UC nursing clinicals in West Virginia

UC programs that can train in West Virginia

West Virginia doesn't appear on any of UC's exclusion lists. The limits below come from UC's residency rules, not from the state.

Which West Virginia office has a say

Graduate students aren't the RN Board's concern. That board oversees pre-licensure education alone, asks out-of-state pre-licensure schools to file for approval before they use a West Virginia hospital, and points graduate programs toward their accreditor and toward the state's Higher Education Policy Commission (WVHEPC).

WVHEPC's nursing office names two triggers for a graduate or APRN program based elsewhere. Approval becomes necessary when the school sits outside NC-SARA, or when one facility would receive ten or more of its students. Neither UC's NC-SARA membership nor its West Virginia numbers appear in our research, so if a hospital raises this, your Clinical Site Coordinator (CSC) is the one to answer.

The license West Virginia's guide expects

UC's rule is an RN license valid where you train. The state nursing office's rotation guide goes further for APRN and graduate students and ties the license to where you live: residents hold a West Virginia RN license, everyone else a multistate one. West Virginia began honoring compact licenses on January 19, 2018, though its legislature hasn't adopted the APRN Compact.

That leaves one awkward case: a student living in a state outside the compact, who can't hold a multistate license. If that's you, ask your CSC which license to get before you line up a preceptor. The RN license page explains how UC checks licenses.

Preceptors in West Virginia

Reduced practice is AANP's label for West Virginia. A physician collaborative agreement governs an NP's prescribing for three years, and Schedule II narcotics are held to a three-day supply.

UC doesn't accept physician assistants as preceptors in West Virginia, so look for NPs, CNMs and physicians who meet UC's preceptor requirements, and remember UC wants a certified NP in your population for at least a fifth of NP-track hours. We found no West Virginia preceptor incentive.

Where West Virginia students look

The larger metros are Charleston, Huntington, Morgantown and, in the eastern panhandle, Martinsburg. Vandalia Health (parent of CAMC, Mon Health and Davis Health), Marshall Health Network and WVU Medicine are the big systems. Ask them, but don't assume any has room for a UC student.

Huntington's metro reaches into Kentucky and Ohio, both open to UC. An Ohio site brings UC's fingerprint-based background check for Ohio clinicals; the Ohio page has the detail.

Where we fit

We look for West Virginia preceptors who meet UC's rules, gather the site contacts your CSC needs for the affiliation agreement, and help you file the Preceptor Application before your packet deadline. UC approves every preceptor and site.