Clinical sites in the South Bay and Long Beach for APU students

Why the nearest APU campus is not your campus

APU's Orange County Regional Campus in Orange is the closest APU location to Long Beach, about 20 straight-line miles away, but it lists no nursing programs. The closest APU places that do teach nursing, Monrovia and Azusa, sit roughly 30 straight-line miles from Long Beach and farther by road.

The 18 incorporated cities counted here held about 1,219,691 people in January 2026. Long Beach alone has 462,193, followed by Torrance (143,363), Inglewood (105,986), Carson (91,790) and Hawthorne (85,515), and San Pedro, Wilmington and Harbor City are counted within the City of Los Angeles.

APU requires its MSN APRN applicants to live in Southern California and aims clinicals close to home, while its recent guidelines describe clinical drives of an hour, or even two, each way as common when a site fits the course. Searching locally improves your odds of training near the harbor.

Five hospitals and their public student pages

None of these pages names APU, and none signals an open seat. They show which doors are formal, school to hospital, and which depend on one clinician's willingness. For the statewide picture, see finding NP preceptors in Southern California.

Clinics, and where FNP pediatric hours come from

HRSA's data shows 86 health center locations, FQHCs and look-alikes together, across these cities and the harbor neighborhoods, run by 27 organizations. The Children's Clinic leads with 13 sites, followed by Venice Family Clinic (10), Community Medical Wellness Centers USA (8), Northeast Community Clinic and The R.O.A.D.S. Foundation (6 each) and Behavioral Health Services (5).

For MSN FNP students, 135 of the 540 hours in GNRS 600 must be pediatric, and APU's request form counts a pediatric clinic toward pediatric courses, as well as a family practice that sees six or more pediatric patients daily. Knowing where pediatric care concentrates helps you aim; whether a given clinic can take a student is a question for that clinic first and APU's placement team second. The FNP pediatric hours guide explains how those hours fit your plan.

Shortage designations from the port to Catalina

Five primary care HPSAs are designated here: MSSA 78.1 Avalon, a rural geographic HPSA scored 14; LI-MSSA 78.2p Long Beach Port (15); MSSA 78.2bbbb Gardena West/Hawthorne, a population HPSA scored 15 and updated September 11, 2026; Carson, a Medicaid-eligible population HPSA (13); and Torrance East Central (Medicaid-eligible, 3). Four more are proposed for withdrawal: Long Beach West Central (14), Inglewood East (11), Athens/Gardena Northeast (15) and Inglewood West (8). FCI Terminal Island holds a correctional facility HPSA.

For mental health, Harbor Gateway South/Lomita (11) and Avalon (11) are designated, while Hawthorne/Inglewood East, Long Beach West Central and Compton East/North Long Beach are proposed for withdrawal. That status marks an area that fell short in HRSA's September 2025 national review; it keeps its recognition until HRSA issues a decision, due by July 1, 2027.

Avalon is the region's one rural designation, and California's Board of Registered Nursing observes in its 2026 sunset report that rural parts of the state are often short of both clinical sites and preceptors.

APU's process from the harbor side

1. Name the course firstYour course number and paired lecture course go on the request form and decide which site counts: primary care for GNRS 600, a psychiatrist or PMHNP for PMHNP courses.
2. Find the clinician and the paperwork peopleBeyond the preceptor, APU wants the organization's registered name, an authorized signer and a day-to-day office contact.
3. File a request for each preceptorTwo preceptors at the same Long Beach clinic still mean two separate Graduate Preceptor Request forms.
4. Let the agreement finishA Torrance or Carson clinic without a current affiliation agreement needs one before your first day.
5. Start only after written clearanceThe placement team's written approval comes first; hours logged earlier are removed.

Why South Bay and Long Beach students choose us

We run your search where you live, from San Pedro and Carson to Torrance, Inglewood and Long Beach, so clinical days start near home rather than 30 miles away. We match preceptors to your exact APU course, including the pediatric share FNP students need, and assemble every detail APU's form and affiliation agreement require before submission. Final clearance is always APU's, in writing; what we control is that the request lands complete and correct on the first pass, and we stay on call to replace a preceptor who drops. Tell us your course and city.

Questions APU students ask