's nurse practitioner concentrations are online for coursework and bound to North Carolina for clinicals. The 2025-26 DNP Student Handbook tells FNP, AGPCNP and PMHNP students that clinical and practicum hours happen in North Carolina only, preceptors must practice or be licensed there, and the PMHNP Post-Doctoral Certificate runs through the same practica. From Wyoming, expect flights or long drives each clinical semester, lodging you arrange, and hours that count only once you are with your preceptor. UNCW's handbooks say nothing about moving mid-program, so relocating to Wyoming leaves this requirement where it was. More in the North Carolina clinical rule guide.
What we do for Wyoming students
We take the North Carolina search off an NP student's hands, matching preceptors to your UNCW course and grouping clinical days so each trip earns real hours. Educator students get a Wyoming search for a nurse educator with the credentials UNCW asks for, plus the site details UNCW needs for its agreement. Start with the form below.
Questions UNCW students ask
Does Wyoming require UNCW to be approved before my educator practicum?
Wyoming skips formal approval for post-licensure programs from other states. It asks them to be registered with its Department of Education or approved through NC-SARA, which UNCW is, to send the Board a written notice before your clinical experience, and to sign a facility contract. Confirm with UNCW that it will file the notice for your site.
Is the APRN Compact useful to me as a UNCW student?
Not for now. The compact is law in Wyoming, yet it stays dormant until a seventh state signs on, and five have enacted it. Even once active, it leaves UNCW's North Carolina rule for NP clinical hours unchanged. It could matter later if you practice as an NP across member states.
Can I complete my RN-BSN practice experiences at my Casper hospital job?
UNCW's RN-BSN allows practice experiences at your current job, sets no fixed number of clinical hours, and asks for an RN license in your resident state. Wyoming's Chapter 6 rules include RN-to-BSN programs among those that notify the Board before a clinical learning experience, so ask UNCW how it handles that for Wyoming students.
Will my Wyoming license work for UNCW's NP programs?
A Wyoming multistate license fits UNCW's requirement of a North Carolina or compact state RN license. With it, you can work as an RN in North Carolina, the only state where UNCW NP clinical hours count. Confirm your license is multistate before applying, and see UNCW's admission pages for the exact wording.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-24
We check these pages against UNCW's catalog, handbooks and School of Nursing pages. Your course, your cohort's handbook and UNCW's Graduate Clinical Coordinator have the final word.
UNCW asks you to find your own North Carolina preceptor. Let us run that search.
Tell us your UNCW program, your practicum course and where in North Carolina you can travel. We find preceptors who fit the course and prepare the CV, license and agency details UNCW's Graduate Clinical Coordinator reviews, well before the deadline.
- Preceptors matched to the course: primary care, pediatrics and women's health for
NSGL 650toNSGL 653, adult and older-adult care for AGPCNP, psychiatric care for PMHNP - Preceptor CV with dates and site, license number and agency details ready for your submission
- In Wilmington, the Cape Fear region or wherever in North Carolina your clinicals can happen
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