New Mexico clinicals for Samford NP students
Samford accepts New Mexico applicants into every nurse practitioner track and says those tracks meet New Mexico licensure requirements. NPs there practice independently, the state belongs to the Nurse Licensure Compact, and one Board rule deserves a careful look: it asks out-of-state programs to seek placement approval once their students' New Mexico clinical time runs past a semester, which a whole Samford sequence would do.
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Tell us your Samford program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with preceptor and site options in your community that fit your Samford course.
Samford's New Mexico status at a glance
Samford's NP licensure disclosure, dated September 3, 2025, shows New Mexico without an asterisk, and the state is not in the Out-of-State Applicants table, so Samford takes NP applications from New Mexico residents and license holders. The disclosure's New Mexico row points to the state Board of Nursing.
| Program | New Mexico applicants | Licensure, per Samford |
|---|---|---|
| Family NP: MSN, ADN to MSN, BSN to DNP, MSN to DNP | Accepted | Meets |
| Psychiatric-mental health NP: MSN, ADN to MSN, MSN to DNP | Accepted | Meets |
| Post-graduate FNP and PMHNP certificates | Accepted | Not published |
| Nurse Anesthesia DNP | No state bar published; Samford assigns sites | Meets |
| Online RN to BSN | Accepted | Meets (BSN disclosure) |
The more-than-one-semester rule
The rule sits in section 11(A)(2) of 16.12.3 NMAC. Put simply, a school from outside New Mexico whose students keep training in the state for longer than one semester must ask the Board to approve those clinical placements, and a school approved by its home board must also satisfy the section 12 minimum standards. The chapter is framed around preparing nurses for New Mexico licensure and is silent on RN to BSN and NP study, which leaves open whether it reaches a graduate NP track like Samford's.
Here is why it matters to you. Samford's FNP clinicals run NURG 723, NURG 724 and NURG 730 across consecutive terms, and the PMHNP sequence moves from NURG 788 to NURG 790, so a student who trains in New Mexico from first course to last passes the one-semester mark. Ask your program coordinator whether the rule applies to your track, and how Samford handles it, before you line up a second New Mexico rotation.
The rule turns on how long your clinical time in New Mexico lasts, not on how many preceptors you use. Raise it when you map the whole sequence, not course by course.
Full practice, and who counts as a preceptor
AANP lists New Mexico as full practice, meaning an NP there practices without a physician agreement, which widens the pool for NURG 723 adult primary care and NURG 724 across the lifespan. Samford approves every preceptor, and its criteria sit in the NP Clinical Manual.
Under the Board's education rules, a preceptor must be a nurse with a minimum of two years in practice whose license sits at or above the credential the student is pursuing. In NP terms, that means an experienced NP. The definition speaks of nurses, so if you are weighing a physician preceptor here, ask Samford how it reads the rule. Our preceptor requirements page covers Samford's side.
Albuquerque, Las Cruces, Santa Fe and Farmington
Albuquerque's metro leads with 925,279 residents in 2025 Census estimates; Las Cruces trails at 229,091, then Santa Fe at 156,907 and Farmington at 120,340. Four names come up in a search: the UNM Health System, which includes New Mexico's lone academic medical center; Presbyterian; Lovelace; and CHRISTUS St. Vincent in Santa Fe. They are starting points. Samford approves every site, and an Albuquerque or Las Cruces clinic may be new to Samford's affiliation agreements, which cluster in the Southeast.
Beyond those four metros the drives lengthen, and Samford's program pages say the school does not arrange or reimburse clinical travel; the travel guide helps you plan. Research found no New Mexico preceptor incentive program.
Compact license, and the new multistate fee
New Mexico has run the compact since January 19, 2018; the Board issues multistate licenses and, from June 1, 2026, bills a separate fee for them. If New Mexico is your home state, that license handles the license side of rotations here and in Texas or Oklahoma. Arizona and Colorado are compact states too, but Samford's NP tracks take no applicants living or solely licensed there, so talk to your program coordinator before planning a rotation over either line. RN license requirements has the national map.
Why New Mexico students choose us
We search near home, whether that is Albuquerque, Las Cruces or a smaller town, and match each preceptor to your Samford course and to New Mexico's preceptor definition. Your placement advisor raises the one-semester question early, prepares what Samford needs for each rotation request, and remains on call through each rotation in case a preceptor leaves. Send your details.
Questions Samford students ask
Can I do Samford clinicals in Texas while living in New Mexico?
Texas belongs to the compact, so your New Mexico multistate license extends there. The Texas Board does require approval before out-of-state programs start clinicals, but that rule targets pre-licensure programs, not graduate NP tracks. Samford still reviews every rotation request, so confirm with your program coordinator first; the Texas guide has more.
How many preceptors will a Samford FNP student in New Mexico need?
Samford's FNP plans list three clinical courses: NURG 723 at 150 hours, then NURG 724 and NURG 730 at 300 hours each. One preceptor may not fit all three, since NURG 724 needs patients across the lifespan, children included, which an adult-only practice cannot offer. Samford approves each preceptor for each course.
Do New Mexico PMHNP students need a separate therapy preceptor?
NURG 767 Psychotherapeutic Frameworks and Modalities requires therapy hours with a Samford approved preceptor: 75 in Samford's plans of study and a minimum of 60 in the catalog. Whether that can be the same person as your NURG 788 preceptor is a question for your course faculty. The psychotherapy hours page covers the conflict.
Does the Alabama preceptor tax credit apply to a New Mexico preceptor?
No. Alabama's Preceptor Tax Incentive Program is limited to rotations in medically underserved rural areas of Alabama, and research found no New Mexico incentive for preceptors. Preceptors can read what taking a Samford student involves on our for preceptors page.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-25
We check these pages against Samford's own program pages, plans of study, the 2026-27 Graduate Nursing Student Handbook and Alabama rules. Your course, your program coordinator and Graduate Student Services have the final word.
Samford says connections are essential. We are the connection.
Tell us your Samford track, where you live and when your next clinical course starts. We find preceptors near you who fit the course and prepare the details Samford needs to approve the rotation, including a new affiliation agreement where one is needed.
- Preceptors matched to the course: adult primary care for
NURG 723, family practice across the lifespan forNURG 724, psychiatric care forNURG 788 - Preceptor, license and site details ready for your clinical rotation request
- In your own community, anywhere Samford accepts you and your RN license is valid
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