Washington State and Post University: a No for the ARNP, and what to do with it
Washington answers No in Post University's current NP disclosure, on the ARNP license and on prescriptive authority, for the FNP, AGPCNP and PMHNP alike, and Post's NP admissions exclude people living in Washington. The state's own rules lean the same way for schools elsewhere, which need the board's approval before placing anyone. This page is for Post students with a move to Seattle or Spokane in mind, Post students in Idaho near the line, and Washington RNs weighing their choices.
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Post's Washington row
| Post specialization or item | Post's answer for Washington |
|---|---|
| MSN Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) | No for the ARNP license, No for prescribing |
| MSN Adult Gerontology Primary Care NP (AGPCNP) | No, No |
| MSN Psychiatric Mental Health NP (PMHNP) | No, No |
| License title | Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner |
| Other requirements Post lists | Unencumbered, active Washington RN license; national NP certification; DEA number optional for prescribing |
| Governing body | Washington State Board of Nursing |
Washington is one of the asterisked rows, the ones Post's enrollment footnote reaches because the program misses the state's educational requirements for NP licensure. Note the title: Washington licenses nurse practitioners as ARNPs, which is the word to search for on the board's site.
WABON's approval rule for distance programs
Washington keeps a gate that Oregon removed. WAC 246-840-571 says a nursing school teaching at a distance from another state needs WABON's go-ahead before a single one of its students starts clinicals or a practice experience in Washington. To get it, the school proves its program measures up to Washington's own, oversees and grades its students where they train, stays accredited and reports each year. The Board's list of cleared programs includes NP tracks, and even a cleared school may place only students who live in Washington, apart from exceptions the Board decides individually.
The rule also governs preceptors. A preceptor for an ARNP student can be an ARNP, an MD or a DO, licensed without restriction in Washington or holding an equivalent elsewhere, but not a family member or personal friend of the student. WABON has also begun rewriting these rules, through a CR-101 notice dated December 5, 2025 that lists clinical placement barriers among its concerns, so change may be coming.
Licenses: a compact member since 2024
Washington came into the Nurse Licensure Compact at the end of January 2024, on the 31st. The APRN Compact is not law in Washington. AANP lists Washington as full practice. Post's row still names an active Washington RN license with no multistate alternative, and a compact license from Idaho or anywhere else leaves Washington off Post's approved list for NP hours. The license rules page explains how Post handles hours outside your home state.
Washington's preceptor grant, systems and metros
WABON runs a legislature-created grant for preceptors of nursing students. An experienced preceptor, ARNPs included, earns a reward for each student precepted for at least 80 hours, for no more than two students per term, paid in quarterly rounds. The Board spells out that a school based outside Washington cannot use it, even for hours done inside the state.
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue is the dominant market, followed by Spokane-Spokane Valley, Kennewick-Richland and Vancouver's slice of the Portland metro. Renton is home to Providence, whose network takes in Providence Swedish, and the state's other large systems include UW Medicine, Virginia Mason Franciscan Health, PeaceHealth and MultiCare. Each sets its own student onboarding, and none can host a Post NP student while Washington stays No.
Where our help reaches from here
Our placement desk works for Post NP students living in Yes states, and in the Northwest that means Idaho, which answers Yes for all three tracks, with Oregon closed like Washington. For a Post student in Idaho we search practices close to home, match the setting to the course, confirm the preceptor meets Post's standards, and have the agreement letter and affiliation request finished well before Week 1.
If you are a Post student with a move to Washington in view, ask admissions how its residence rule applies before you relocate; Post's public pages do not address a move mid-program. Until they answer, we plan your next preceptorships from the address you have today. Washington RNs cannot begin Post's NP tracks from home; for any school you consider, the Board's published list of cleared outside programs shows whether it may place students in the state. Post students in Idaho can reach our placement desk here.
Questions Post students ask
Can a Washington resident enroll in Post University's FNP program?
Post's current NP disclosure gives Washington a No on the ARNP license and on prescribing, and the asterisk on that row ties it to the footnote that bars recruiting and enrolling NP students who live there. For the one Post page that reads more broadly, see the disclosure guide.
Could a Post student from Idaho do clinicals in Spokane?
Not within Post's rule. Post's hours have to be earned in approved states where the student holds a license, with advance approval for anywhere outside the home state. Washington is not approved, and WABON would also limit an approved outside program's placements to Washington residents. Idaho answers Yes for all three tracks, so the search stays in Idaho.
What is an ARNP in Washington?
Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner is Washington's license title for nurse practitioners, and it is the title Post's table uses. WABON issues it. Outside education, Post's row lists an unencumbered, active Washington RN license and national NP certification, with a DEA number optional for prescribing.
Could Washington's placement rules loosen?
They are under review. WABON's CR-101 notice of December 5, 2025 opened rulemaking on the education rules (WAC 246-840-500 through -571), and easing clinical placement is one stated aim. Post's table is a separate document, though, so a looser Washington rule would not by itself open the state to Post NP students.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-27
We check these pages against Post University's own catalog, program pages and published nursing documents. Your course faculty and the Clinical Coordinator have the final word.
Post asks you to select your own preceptor. We make the search the easy part.
Tell us your Post track, your city and your next preceptorship course. We line up preceptors who fit the course, collect the license report, certification and CV the Clinical Coordinator reviews, and start the affiliation agreement early so your Week 1 packet is complete before the term opens.
- Preceptors matched to the course: primary care for FNP and AGPCNP, mental and behavioral health for PMHNP, doctoral nurse leaders for DNP hours
- Preceptor agreement letter, license report, certification and CV ready for Post's approval
- Every preceptorship planned together, close to home in a state where you hold your license and Post's disclosure says yes
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