FNP and AGACNP clinicals in the Mahoning Valley
Youngstown State University's home region spans Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties: about 523,000 people, three Mercy Health hospitals, Akron Children's Boardman campus and 25 health center sites. Few of them publish a way in for NP students. Akron Children's names YSU for family NP students, Mercy Health posts no current NP process, and Warren has lost a hospital.
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The valley at a glance
This region is the eastern end of the Ohio Department of Health's Region 5 hospital preparedness area, given its own guide here. Mahoning County counts 224,706 residents in the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate, Trumbull 198,972 and Columbiana 99,377.
Youngstown, Boardman, Austintown and Canfield make up the core of Mahoning; Warren, Niles, Howland and Cortland anchor Trumbull; Salem, Lisbon, Wellsville and East Liverpool run south through Columbiana. USDA's 2023 codes class Mahoning and Trumbull as metro and Columbiana as nonmetro.
Salem sits roughly 22 miles from campus and East Liverpool roughly 40, but the online NP programs have no required campus days, so distance only matters for the drive to your preceptor. Campus BSN and ADN students differ: YSU schedules their clinical labs in these counties (BSN clinicals).
Mercy Health's three hospitals
Bon Secours Mercy Health operates the valley's main hospitals: Mercy Health St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital, St. Elizabeth Boardman Hospital and St. Joseph Warren Hospital. St. Elizabeth Youngstown is a teaching hospital with ties to NEOMED, LECOM and Ohio University's osteopathic college.
Mercy Health publishes no current page on how NP students from outside schools request a rotation, so treat these hospitals as landmarks, not a known route, and ask your clinical faculty how Mercy Health handles FNP and AGACNP rotations today.
Mercy Health's site does describe a YSU partnership, but it is for the St. Elizabeth Health Center School for Nurse Anesthetists, the campus program on the nurse anesthesia page, not an NP route. If Mercy Health employs you, a practicum there is still allowed, away from your own unit and supervisor and never on the clock (workplace rules).
Akron Children's in Boardman, and the valley's other hospitals
Akron Children's Hospital Mahoning Valley occupies the Beeghly campus in Boardman, opened in 2008 after Tod Children's closed, with a larger emergency department added in 2023. Akron Children's graduate student page, which lists schools holding educational affiliation agreements, names Youngstown State University under family NP and says the school coordinator, not the student, asks for the placement. A YSU request therefore starts with your clinical faculty or the Graduate Clinical Coordinator.
Salem Regional Medical Center, an independent nonprofit, and East Liverpool City Hospital post no NP student pages; East Liverpool's medical education page covers LECOM medical students. Both are landmarks for a Columbiana County search.
Warren is short a hospital. The former Trumbull Regional Medical Center, later Insight Hospital & Medical Center Trumbull, has been closed to regular hospital care since 2025 according to news reports, which differ on its license and any reopening plans, so St. Joseph Warren is the Trumbull County hospital to plan around. Steward's Northside Regional Medical Center in Youngstown closed for good in 2024, per a state layoff notice.
Health centers and shortage designations
HRSA's September 2026 data shows 25 active health center sites in the three counties, two school-based and two mobile, run by four organizations:
- Ohio North East Health Systems: 10 sites in Youngstown, Warren, Cortland and Newton Falls
- Community Action Agency of Columbiana County: 8 sites in East Liverpool, Salem, Lisbon, Salineville and Hanoverton
- Meridian HealthCare, a look-alike health center: 4 sites in Youngstown and Warren
- Axess Family Services: 3 sites in Warren and Youngstown
All three counties carry a whole-county primary care shortage designation for their low-income population. Columbiana has the valley's highest primary care score at 19, and Mahoning holds four separate primary care designations.
For an FNP student, that signals strong adult and family primary care demand at these sites and nearby practices. Their clinicians are busy, so a request that spells out exactly what your practicum asks is easier to accept.
Matching YSU practicums to valley sites
FNP practicums need primary care, and YSU's recommended split sets floors of 200 adult hours, 100 pediatric and 75 in women's health; the hour mix guide covers the balance. AGACNP practicums need acute care only.
| YSU practicums | Setting YSU requires | Where to look here |
|---|---|---|
FNP, NURS 7061 to NURS 7065 | Primary care: adult, gerontology, pediatric, women's health | Health center sites in Youngstown, Warren and Columbiana County; family practices; Akron Children's Boardman for pediatric hours, by school request |
AGACNP, NURS 7071 to NURS 7075 | Acute care: ICU, hospital medicine, emergency and trauma, specialty units | St. Elizabeth campuses and St. Joseph Warren once faculty confirm the route; hospitalist and emergency groups; Akron and Canton hospitals |
Five back-to-back 7-week practicums mean five preceptor deadlines, each two months ahead. Plan the whole run at once and settle early where pediatric and women's health hours will come from.
The Pennsylvania border next door
All three counties border Pennsylvania, which is on every YSU list of states where online nursing students may live and complete practicum hours. A preceptor across the line counts when your RN license covers Pennsylvania and your clinical faculty approve the site. Pennsylvania joined the Nurse Licensure Compact in mid-2025, and a Pennsylvania rule lets a nurse licensed in another state, while enrolled in an accredited graduate program, practice in the clinical settings that program requires.
Practices there still set their own conditions. The Pennsylvania guide covers that state, and practicums outside Ohio covers living on one side of the line and training on the other.
Why valley students choose us
YSU's online FAQ asks NP students to line up their own preceptors where they can and to submit each preceptor's information two months before that practicum begins; anyone still searching alerts the Graduate Clinical Coordinator 90 days out, and a site close to home is not assured (approval timeline). We run that search across all three counties and over the Pennsylvania line: health centers, family and pediatric practices, women's health clinics, hospitalist and urgent care groups.
Every preceptor is checked against your exact practicum and YSU's rules before the request reaches your clinical faculty, and your next practicum's preceptor is sought while the current one runs. Start your request.
Questions YSU students ask
Does living near YSU's campus make finding a preceptor easier?
Not by itself. The online FNP and AGACNP programs work the same in Boardman as in Columbus: you secure the preceptor and YSU's clinical faculty approve the site. What helps here is knowing which systems publish a way in, like Akron Children's, and which need a question to your faculty first, like Mercy Health.
Can I get FNP pediatric hours at Akron Children's in Boardman?
Possibly. Akron Children's graduate student page names YSU among its family NP schools and routes placement requests through the school coordinator. Ask your clinical faculty or the Graduate Clinical Coordinator to put the request in, and keep a second pediatric option ready, since the page promises no set number of spots.
How do I get a practicum at St. Elizabeth Youngstown or St. Joseph Warren?
Mercy Health has no public page for NP students from outside schools, and its YSU partnership covers nurse anesthesia. Check with your clinical faculty on the current route for FNP and AGACNP rotations. If you work there, YSU's employer rules apply: away from your home unit and supervisor, and off the clock.
Is the Warren hospital an option for AGACNP hours?
Not for planning purposes. News reports describe the former Trumbull Regional Medical Center as closed to regular hospital care since 2025, with differing accounts of its future. St. Joseph Warren remains Trumbull County's operating acute care hospital, and AGACNP students in Warren can also look to the St. Elizabeth campuses or to hospitals in Akron and Canton.
Can I live in Ohio and do a practicum in Pennsylvania?
Yes, when your license covers Pennsylvania and your faculty approve the site. Pennsylvania is on every YSU state list, and Ohio and Pennsylvania both belong to the Nurse Licensure Compact. Ask the practice early what it needs from YSU so the paperwork is settled before the two-month deadline.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-26
We check these pages against YSU's own catalog, graduate handbook, online program pages and FAQ, and Ohio rules. Your clinical faculty, the Graduate Clinical Coordinator and your advisor have the final word.
YSU asks you to secure your preceptor. We find one near you.
Tell us your YSU track, where you live and when your next practicum starts. We find preceptors near you who fit the practicum, check YSU's rules and hand you what the preceptor request needs, two months ahead, with the next term's preceptor already in view.
- Primary care preceptors for FNP practicums
NURS 7061toNURS 7065, acute care for AGACNPNURS 7071toNURS 7075 - Outside your own unit and away from your supervisor, in a state YSU accepts
- Across Ohio, from the Mahoning Valley to Cincinnati, and in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Michigan
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