Arizona clinicals for Drexel NP students: the AZBN steps

No Drexel exclusion list includes Arizona. You can enroll in any of the nine MSN NP tracks, a post-master's NP certificate, the post-master's DNP or the RN-to-BSN from an Arizona address.

A 2020 revision of the Arizona Board's advisory opinion for APRN schools based elsewhere makes the rule plain: the school applies, and the Board approves, before a single student begins clinical experiences in Arizona.

The review is faster when two things are true: the home-state board, here Pennsylvania's, has approved that particular track, and the school holds national accreditation in good standing. After approval, the school keeps tabs on the licenses of its program director, faculty, preceptors and students, records each student's placement and supplies data for the Board's yearly survey or any audit.

Our research doesn't show Drexel's AZBN status by track. Check with your track director, or write to sara@drexel.edu, about which Drexel tracks are cleared for Arizona before you commit to a site; the clinical placement process page shows where that fits in Drexel's sequence.

As an APRN student training in Arizona for a school elsewhere, you need an Arizona or multistate RN license with no encumbrances. Arizona joined the compact on January 19, 2018, so a resident's multistate license satisfies that. It also fits the rule on Drexel's compliance page, which lets a multistate license issued by your home state stand in for Pennsylvania's; Drexel's program pages still ask for Pennsylvania, so check which applies on our Pennsylvania RN license page.

Your preceptor has Arizona rules too. An NP or other APRN preceptor needs a clean Arizona or multistate RN license and Arizona APRN certification on top; a physician needs a clean Arizona medical license. Drexel adds its own floor (a nurse practitioner, CNM or approved-specialty physician, board certified, a year or more into practice), so most Arizona preceptors who pass the Board's test also pass Drexel's.

Arizona's Preceptor Grant Program for Graduate Students, created under A.R.S. § 36-1806, was meant for unpaid preceptors of graduate students, APRN students included. The Arizona Department of Health Services ran it, favoring rural primary care. The JLBC's FY 2027 appropriations report shows nothing for FY 2026 or FY 2027, and leftover money reverted when FY 2026 closed on June 30, 2026. Treat it as unfunded unless ADHS announces otherwise.

Drexel's own recognition still applies: preceptors may use the Clinical Faculty, Drexel University title, get a certificate of precepted hours when each term ends and receive 10 percent off Drexel continuing education. See precepting Drexel students.

Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler dwarfs everything else, with Tucson second and the Prescott and Lake Havasu City-Kingman areas far behind. In the valley, Banner Health and its academic Banner - University Medicine centers, Scottsdale's HonorHealth and Mayo Clinic's Phoenix and Scottsdale campus are the big systems; TMC Health serves Tucson, and pediatric students can add Phoenix Children's to the list. AANP rates Arizona full practice, so NP-led clinics are worth a look.

We check your track's AZBN status with you first, then search for preceptors whose Arizona licensure and APRN certification are current, so the Board's tracking and Drexel's review both go smoothly. Your file reaches Drexel complete, with every credential and the site's contracting details in order, and if a preceptor pulls out, the next search is already underway.