What UL Lafayette's authorization page tells Tennessee nurses
According to UL Lafayette, its FNP, PMHNP and PMHNP certificate fall short of Tennessee's educational requirements, so a Tennessee resident cannot enter those tracks from home. The post-MSN DNP is unsettled: its program list leaves Tennessee off, yet further down that page the state-by-state section includes it. Clear that up with UL Lafayette before you plan a residency.
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A firm no for the NP tracks, an open DNP question
Most states carry a softer "no determination" mark on UL Lafayette's state authorization page. Tennessee shares a stronger finding with just Minnesota and Washington: the NP tracks fall short of its educational requirements. The table reflects the page in September 2026.
| Program | Tennessee status | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| MSN FNP and MSN PMHNP | Does not meet Tennessee's educational requirements | Rotations happen in Louisiana under a Louisiana RN license |
| PMHNP Post-Master's Certificate | Does not meet | Same Louisiana-only clinical text |
| Post-MSN DNP | Conflict: missing from the program list, present in the state-by-state section | Ask the online programs office which entry governs |
| MSN in Nursing Education | Not one of the eight accepted states | No Tennessee route |
Tennessee's pause on nursing programs from elsewhere
Senate Bill 2013, paired with House Bill 1905, is an oversight act for nursing education, and it orders a two-year freeze. While it lasts, Tennessee's Board of Nursing neither accepts nor approves applications from nursing programs based out of state, whether a school hopes to operate in Tennessee, enroll students there or send them into Tennessee clinical rotations. The bill makes no carve-out for APRN, RN-BSN or prelicensure study.
Schools already holding Tennessee approval before the freeze keep it. The price is transparency: the board and the Tennessee Center for Nursing Advancement can ask them for data, preceptor rosters and placement numbers included. The Center in turn owes recommended standards for out-of-state programs that draw on Tennessee preceptors or clinical sites, due no later than June 30, 2027. Lawmakers grounded all this in a finding that many outside placements happen "without adequate oversight or accountability".
Two caveats temper the picture. The act is effective once it becomes law, and official records did not confirm when, or whether, that happened; a secondary source gives April 27, 2026. Nor did research find a rule now in the board's 1000-01 chapter that says in so many words an outside program needs approval before placing a student. UL Lafayette's standing with Tennessee went unchecked too, so if you hope to log residency hours at home, ask the DNP Coordinator and the Tennessee board first.
Supervision, prescribing limits and the compact
Licensing in Tennessee runs through the Board of Nursing, part of the Department of Health, for RNs and APRNs alike. Tennessee's compact membership has been active from January 19, 2018, and a Tennessee-issued multistate RN license therefore already reaches Louisiana. On the APRN Compact, Tennessee has taken no action, and that compact stays idle until seven states enact it.
AANP scores Tennessee as restricted. Its NPs need a physician's supervision, and limits apply both to what they prescribe from Schedules II, III and IV and to how much opioid they supply. Nashville is the biggest metro, Memphis comes next (its metro crosses into Mississippi and Arkansas), then Knoxville and Chattanooga. Health systems there include Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare, Erlanger and Vanderbilt University Medical Center, offered as examples of the landscape rather than sites tied to UL Lafayette.
Tennessee also funds a preceptor incentive through the Tennessee Hospital Association, though its student list, detailed in the FAQ below, leaves out Louisiana schools.
Routes that remain for a Tennessee nurse
- Move to Louisiana first. The NP tracks keep every clinical hour in Louisiana; the Louisiana guide explains the license wording.
- Resolve the DNP conflict. With Tennessee confirmed, you would enter a 39-credit post-MSN program in a Fall cohort (deadline May 1), and its three residency courses, 420 hours together, could sit in Tennessee or Louisiana.
- Keep a Louisiana residency in mind. That same wording lets a Tennessee student facing uncertainty at home log residency hours in Louisiana instead.
The DNP guide and the Louisiana-only clinicals explainer cover the background.
The search we run for Tennessee nurses
Our placement desk specializes in UL Lafayette's clinical process, from the Louisiana Board's preceptor rules to the DNP committee's agency mentor. Whatever part UL Lafayette takes in your placement, our desk locates a site and a preceptor or mentor that fit its rules, confirms licenses before anything is submitted, and hands faculty a complete packet. Tell us your plan.
Questions UL Lafayette students ask
Can a Tennessee nurse practitioner apply to UL Lafayette's DNP?
That hinges on which section of the page governs. The DNP program list leaves Tennessee out (Wyoming, Washington, Oklahoma, Maryland and Kansas are missing too), but the state-by-state section puts the DNP under Tennessee anyway. Get a written answer from the online programs office before you approach potential agency mentors.
Why does UL Lafayette say its NP tracks do not meet Tennessee's requirements?
The page records the finding without explaining it. What UL Lafayette does publish is that the FNP, PMHNP and PMHNP certificate confine clinical rotations to Louisiana and call for a Louisiana RN license. A Tennessee resident is outside those tracks, while a nurse who relocates to Louisiana is no longer applying from Tennessee.
Does Tennessee's moratorium stop DNP residencies in the state?
Possibly, though the details are unsettled. The act pauses new approvals for outside programs seeking to place students in Tennessee clinicals and makes no exception for APRN or doctoral study, but its enactment date could not be officially confirmed. UL Lafayette's DNP also allows residency hours in Louisiana, worth raising with the DNP Coordinator.
Is a Tennessee preceptor working with me eligible for the THA incentive?
Probably not, going by how the program describes itself. Beyond Tennessee programs, it recognizes students whose schools are in Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Virginia, Mississippi, Arkansas or Missouri, provided their hours happen in Tennessee. Louisiana is missing from that group, and the preceptor would also need to complete a UTHSC course for preceptors, which carries its own NP module.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-27
We check these pages against UL Lafayette's 2026-27 catalog, its online program and state authorization pages, the ICMSN student handbook and Louisiana's nursing rules. Your course faculty and your plan of study have the final word.
Whether UL Lafayette helps or you start alone, we find the preceptor.
Tell us your UL Lafayette program, the practicum coming up and the Louisiana town you train near. We look for preceptors and sites that fit the course and gather the license, CV and agency details that must be on file before your first clinical day.
- Preceptors who meet Louisiana's rules: an active Louisiana license, most hours with an APRN in your population focus
- The preceptor's CV, the agency details and your letter of agreement items gathered early
- Across Acadiana and the rest of Louisiana, plus DNP residencies in your home state
Start your placement plan
Your program, your town and your next clinical semester is all we need to begin.