Olivet MSN Nursing Education & Leadership: the two practicums
Olivet Nazarene University's online MSN in Nursing Education & Leadership asks for two practicums: 30 hours in population health early on and 120 hours in education and leadership at the very end, each with a preceptor you select and Olivet approves. We find both preceptors in your area and prepare each one for Olivet's review.
Find your NEL preceptor
Tell us your start term and which practicum comes next, and your placement advisor will set the search dates.
How the NEL program runs
The MSN in Nursing Education & Leadership is 100% online and can be finished in as little as 28 months. Olivet builds it from twelve accelerated 8-week classes plus one 16-week evidence-based practice course, and the program page says there are no exams. Posted start dates are October 26, 2026, January 4, 2027, March 1, 2027 and April 26, 2027. The 8-week course rhythm shapes how you pace practicum hours.
Admission items mirror the FNP track: a BSN with a 3.0 GPA, an RN license, statistics, a signed background and drug-screening consent, and at least 2,000 hours of RN practice, banked before NRSG 681 wraps up. Up to 6 transfer credits are accepted. The page gives no credit total; the new-curriculum handbook sets an MSN range of 40 to 53 and the current one 33 to 53, so your plan of study settles your own number.
On the certification side, the program page points to the National League for Nursing's CNE plus the CNML and CENP credentials, and the handbook's list goes further, naming NE-BC and NEA-BC from ANCC.
Where the two practicums fall
The new-curriculum sample schedule places one practicum near the start and one at the finish, with the education and leadership core in between.
| Order | Course | Practicum hours |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 3 | NRSG 601, NRSG 602, NRSG 603 | None |
| 4 | NRSG 604 Population Health | 30 direct clinical hours |
| 5 | NRSG 681 Nursing Inquiry and Evidence Translation | None |
| 6 to 11 | NRSG 615, NRSG 630, NRSG 616, NRSG 617, NRSG 618, NRSG 619 | None |
| 12 | One business course from the MBA or MOL program | None |
| 13 | NRSG 620 Nursing Education and Leadership Practicum | 120 |
The middle block tells you what the final practicum draws on: NRSG 615 Professional Role Development of the Academic Educator and Nurse Leader, NRSG 616 Principles of Teaching and Learning, NRSG 617 Curriculum Development and Instructional Design, NRSG 618 Assessment, Measurement, and Evaluation, and NRSG 619 Financial Stewardship and Resource Management. NRSG 630 combines advanced pathophysiology, pharmacology and health assessment in one course.
NRSG 604: a population health preceptor, early
NRSG 604 is the fourth course in the sample order, so your first preceptor search starts within the opening months of the program. Olivet's program page calls it a 30-hour Advanced Clinical Practicum on population health, the handbook lists 30 direct clinical hours, and it takes a B- or better to pass.
Who may precept an NEL student is spelled out inside the Canvas requirements course for your track rather than on Olivet's website. For this course we look for nurses whose work reaches a community or a defined population, such as public health, community clinics or care coordination, then check each candidate against the course requirements before anything goes to Olivet.
Compliance has to be complete before this first practicum day, not just the last one, and the drug screen must clear 2 to 4 weeks before it starts. Our compliance checklist covers each item.
NRSG 620: 120 hours in eight weeks
NRSG 620 is the last course and the heavier practicum: 120 hours inside an 8-week course, which averages 15 hours a week from the first Monday. The program page describes it as a practicum in academia and leadership, and it also needs a B- or better.
The clock is strict. Any hours still open when the eighth week ends turn into an X grade with a second 8-week window, and hours still open at week 16 mean enrolling in the course again. The course page linked in the table above covers those grade rules and weekly pacing in detail.
A preceptor for this course needs real room in their week. We look for nurse educators, in academic programs or hospital staff development, and nurse leaders who can host about 15 hours a week and give you teaching and leadership work that fits the course.
Line up your NRSG 620 preceptor before the course opens: at 15 hours a week, a two-week delay leaves 30 hours to recover.
Who finds the preceptor, and in which state
As on the FNP track, NEL students are asked to look first among people they already know, personally and at work, and each practicum pairs you with a preceptor you pick and Olivet approves. For backup, the MSN page promises substantial support from the SON Clinical Coordinator and sets no attempt count, in contrast with the FNP page's 30. Our guide to finding your own preceptor shows how to run that first search well.
The practicums have to take place in a state Olivet approves, yet no state list appears on the NEL pages, and the program does not appear on Olivet's licensure disclosures page. Check your state with the coordinator before any site is locked in.
NEL competencies are tracked in Project Concert, according to the fee sheet. Your preceptor may be asked for input along the way, while grading your outcomes stays with faculty.
Continuing students: NRSG 658 and NRSG 634
Students already enrolled under the current-curriculum handbook follow its Education track, where the practicums carry different numbers: a 30-hour NRSG 658, the advanced clinical practice course for academic nurse educators, and the 120-hour NRSG 634, the Nursing Education Practicum. Its other courses carry older numbers too, beginning with the role course NRSG 629.
Setup differs as well. An email invitation places new-curriculum students in their practicum requirements course automatically, while current-curriculum students add themselves to the Canvas course before NRSG 629. Compliance runs through Verified Credentials QualifiedFirst in the new handbook and CastleBranch in the current one. Your advisor confirms which applies; the curriculum comparison lays the two out side by side.
Why NEL students choose us
An education or leadership preceptor is a different search from a clinical one, because the right person may be a faculty member, a staff development educator or a nurse executive rather than a bedside clinician. We run both NEL searches with that in mind.
- Two searches, timed separatelyThe
NRSG 604population health preceptor is lined up for your first months, and theNRSG 620search starts well before the final course. - Match the course, not just the titleCandidates are checked for the population health, teaching or leadership work each course calls for, and for the weekly hours
NRSG 620needs. - Prepare Olivet's reviewCredentials, license, role and site details are gathered so Olivet receives a file with every piece already in place.
- Keep compliance currentDrug screen timing, yearly TB and flu, and a BLS card from an in-person class stay on your calendar across both practicums.
- Step in fastShould a preceptor pull out partway, a new search opens at once to protect the 8-week window.
Olivet approves every preceptor; our job is to bring it a strong, ready candidate for each practicum. Tell us your start term and which practicum is next in the form below.
Questions Olivet students ask
Does Olivet's NEL MSN have exams?
Olivet's program page says the NEL program has no exams. The work is spread across twelve accelerated 8-week classes and one 16-week evidence-based practice course, and the two practicums are graded against their course requirements, with a B- or better needed in both NRSG 604 and NRSG 620. The handbook also sets an 83% average on graded work, with every hour documented as satisfactory, for each practicum course.
How many practicum hours are in Olivet's MSN in Nursing Education and Leadership?
The new curriculum has 150: 30 direct clinical hours in NRSG 604 Population Health and 120 in NRSG 620. Continuing students under the current handbook complete the same split in NRSG 658 (30) and NRSG 634 (120). Each takes place near where you live, under a preceptor you choose and Olivet approves, in a state on Olivet's approved list.
Can I do my NEL practicum where I work?
Olivet's graduate handbooks do not say whether a graduate student may complete practicum hours at their own employer. The rules on who can precept sit in the Student Practicum Requirements Course in Canvas, so read that first, then put the question to the SON Clinical Coordinator before building plans around your job. If that option falls through, we can find a preceptor elsewhere in your area.
When should I look for my NRSG 620 preceptor?
Olivet publishes no approval lead time for NEL preceptors; those details live in the Canvas requirements course. Because NRSG 620 is the final course and its 8 weeks leave no slack, start while you are in the NRSG 616 to NRSG 619 block, so approval, compliance and any site onboarding are finished before the course opens.
Can I move from the NEL certificate into the full MSN?
Olivet's Post-Bachelor's NEL certificate page says its courses stack into the MSN. Comparing the two sample schedules, the MSN adds the core courses, including NRSG 604 and its 30 population health hours, which the certificate's handbook schedule leaves out. Before switching, have the Online Advising Team map which finished courses count.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-25
We check these pages against Olivet's own handbooks, program pages, fee sheet and licensure disclosures. Your handbook version, your Canvas clinical requirements course, your faculty and the SON Clinical Coordinator have the final word.
Olivet asks you to start with your own network. We make the search the easy part of your program.
Tell us your Olivet track, where you live and when your next clinical course starts. We find preceptors whose patients fit the course, inside Olivet's approved states, and prepare everything Olivet's approval and the site's onboarding need.
- Preceptors matched to the course: adults and older adults for
NRSG 636C, women's health forNRSG 637C, children forNRSG 638C, education and leadership forNRSG 620 - Credentials, license and site details ready before your clinical course opens, with the drug screen timing on your calendar
- In your own community, in Illinois or any state Olivet approves for your clinicals
Start your placement plan
Track, city and start date is all we need to begin.