Hawaii and GW's online nurse practitioner programs
GW's online programs take Hawaii residents in every track except Acute Care, and GW's disclosures rate Hawaii as meeting its licensure requirements. The Board adds no approval step for distance programs serving licensed nurses, so the Hawaii-specific tasks are a Hawaii-issued license and recruiting a preceptor without the state's preceptor tax credit, which is reserved for Hawaii-based programs.
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GW's Hawaii picture, track by track
| Program | Open to Hawaii residents? | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| FNP (MSN or post-BSN DNP) | Yes | Three clinical courses of 120, 240 and 240 hours |
| AGPCNP (MSN, DNP or certificate) | Yes | 600 hours in adult and older-adult primary care |
| PMHNP (MSN, DNP or certificate) | Yes | Five 120-hour courses; PMHNP or CNS preceptor in NURS 6248 |
| Nurse-Midwifery MSN | Yes | 840 immersion hours |
| Leadership MSN, MSN/MPH, post-MSN DNP | Yes | Leadership practicum preceptors hold a master's or higher |
| AGACNP, every option | No | Reserved for DC, Maryland and Virginia residents |
No GW restricted list names Hawaii, whether on the State Authorizations page, the FAQ or the provost's page. Confirm your track with GW admissions; our state authorizations summary follows those lists.
What the Hawaii Board says about schools from elsewhere
Hawaii's Board of Nursing, part of the state's consumer affairs licensing division, is strict with pre-licensure students and relaxed with licensed ones. Its statute, HRS 457-13(2), exempts student practice only in programs the Board itself accredits, and a 2016 committee decision kept a North Dakota BSN school from sending a pre-licensure student to Hawaii.
For licensed nurses studying at a distance, the Board's FAQ takes the opposite line: a school with no Hawaii campus files nothing with the Board, and a Hawaii license is needed only by faculty who teach or supervise students face to face in the state. So Hawaii keeps no roster for GW to be listed on.
The FAQ's illustrations are bachelor's-completion and LPN-to-RN programs, and it is silent on graduate NP study. GW's Clinical Placement Team reviews state requirements before clearance, so let them confirm your site needs nothing further.
The preceptor tax credit covers Hawaii-based programs only
Under Act 43 of 2018, Hawaii offers a nonrefundable income tax credit, codified at HRS 235-110.25, to clinicians who precept without pay. Each volunteer rotation earns one credit, up to five a year. Hawaii-resident physicians, DOs, APRNs and pharmacists working in primary care in the state can claim it; the health department certifies each rotation and caps the statewide total at 1,500 credits yearly.
GW students fall outside it. The credit counts only students of programs accredited or sited in Hawaii, where Hawaii residents make up over half the enrollment, so a clinician who teaches you earns no credit for that rotation.
Lead instead with GW's offer to preceptors: library access at Himmelfarb, guest lecturing at GW Nursing and ties with fellow GW preceptors. Our precept a GW student page is written for the clinicians you approach.
Urban Honolulu, Hilo-Kailua and Kahului-Wailuku
Roughly 989,000 people lived in Urban Honolulu in 2025, dwarfing Hilo-Kailua (near 210,000) and Kahului-Wailuku (near 161,000). Among the systems students contact, Hawaii Pacific Health runs Straub, Kapiolani, Wilcox and Pali Momi; Kaiser Permanente Hawaii, Hawaii Health Systems Corporation and The Queen's Health Systems round out the list. Any of them would need its own GW agreement.
AANP rates Hawaii full practice. GW adds a two-year minimum in advanced practice, set out on the preceptor requirements page.
A Hawaii-issued license, and the flights to campus events
No compact license from the mainland works in Hawaii, a state outside the Nurse Licensure Compact. What GW's checklist asks for, a current, unrestricted license in each state where you log hours, therefore means a Hawaii-issued RN license. Because the HRS 457-13(2) student exemption covers only Board-accredited programs, that license is your footing at a Hawaii site. See GW's RN license rule.
Campus events mean long trips east: CLASI during NURS 6222, OSCEs in the second clinical course and a final skills assessment, with the 2026-27 FNP and AGPCNP OSCEs set for Ross Hall in Foggy Bottom. PMHNP students complete CLASI online.
Why Hawaii GW students choose us
Island markets are small, so the first ask has to be strong. Your placement advisor finds NPs and physicians in Honolulu, Hilo-Kailua and Kahului-Wailuku whose practice fits your GW course, then readies each clinician's credentials and the facility signer's details for GW's Site Prospector submission. Preceptors receive a complete, respectful request, and your program director receives a submission that fits GW's rules. Reach us through the contact form.
Questions GW students ask
Can I use my mainland compact license at a Hawaii clinic?
It won't carry over. Hawaii has stayed outside the Nurse Licensure Compact, so multistate privileges stop short of the islands. Apply for a Hawaii RN license well ahead of your first rotation there, since GW's Complio checklist expects a current license for every state where you complete clinical hours.
Is my preceptor eligible for Hawaii's preceptor credit?
Not for a GW rotation. The credit requires a student from a Hawaii-accredited or Hawaii-based program whose enrollment is mostly Hawaii residents. The clinician must also be a Hawaii resident in primary care, whether physician, APRN or pharmacist, and the Department of Health certifies each rotation.
Does GW have to notify the Hawaii Board before my clinical?
Hawaii's FAQ says a distance program for licensed nurses without a Hawaii campus needs no approval and sends no notice. Its examples, though, are LPN-to-RN and bachelor's-completion programs, and it never names NP programs. GW's Clinical Placement Team reviews state requirements before clearing you, so ask them to confirm for your site.
Can I do part of my GW clinicals on the mainland?
Yes, if GW can clear the site and you are licensed as an RN in that state as well. Your Hawaii license covers Hawaii alone, so a mainland rotation adds a second license application and its processing time. Plan the timing early, and read our clinicals outside the DMV guide.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-24
We check these pages against GW's Bulletin and GW Nursing's own program and clinical pages. Your course, CORE and GW's Clinical Placement Team have the final word.
GW asks you to find your own site and preceptor. Hand that search to us.
Tell us your GW program, where you live and which clinical course is next. We find preceptors who fit the course and prepare the license, bio and site details GW's review asks for, so your Site Prospector goes in complete.
- Preceptors matched to the course: family practice for
NURS 6230toNURS 6232, older-adult primary care for AGPCNP, psychiatric care for PMHNP - License, bio or CV and the site's agreement signatory ready for your CORE submission
- Close to home, in DC, Maryland, Virginia or wherever you live and hold your RN license
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