Reading UL Lafayette's Washington entry, line by line
UL Lafayette has reviewed Washington's educational requirements and reports that its MSN nurse practitioner tracks and PMHNP certificate fall short of them. The post-MSN DNP is the live question: one list on the university's page omits Washington, another names it, and the university has to say which governs.
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Tell us your UL Lafayette program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with the preceptor and site options that fit your UL Lafayette course.
Three marks UL Lafayette gives Washington
UL Lafayette's state authorization page files every state into categories. Where dozens of states carry a no-determination label for the NP tracks, Washington sits with Minnesota and Tennessee in the short group the university has actually ruled on.
| Program | Washington mark | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|
| MSN FNP, MSN PMHNP, PMHNP Post-Master's Certificate | Does not meet educational requirements | Closed from Washington; rotations stay in Louisiana on a Louisiana RN license |
| Post-MSN DNP | Left off the program list, yet shown in the state-by-state section | An open conflict to resolve in writing before you apply |
| MSN in Nursing Education | Washington is outside its eight accepted states | Not available to a Washington resident |
What a does-not-meet finding settles
A no-determination label means UL Lafayette has not finished reviewing a state. Washington's label is a conclusion: the university measured its NP programs against what Washington expects of NP education and found a gap, so read it as settled rather than pending.
A move is the path that remains for these tracks. Their rotations are Louisiana-bound anyway, under a Louisiana RN license, and Louisiana is one of two states where UL Lafayette reports the tracks do meet requirements. The Louisiana guide and the license page walk through that path.
The DNP listing that needs a written answer
Six states are missing from the DNP program list (Washington, Kansas, Maryland, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Wyoming), yet scroll to Washington's own entry further down and the DNP appears there. Ask UL Lafayette's online programs office which reading holds, and keep the reply.
If the answer is yes, the program is 39 credits with one cohort each Fall and a May 1 application date. Its three residency courses, NURS 821 through NURS 823, carry 420 clock hours that UL Lafayette lets you complete in Louisiana or where you live, tied to your own specialty. Lafayette sees you twice, once for the DNP Orientation Intensive and once to present your Synthesis Project. The DNP guide lays out each semester.
WABON rules an outside program would meet
The Washington State Board of Nursing, WABON, licenses nurses and writes the education rules. Washington switched on the Nurse Licensure Compact only in January 2024, has not passed the APRN Compact, and AANP rates the state's NP practice environment as full.
- Approval comes first. Under WAC 246-840-571, WABON has to approve a distance-learning program based outside Washington before that program sends even one student into a Washington clinical or practice setting. It must also match Washington's standards, supervise students locally, stay accredited and report yearly.
- Residents only. WABON's roster of approved outside programs covers RN-BSN, MSN and NP tracks, and the board limits those placements to students who reside in Washington, deciding any exception individually.
- Licensed people. Out-of-state faculty teaching ARNP practice in Washington hold a Washington ARNP license. An ARNP student's preceptor carries a clean, current ARNP, MD or DO license from Washington or elsewhere, and is never family or a personal friend of the student.
- Rules in flux. In December 2025 WABON filed a CR-101 to reopen its education chapter, sections 500 through 571, and easing clinical placement barriers is on the agenda.
Research did not verify whether UL Lafayette holds WABON approval or whether this rule reaches a post-MSN residency, so ask the DNP Coordinator and WABON before a Washington site goes on paper.
Puget Sound, Spokane and the Tri-Cities
Greater Seattle, stretching to Tacoma and Bellevue, is home to most Washingtonians, with Spokane, Kennewick-Richland and Vancouver's corner of greater Portland far behind. Renton-based Providence, which folded in Providence Swedish, competes with MultiCare, UW Medicine, PeaceHealth and the Virginia Mason Franciscan Health network. They sketch the market only; this page makes no claim that any of them hosts UL Lafayette students.
State lawmakers also set up a preceptorship grant for student nurses that WABON administers, but its rules leave out students of programs headquartered elsewhere, wherever the hours are logged.
Placement help for a residency or a move south
Our placement desk is the most thorough route to a preceptor or residency mentor who fits UL Lafayette's rules, whether you wait on the DNP answer or plan a move to Louisiana. Whether the university helps with placement or not, we find the site and the person, check licenses against both states early, and send faculty a packet that is complete on arrival. Tell us your plan.
Questions UL Lafayette students ask
Does UL Lafayette's online FNP take Washington residents?
No. The FNP, the PMHNP and the PMHNP certificate carry a does-not-meet mark for Washington, a finding rather than an unfinished review. Their rotations also happen in Louisiana, which is why moving there is the practical route. Confirm your own case with UL Lafayette before you apply.
Is Washington on UL Lafayette's DNP state list?
The page answers both ways. Washington is absent from the DNP's program list, yet the DNP shows up under Washington further down that page. Until the university resolves it for you in writing, treat Washington admission as unconfirmed and hold off on building a residency plan there.
Does my Washington multistate RN license work for UL Lafayette?
It depends on the program. For the MSN, the catalog is content with a multistate RN license, though UL Lafayette's online MSN page wants holders of one to prove they live in Louisiana. The DNP looks for clean RN licensure anywhere in the U.S., plus U.S. nurse practitioner licensure for post-MSN entrants, which a Washington license can supply.
Who could mentor a UL Lafayette DNP residency in Washington?
UL Lafayette builds each DNP project committee with an approved mentor drawn from the agency hosting the project. Washington's rules keep a student's relatives and friends out of the ARNP preceptor role and want the preceptor licensed as an ARNP, MD or DO. If the DNP opens to Washington residents, the DNP Coordinator rules on whether a candidate fits.
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.