Sacred Heart University's online MSN Clinical Nurse Leader: hours, courses and preceptors
Sacred Heart University's online MSN Clinical Nurse Leader (CNL) track places its clinical hours in four courses, NU 611, NU 612, NU 680 and NU 681, and every hour happens in person at a site you identify. Sacred Heart's own totals disagree (420 on the CNL page, 400 or 500 in the catalog), so this page sets out each figure and the one to plan around. We find the preceptor and the organization and assemble what your academic advisor needs to approve them.
Plan your CNL placement
Tell us your module, your state and the course you need covered.
The CNL track in brief
The CNL is one of five MSN tracks in Sacred Heart's 2026-27 graduate catalog and one of three that sit outside nurse practitioner licensure. It totals 39 credits: a 12-credit core (NU 501, NU 530, NU 601, NU 602) and 27 specialty credits that end in two role immersion courses. Graduates are eligible for the AACN CNL Certification Examination.
Coursework is fully online, and SHU Online states that this track has no campus residencies, so the only in-person obligation is the clinical time itself. Every course, including the four with clinical hours, runs as an 8-week module, and students generally take one course per module.
Sacred Heart lists two start dates a year. The SHU Online FAQ names January and August while the admissions page says January and September, so confirm your intake with admissions. The CNL page describes a two-year program; the catalog allows up to six years to finish the plan of study.
The practicum path, course by course
Four courses carry clinical hours. The figures below come from the 2026-27 MSN student guide, which changed the hours for NU 611 and NU 612 for students admitted on or after January 1, 2024.
| Course | What it covers | Admitted before Jan 1, 2024 | Admitted Jan 1, 2024 or later |
|---|---|---|---|
NU 611 Care Management & Resources Across the Continuum | CNL management of care across the continuum; the guide flags these hours as an AACN requirement for the CNL exam | 24 | 60 |
NU 612 Disease Management & Outcomes Assessment | Builds on NU 611 | 24 | 60 |
NU 680 Clinical Nurse Leader Role Practicum | Role practice with a preceptor in various health care settings and specialties, with an evidence-based improvement project | 150 | 150 |
NU 681 Capstone: Clinical Nurse Leader | The final role immersion course, taken after NU 680 | 150 | 150 |
| Total | Four courses | 348 | 420 |
NU 611 opens only after NU 550, NU 553, NU 554, NU 575 and NU 605. The catalog lists NU 612 as the prerequisite for NU 680 (the web version adds NU 611), and NU 680 and NU 681 may not share a module.
Because the immersion courses run in sequence, planning both with one organization keeps a single affiliation agreement in play. Your advisor confirms whether one preceptor may cover both.
420, 400 or 500: Sacred Heart's hour conflict
Three Sacred Heart sources give three totals. The CNL page and the SHU Online FAQ say 420 hours of role immersion. The student guide adds the four courses above to 420 for students admitted from January 1, 2024, and to 348 before that date. The catalog says 400 clinical hours, or 500 for students admitted on or after January 1, 2024, spread across six courses.
The catalog's six-course count does not match the four courses the guide assigns hours to, and neither catalog figure matches the guide's sums. No public Sacred Heart page explains the gap.
Plan to the course-level figures in the student guide for your admission date, since those are the hours you log course by course in E*Value, and ask your academic advisor to confirm the program total in writing before NU 611. Our clinical hours hub sets the CNL beside every other Sacred Heart program.
Your admission date decides NU 611 and NU 612: 24 hours each before January 1, 2024, 60 hours each on or after it. Check which applies before you book preceptor time.
Who can precept you, and where
You identify potential preceptors and organizations yourself, as the MSN guide sets out for all three non-NP tracks. Once you settle on a preceptor, their CV and RN license(s) go to your academic advisor for approval. Research turned up no further credential or experience rule for CNL preceptors, so the Graduate Nursing Requirements organization on Blackboard and your advisor are where to confirm anything beyond that.
The guide is direct about format: "Clinical experiences are in person on site." A CNL preceptor therefore needs a unit or service line that can host care management work in NU 611 and NU 612 and a genuine improvement project in NU 680 and NU 681. Acute care hospitals, primary care clinics, home care agencies and community-based facilities all appear among the placement types of the Davis & Henley College of Nursing.
Two limits apply on every Contract Request Form: no family member or close friend as preceptor, and straight answers about whether you work at the site or with the preceptor. SHU Online notes that many students arrange clinical time at their employer; read clinicals where you work and the preceptor requirements by track first.
Timing: agreements, modules and compliance
CNL placements are due by a deadline the Clinical Placement Team publishes to students, not on the web. The longer clock is the affiliation agreement: after you file the Contract Request Form, a site new to Sacred Heart can take up to nine months to contract. Work backward from the module that holds NU 611.
- Choose the moduleFall modules (M1, M2) open for registration in April, spring (M3, M4) in October and late spring or summer (M5, M6) in February. See registration and modules.
- Line up the preceptor and siteSend the preceptor's CV and RN license to your academic advisor and wait for approval.
- File the CRFSubmit the MSN Online (CNL, NMEL, NE) Contract Request Form; the Clinical Contract & Compliance Coordinator confirms or starts the affiliation agreement.
- Close out complianceYour Health Account is due two weeks before the clinical course begins, with RN liability insurance, an RN license for the state where you train and a flu vaccine by November 1.
- Wait for clearanceAttend only once Sacred Heart clears you; hours logged at an unapproved site or with an unapproved preceptor are deleted from E*Value. See Cleared for Clinical.
Licensure note, state limits and Ireland
Sacred Heart's licensure disclosure table marks the CNL "Yes" in every state, with a note that the specialization is not equivalent to, and does not meet the requirements for, Certified Clinical Nurse Specialist. The CNL prepares you for the AACN CNL exam, a different credential from CNS certification. The U.S. territories are listed "No"; see the state licensure disclosures.
Louisiana carries its own line: CNL students there may not complete any clinical work in the state, so a Louisiana resident trains across a state line and needs an RN license where the hours happen. New York works differently for non-licensure tracks, since the State Authorizations page lets non-FNP MSN students complete preceptorships in New York agencies (New York rule).
An optional two-week term at University Hospital Kerry in Tralee, Ireland can count toward part of the capstone hours. The guides let a track limit hours earned abroad, so get your advisor's figure before you plan around it.
Why CNL students choose us
CNL placements usually stall at the same point: a willing preceptor, but an organization with no Sacred Heart agreement and nobody assigned to answer contract questions. We start from the site's side. Your placement advisor finds a preceptor whose unit can host both care management hours and an improvement project, confirms the organization's contract contact for the CRF, and hands you the preceptor's CV and RN license ready for your academic advisor.
We plan around the nine-month agreement window and the Clinical Placement Team's deadline, and we look ahead to NU 680 and NU 681 while you are still in NU 611. If a preceptor steps away mid-module, we source a replacement who fits the same course. Sacred Heart keeps the final word on every placement; ours is the job of handing your advisor a CNL file with nothing missing.
Share your module and home state on the contact page, and your placement advisor lines the search up against your plan of study.
Questions Sacred Heart students ask
Does Sacred Heart's online CNL require any trips to campus?
No campus residency is listed for the CNL. SHU Online describes the non-NP MSN tracks as 100% online with no campus residencies. The in-person part is your clinical time, which the MSN guide says happens on site with your preceptor rather than by video. The optional Ireland term is the only travel Sacred Heart builds into the track, and it is your choice.
Can a nurse manager at my hospital be my CNL preceptor?
Possibly. For the CNL, Sacred Heart asks for the preceptor's CV and RN license and leaves approval to your academic advisor. The Contract Request Form asks whether you work at the site and whether you work with the preceptor in any capacity, so answer both plainly. A family member or close friend is not allowed, and your advisor weighs whether a supervisor can evaluate you objectively.
Is Sacred Heart's CNL the same as a clinical nurse specialist program?
No. Sacred Heart's licensure disclosures state that the CNL specialization is not equivalent to Certified Clinical Nurse Specialist and does not meet its requirements. The track prepares you for the AACN Clinical Nurse Leader Certification Examination instead. If CNS certification is your goal, raise it with admissions before you enroll, because the practicum hours here are built around the CNL role.
Can I take NU 680 and NU 681 in the same module to finish sooner?
No. The MSN student guide lists NU 680 and NU 681 among the practicum and capstone pairs that may not be taken together, and NU 681 requires NU 680 first. Each carries 150 hours inside an 8-week course, which averages close to 19 hours a week on site, so build your preceptor's schedule around that load twice.
When should I start looking for a CNL preceptor?
Well before you register for the module that holds NU 611, and earlier still if the site is new to Sacred Heart. A new affiliation agreement can take up to nine months after the CRF is filed, and the Clinical Placement Team's deadline falls before the course begins. Starting about two semesters ahead gives the contract room to finish without shifting your plan of study.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-25
We check these pages against Sacred Heart's own catalog, program pages and 2026-27 student guides. Your student guide, your academic advisor and your course faculty have the final word.
- Sacred Heart University 2026-27 Graduate Catalog: Master of Science in Nursing
- Sacred Heart University MSN and Post-MSN Certificate Online Student Guide, 2026-27
- Sacred Heart University Online: Clinical Nurse Leader specialization
- Sacred Heart University State Authorization, Disclosures & Student Complaints
- Sacred Heart University Online: FAQ
Sacred Heart asks you to secure your clinical placement. We make that the easy part.
Tell us your Sacred Heart program, your city and your next clinical course. We find preceptors who fit the course and prepare what your advisor, the NP clinical coordinator and the Contract Request Form ask for, early enough for the affiliation agreement.
- Preceptors matched to the course: primary care of adults, women and children for FNP, psychiatric care across the lifespan for PMHNP
- Preceptor CV, license, board certification and the site's contract contact ready before your week-10 deadline
- Close to home in any state where Sacred Heart's program meets licensure requirements, with New York's rule planned around
Start your placement plan
Program, city and clinical start is all we need to begin.