Montana and Ohio University: graduate and RN-to-BSN clinicals
As of September 2026, Montana sits on Ohio University's graduate approved list and on all four RN-to-BSN state lists, so residents can weigh the graduate NP tracks and the RN-to-BSN alike. The Montana Board of Nursing keeps graduate clinicals light as well, asking for no program approval, only a license that is good for Montana patients.
Get your placement plan
Tell us your Ohio University program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with the preceptor and site options that fit your course.
Every Ohio University nursing list includes Montana
For graduate study you must be a resident of an approved state with an unrestricted RN license. Montana has qualified since the 2019 expansion, and all three graduate tables in the provost's licensure disclosures list it as meeting requirements. The RN-to-BSN runs on separate lists that disagree with one another, yet Montana appears on each. Recheck with Ohio University before applying or relocating; the approved states page explains the graduate rule.
| Program | Montana status | Delivery | Clinical hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| MSN FNP, PMHNP or AG-ACNP | Approved state | Online; short visits to Dublin, Ohio | 750 |
| Post-master's NP certificates | Approved state | Online; short Dublin visits | 750 |
| Emergency NP certificate | Approved state; FNP licensure and ACLS required | Online; two Dublin intensives | 450 per catalog, 500 per program page |
| MSN-to-DNP | Approved state | Online; campus intensives | 1,000 post-baccalaureate |
| Nurse Leader or Nurse Educator MSN | Approved state | Online | 500 |
| RN-to-BSN | On all four RN-to-BSN lists | Fully online, no campus travel | 31.5 |
The Montana Board's approval rule, and why it skips you
ARM 24.159.608 exists for one audience: pre-licensure students from programs in other states. For them, a program director sends the Board a signed request with evidence of accreditation, the names and roles of preceptors and faculty, a supervision plan, a sign-off from Montana program directors that no in-state student is displaced, and the facility agreement.
Graduate NP and RN-to-BSN students skip that paperwork entirely, because the Board's FAQ exempts both kinds of program from approval for Montana clinicals. What remains is licensing: you will be treating Montana patients, so Ohio University must be satisfied that your active license is valid here.
Full practice across a state of small metros
AANP rates Montana a full practice state; the NPs you approach answer to no required physician agreement. Faculty approval still applies to every preceptor, and Montana offers no preceptor tax credit that our research could find.
Billings leads Montana's metros with 193,603 residents, Missoula and Bozeman sit almost level near 128,700 each, and Helena has 97,153. On the hospital side, Billings Clinic and Logan Health now operate as a combined system. Benefis Health System is another large name, as are St. Vincent Regional Hospital in Billings (Intermountain Health) and Providence's St. Patrick Hospital in Missoula. FNP students can also use primary-care offices and clinics, so the search need not hinge on big systems.
RN-to-BSN clinicals in Montana
Montana RNs can take the RN-to-BSN and complete its 31.5 clinical hours across NRSE 4585 and NRSE 4595 close to home. Finding the preceptor is up to the student unless the site assigns one. Your preceptor needs at least a BSN, a nursing license active in Montana, as both your state and the site's, and no close family tie to you. NRSE 4585 wants a community setting serving patients of every age, and its examples include rural health clinics and health departments. The RN-to-BSN page has the course detail.
Your license, and the trips to Dublin
Montana began operating under the Nurse Licensure Compact on January 19, 2018. The Board's RN licensing page says a nurse holding a multistate privilege from another compact state may practice in Montana without a Montana license, and a Montana multistate license travels the same way; the RN license guide has more. No APRN Compact is in force here.
Graduate NP students also fly in for a few one- or two-day on-campus intensives in Dublin, Ohio. From Montana, count travel days around each visit, book early and bank a few clinical hours beforehand. The intensives page lists the 2026-27 dates.
Why Montana students choose us
Distance is the Montana challenge. Rather than waiting on a Billings or Missoula opening, your placement advisor canvasses clinics and hospitals within reach of your own town, matches them to your Ohio University track, confirms every license is good for Montana and builds clinical days around your Dublin trips. Faculty then receive the preceptor's credentials and site information in one complete submission. Start with the form below.
Questions Ohio University students ask
Does my Ohio University clinical instructor need a Montana license?
Per the Montana Board's FAQ, an out-of-state instructor needs a Montana license when providing hands-on patient care; one who simply talks things through with you and your preceptor does not. Ohio University's disclosure lines up, asking faculty involved in direct care for a Montana APRN license and a Montana or multistate RN license.
Can I earn Ohio University's AG-ACNP from Montana?
Yes, as of September 2026, for Montana residents licensed without restrictions. The AG-ACNP takes 750 acute care hours over NRSE 6843, NRSE 6844 and NRSE 6845, in critical care, hospital medicine and emergency settings, supervised by acute-care physicians and advanced practice providers. See the AG-ACNP page.
Can a Montana RN-to-BSN student use their own workplace?
For NRSE 4595, the course page says any site that employs nurses qualifies, and your own workplace works if the project can be put into direct clinical practice with patients or clients. NRSE 4585 asks instead for a community-based site. The preceptor rules described above apply either way.
Could I do clinicals in Idaho or Wyoming while living in Montana?
Both belong to the Nurse Licensure Compact, so a Montana multistate license reaches them. Neither is on Ohio University's graduate application list, and its public pages leave out-of-state graduate clinicals unaddressed, so ask faculty first. For RN-to-BSN students, Ohio University's disclosures note that Wyoming wants written approval from its Board of Nursing and Department of Education.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-24
We check these pages against Ohio University's own catalog, program pages and Nursing Knowledge Center. Your syllabus, the Graduate Nursing Student Handbook and your faculty have the final word.
Ohio University lets you choose your preceptor. We find the right one.
Tell us your Ohio University program, your community and your next clinical course. We find preceptors who fit the course and prepare what faculty review before they approve them.
- Preceptors matched to the course: primary care for the FNP
NRSE 6840sequence, acute care for AG-ACNP, psychiatric care for PMHNP - Your clinical packet details ready ahead of Ohio University's packet deadline
- Close to home, in Ohio or in any state where Ohio University admits graduate nurses
Start your placement plan
Program, city and clinical start is all we need to begin.