Olivet's Post-Bachelor's NEL certificate and its practicum
Olivet Nazarene University's Post-Bachelor's Nursing Education and Leadership certificate is a 14-month online program whose courses stack into the MSN, and its practicum work centers on the 120-hour NRSG 620. We find the education and leadership preceptor that course needs and prepare the file for Olivet's approval.
Plan your certificate practicum
Share your start term and what your advisor says about the practicum count, and we will set up the search.
The certificate in brief
The Post-Bachelor's NEL certificate offers BSN-prepared nurses a shorter, fully online route into Olivet's education and leadership coursework. Olivet's page gives a length of 14 months and says the courses stack into the MSN. The two start dates it lists are August 30, 2027 and October 25, 2027.
Total credits are not stated on the certificate page. The new-curriculum handbook puts its certificates anywhere from 24 to 37 credits, so your plan of study from the Online Advising Team sets your own figure. The handbook's NEL section lists eligibility for the CNE, CNML and CENP certifications.
The certificate shares its education and leadership courses with the MSN NEL, but it is shorter because it leaves out most of the MSN core. That difference drives both the practicum question below and the way the certificate can later grow into the degree.
One practicum or two: Olivet's sources differ
Settle this before you plan any search. Olivet's certificate web page describes two practicums, both with an approved preceptor the student selects: one of 30 hours in population health and one of 120 hours centered on academia and leadership. The certificate's sample schedule in the handbook, by contrast, shows just NRSG 620 at 120 hours and has no NRSG 604.
| Source | Practicums listed | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Certificate web page | Population health practicum and academia/leadership practicum | 30 + 120 = 150 |
| New-curriculum handbook sample schedule | NRSG 620 only | 120 |
Ask your advisor which version applies to your start term and keep the answer in writing. If the population health practicum is part of your plan, it needs a preceptor of its own, and our NRSG 604 page explains that course.
Plan for both practicums until your advisor confirms otherwise; an extra search you end up not needing is far easier than a missing practicum discovered late.
The course order, and where NRSG 620 lands
The handbook's sample schedule runs eight courses, and the practicum closes the program.
NRSG 615Role development for the academic educator and the nurse leader, framing both paths.NRSG 630Advanced Pathophysiology, Pharmacology, and Health Assessment, with separate rules for nurses who are already APRNs.NRSG 616andNRSG 617Principles of Teaching and Learning, then Curriculum Development and Instructional Design.NRSG 618andNRSG 619Assessment, Measurement, and Evaluation, then Financial Stewardship and Resource Management.- One business courseA course chosen from Olivet's MBA or MOL program.
NRSG 620The Nursing Education and Leadership Practicum, packing 120 hours into 8 weeks.
NRSG 620 has a firm window. Hours left undone after 8 weeks bring an X grade and one more 8-week stretch, and past 16 weeks the course starts over, so a preceptor's weekly availability matters as much as their title. The 8-week course guide explains how Olivet's course week runs.
Admission details that differ by source
The certificate page and the handbook set different entry bars. On the web page, the bar is a 3.0 BSN GPA along with the MSN requirements, meaning statistics and the 2,000 RN-hour rule tied to NRSG 681. The handbook instead sets a 2.75 BSN GPA with an RN license and signed background and drug-screening consent.
The handbook also has a route for nurses already practicing as APRNs: they may be exempt from NRSG 630, or meet it through prior coursework or a test-out. That route suits nurse practitioners who want to move into teaching, and for them the practicum is where the new education and leadership role gets its hands-on hours.
Ask the Online Advising Team which admission standard applies to your term. The RN-hours question matters beyond admission, because NRSG 681 is not in the certificate's sample schedule, and the answer shapes when practicum work can begin.
Who finds the practicum preceptor
Per the certificate page, you choose the preceptor, Olivet approves them, and the hours happen in an approved state. Unlike the MSN pages, it carries no FAQ about coordinator support, so it is silent on what help exists if your own search stalls. The degree page for the MSN NEL promises substantial coordinator support; ask the SON Clinical Coordinator whether certificate students get the same.
Preceptor criteria and approval steps are posted for enrolled students in Canvas rather than on the public site, and our preceptor approval guide explains how to prepare. The NEL pages give no state list, so confirm your practicum state with the coordinator before you commit to a site.
Graduate compliance applies to certificate students as well, with every item finished before the first practicum day and kept current. The compliance list walks through each one.
Stacking into the MSN later
Because the certificate's courses stack into the MSN, the education and leadership courses you finish can carry into the degree if you decide to continue.
Setting the two sample schedules side by side shows what the MSN adds: the core courses NRSG 601, NRSG 602 and NRSG 603, NRSG 604 Population Health with its 30 direct clinical hours, and NRSG 681 Nursing Inquiry and Evidence Translation. A certificate student who continues may therefore meet the population health practicum at that stage, even if the certificate plan left it out.
Ask the Online Advising Team to show how each finished course transfers and whether the RN-hour deadline at NRSG 681 changes your timing. The MSN NEL page covers the degree and both of its practicums.
Why certificate students choose us
A short program with its practicum at the very end leaves no time for a second try at the preceptor. We are built to get it right on the first pass.
- Settle the practicum countWe plan around your advisor's answer on
NRSG 604and line up a population health preceptor as well if your plan includes it. - Find an education and leadership matchNurse educators in academic or staff development roles and nurse leaders are screened for the teaching and leadership work
NRSG 620calls for. - Check the calendar fitAt 120 hours in 8 weeks, a preceptor needs to host about 15 hours a week, and we confirm that before proposing anyone.
- Prepare a complete fileCredentials, license, role and site details are assembled so your file arrives at Olivet whole, with nothing left to chase.
- Cover a dropoutA preceptor who drops out partway triggers an immediate new search, because the 8-week window keeps running.
Final approval of every preceptor rests with Olivet. Tell us your start term and your advisor's answer on the practicum count in the form below.
Questions Olivet students ask
How long is Olivet's Post-Bachelor's NEL certificate?
Olivet's page gives 14 months, fully online, with start dates of August 30, 2027 and October 25, 2027. The practicum is the final course in the handbook's sample schedule, so finishing on time depends partly on having an approved preceptor ready when NRSG 620 opens. Hours left unfinished at 8 weeks add another 8-week stretch to the program.
Is the NEL certificate a licensure program at Olivet?
No. Olivet's Professional Licensure Disclosures page names just two nursing licensure programs, the BSN and the FNP, so the NEL certificate is not rated state by state there. Its practicum still has to be in an approved state, which is why confirming your state with the SON Clinical Coordinator matters before you pick a site.
Can my NRSG 620 preceptor be my manager or a coworker?
Olivet's public pages set no graduate rule on preceptors who are employers, managers or colleagues; those criteria sit in the Canvas requirements course. Check that course, then clear the idea with the SON Clinical Coordinator before counting on a colleague. If the answer rules out your first choice, we can find an education or leadership preceptor elsewhere in your area.
What does the NRSG 620 practicum involve?
Olivet's certificate page describes the 120-hour practicum as focused on academia and leadership, and the course is titled Nursing Education and Leadership Practicum. It follows the teaching, curriculum, evaluation and financial stewardship courses, so it is where that coursework is put into practice alongside a preceptor. The detailed objectives are published inside the course in Canvas.
Who approves my certificate preceptor?
Olivet does. The certificate page calls the preceptor approved and student-selected. The approval form's name, how it is submitted and how long review takes are not on Olivet's public pages; those details are inside Canvas for enrolled students. We gather credentials, license and site details so the file you submit is complete when it reaches Olivet.
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.