NRSG 620: the 120-hour Nursing Education and Leadership Practicum
NRSG 620 Nursing Education and Leadership Practicum is the final course in Olivet Nazarene University's MSN Nursing Education & Leadership: 120 practicum hours inside an eight-week course. Hours still open at the end bring an X grade plus a second eight weeks; past week 16, the course is taken again. A preceptor who can host you at a steady weekly pace matters more here than anywhere else in the program.
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Tell us your Olivet program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with the preceptor and site options that fit your Olivet course.
The course in numbers
On the NEL program page, this is the long practicum: 120 hours set in academia and leadership, with a preceptor you choose and Olivet approves. The new-curriculum handbook adds the timing rules, and together they make NRSG 620 the most time-sensitive course in the program.
| Item | What Olivet says |
|---|---|
| Practicum hours | 120 |
| Course length | 8 weeks |
| Hours unfinished at week 8 | X grade and 8 more weeks, 16 in total |
| Hours unfinished at week 16 | Non-passing grade; the course is retaken in full and charged again |
| Passing grade | B- or better, with an 83% average on graded work and all hours documented as satisfactory |
| Place in the sample order | Last, after one business course from the MBA or MOL program |
| Current-curriculum counterpart | NRSG 634 Nursing Education Practicum, 120 hours |
The courses leading up to it show what the practicum draws on: NRSG 615 role development for the academic educator and nurse leader, then teaching and learning in NRSG 616, curriculum and instructional design in NRSG 617, assessment and evaluation in NRSG 618, and financial stewardship in NRSG 619.
The pace 120 hours asks for
Spread across eight weeks, 120 hours averages 15 a week. NEL students enter with at least 2,000 RN hours behind them, and for many of them those 15 hours sit on top of a nursing job, so the weekly pattern has to be agreed with the preceptor before the course opens.
Each course week closes Sunday night on Central time, and practicum assignments are due by the last day of the course; the eight-week course calendar has the exact cutoffs. Olivet's handbook does not set a weekly minimum, so the pattern is yours to design.
Patterns that add up to 120 hours
- Two 7.5-hour days every week for all 8 weeks
- Three 5-hour blocks a week, for example two weekday afternoons and a Saturday
- 20 hours a week for 6 weeks, which leaves the last 2 weeks as a buffer for sick days and paperwork
The third pattern is the safest. A preceptor's vacation, a canceled teaching day or your own illness costs far less when the plan already finishes early.
How the X grade works
The X is a deferred grade, and in the new-curriculum handbook it belongs to NRSG 620. If your 120 hours are not complete when the eight weeks end, you receive an X and eight more weeks to finish. The clock keeps running from the original start, so the outer limit is 16 weeks in total.
If the hours are still open when those extra weeks end, the X turns into a non-passing grade and the course is retaken in full, with the course charged again. A retake also counts against Olivet's limit of two repeated NRSG courses, and because NRSG 620 is your last course, it moves your completion date. Olivet's MSN ceremony is held each May and at no other time, so a slip can mean a long wait to walk. The leave and delays page explains how the X differs from an Incomplete.
Treat the X grade as a safety net, not a plan. Build your schedule to finish 120 hours inside the first eight weeks.
Education and leadership preceptors
Who may precept an NEL student is spelled out in Canvas rather than on Olivet's public site: the Education track's requirements course holds the qualifications and the approval steps, so read it before you ask anyone. The practicum has to be done in an approved state, and when your own search stalls, the NEL page points you to substantial help from the SON Clinical Coordinator.
Think about the credential you want next. Olivet names three targets for NEL graduates, the National League for Nursing's CNE, the CNML and the CENP, and its handbook lists two ANCC credentials as well, NE-BC and NEA-BC. A student aiming at the CNE gains most from a preceptor in academic teaching, while a student headed for CNML or CENP gains most from a nurse manager or executive whose week includes staffing, budgets and quality work.
Whatever the setting, confirm three things before you send a name for approval: the preceptor's schedule can hold your weekly hours, their work covers both education and leadership as the course describes, and their employer is open to hosting a student.
Certificate and current-curriculum students
Post-Bachelor's NEL certificate students take NRSG 620 as the last of eight courses in the handbook's sample schedule, after six nursing courses (NRSG 615, NRSG 630, then NRSG 616 through NRSG 619) and one business course. The certificate's web page also describes a 30-hour population health practicum that the handbook schedule leaves out; the certificate page covers that conflict.
Continuing students on the current curriculum take NRSG 634 Nursing Education Practicum for their 120 hours, after NRSG 658 for 30. Their handbook wants all 2,000 RN hours banked before the practicum track opens, and finishing NRSG 681 is the latest point to get there. The X-grade rule above is written in the new-curriculum handbook, so read the NRSG 634 section of your own handbook for your version.
Why NEL students choose us for NRSG 620
Our search covers education and leadership preceptors near your home and within an approved state, and we confirm before anything goes to Olivet that each one can hold your weekly hours for the full eight weeks. We match the setting to the certification you are working toward, so the practicum builds your next step as well as your transcript.
Each preceptor file reaches you with credentials, license and site facts already checked, your renewals and drug screen window are tracked, and we stay reachable for all eight weeks. If a preceptor steps away in week three, we start a replacement search that same week so you can finish without leaning on the X grade. Approval rests with Olivet alone, so we build each preceptor file to be ready for its first review. Reach us two courses ahead from the contact page.
Questions Olivet students ask
How many hours a week is NRSG 620?
120 practicum hours over eight weeks averages 15 hours a week. Olivet's handbook does not set a weekly minimum, so you and your preceptor set the pattern. Plans that finish in six or seven weeks leave room for illness or a canceled day without touching the X grade.
What is an X grade at Olivet?
In the new-curriculum MSN handbook, the X is a deferred grade for NRSG 620. It applies when the 120 practicum hours are not finished within the eight-week course, and it gives eight more weeks, sixteen in total. If the hours are still unfinished after that, the grade becomes non-passing and the course must be retaken.
Do I pay again if I have to retake NRSG 620?
Yes. The handbook describes the retake after an unfinished X as a full retake of the course, charged again. Talk to Student Financial Services early if you think you may run past sixteen weeks, and to your course faculty about any hours you can still complete in time.
Can my NRSG 620 preceptor be my own manager?
Olivet's graduate handbooks do not address preceptors at a student's workplace. The legacy RN-BSN handbook allows workplace hours in one leadership course but not during scheduled shifts, which says nothing about the MSN. Check with the SON Clinical Coordinator before you count on a manager or coworker, and see clinicals where you work.
Which certifications does Olivet's NEL prepare me for?
Three appear on the NEL program page: CNE, CNML and CENP. The new-curriculum handbook widens the list with NE-BC and NEA-BC from ANCC. Each certifying body sets its own eligibility rules, so check the one you want before choosing your NRSG 620 setting.
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
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