Sacred Heart University MSN in Nursing Education: the 180-hour practicum
Sacred Heart University's online MSN Nursing Education track places 180 practicum hours in three courses, NU 619, NU 690 and NU 691, at 60 hours apiece, and the Advanced Graduate Certificate in Nursing Education uses the same three. You choose the preceptor and the organization, and your academic advisor approves them. We find educators and sites that suit each course and give your advisor a complete preceptor file.
Plan your education practicum
Tell us which practicum course is next and where you live.
What the Nursing Education track covers
The Nursing Education (NE) track is a 39-credit online MSN for nurses moving into teaching roles. After a 12-credit core, its 27 specialty credits pair clinical science with teaching theory: advanced pathophysiology (NU 553), health assessment methods (NU 554), healthcare information systems (NU 575) and pharmacology for the nurse leader (NU 605), then NU 588 Theoretical Basis of Teaching & Learning in Nursing Education and NU 589 Curriculum Development & Evaluation in Nursing Education.
The final three specialty courses form the practicum sequence, which SHU Online describes as working with a preceptor through three immersions. Coursework is online with no campus residency, and every course, practicum courses included, runs eight weeks.
Intake happens twice a year: January, and then August or September depending on which Sacred Heart page you trust, with a two-year duration quoted on the NE page. Module registration opens in April, October and February; the timing is laid out on registration and modules.
Three immersions, 60 hours each
Each practicum course carries 60 hours in the 2026-27 MSN student guide, and each builds on the one before.
| Course | Focus | Hours | Prerequisites |
|---|---|---|---|
NU 619 Principles of Patient & Staff Education | Graduate-level assessment, pathophysiology and pharmacology applied in a selected healthcare population under a preceptor; direct patient care is required; simulation design | 60 | NU 553, NU 554, NU 605, NU 575, NU 588, NU 589 |
NU 690 Nursing Education Role Practicum | Education role practice with a preceptor that may involve direct patient care, plus a teaching improvement project | 60 | NU 619 |
NU 691 Capstone: Nurse Educator | Continues the role practicum and completes the project | 60 | NU 690 |
| Total | Same figure in the catalog, the guide and SHU Online | 180 |
The 180 is one of the few numbers every Sacred Heart source repeats, which makes NE simpler to plan than the CNL, whose totals conflict (see the CNL page).
Two scheduling rules shape the sequence. The guide bars taking any other course alongside NU 619, and NU 690 and NU 691 may not run in the same module. Expect three separate modules of on-site time, averaging 7 to 8 hours a week in each.
Choosing preceptors for teaching hours
Sacred Heart's written rule for NE is brief: pick potential preceptors and organizations, then send the chosen preceptor's CV and RN license(s) to your academic advisor. Research found no longer credential list, so questions such as whether a preceptor needs a graduate degree in education go to your advisor or the Graduate Nursing Requirements organization on Blackboard.
The course descriptions narrow the field. NU 619 needs direct patient care in a selected population, which points to a clinical setting where your preceptor teaches patients or staff. NU 690 and NU 691 center on a teaching improvement project, which suits someone who teaches as part of the job: a unit educator, a staff development specialist or nursing faculty. Educational settings sit alongside hospitals and clinics on the Davis & Henley College of Nursing's list of placement types.
Keep family members and close friends off your list, as every Contract Request Form requires, and read the preceptor requirements by track before you approach anyone.
From approval to your first practicum day
NE placement deadlines come from the Clinical Placement Team, which sends them to students rather than posting them; the deadlines page compares them with the FNP's week-10 rule. The same sequence repeats for each of the three practicum courses.
- Preceptor file to the advisorThe preceptor's CV and RN license go to your academic advisor, who approves the choice or asks for another.
- Contract Request FormWith approval in hand, file the MSN Online (CNL, NMEL, NE) CRF. It routes to the Clinical Contract & Compliance Coordinator, who confirms an existing affiliation agreement or opens a new one, a process that can run up to nine months.
- Health AccountCompliance is due two weeks before the practicum course begins: physical exam, TB test, CPR, RN liability insurance, the RN license for your practicum state and a flu vaccine by November 1.
- ClearanceYour first practicum day waits for Sacred Heart's clearance; time spent with a preceptor or site that lacks approval is removed from your E*Value logs.
Because a new agreement can take up to nine months, the search belongs early in the program, well before NU 588 and NU 589, not after them.
The Advanced Graduate Certificate in Nursing Education
Nurses who already hold a master's degree can take the teaching content as a 15-credit online certificate: NU 588, NU 589, NU 619, NU 690 and NU 691, at 3 credits each. The catalog requires 180 practicum hours with a preceptor across the three practicum courses, the same practicum load as the MSN track.
To enter, you need a nursing master's (or one in a related field), a GPA of 3.0 or higher and an RN license without encumbrance where you live. The courses run eight weeks, and the catalog says they are offered on an ongoing basis.
The College of Nursing forms page lists six Contract Request Forms, and none names the certificate, so ask your advisor which form covers it before you file. Post-master's DNP students who choose the education electives meet NU 619 and NU 690 as well; see the post-master's DNP page.
Where you can train, and Ireland
NE is not a licensure track, which widens your map. Sacred Heart's State Authorizations page names non-FNP MSN programs among those whose preceptorships may take place in New York agencies, the reverse of the New York rule for NP students. Wherever the practicum happens, you need an active, unencumbered RN license in that state.
Practicum days in Connecticut add one more item: the CT Hospital Association Health & Safety Test with a score of 85 or better, uploaded to your Health Account.
SHU Online also offers an optional two-week term at Sacred Heart's campus in Dingle, Ireland that can count toward capstone hours. The guides allow a track to cap hours earned abroad, so get your advisor's number before counting on it.
Why nurse educator students choose us
An education practicum needs two things at once: a preceptor who actually teaches, and an organization willing to sign an agreement with Sacred Heart. Your placement advisor searches for both together, checks that the setting supports direct patient care for NU 619 and a teaching project for NU 690 and NU 691, and collects the CV, RN license and the site's contract contact so your CRF goes in complete.
We keep the Clinical Placement Team's deadline and your module dates in view across all three courses, and if a preceptor leaves partway through, we find a replacement who fits that same course. Every approval belongs to your academic advisor; our work is making sure the preceptor packet they open has nothing missing. Start on the contact page.
Questions Sacred Heart students ask
Does NU 619 require patient care or only teaching?
Both. The catalog makes a practicum involving direct patient care a required part of NU 619, done under a preceptor while you apply graduate-level assessment, pathophysiology and pharmacology in a selected population. The course also covers patient and staff education and simulation design. Choose a site where your preceptor sees patients, not only a classroom or training room.
Can I take another course while I am in NU 619?
No. The MSN student guide says students may not take another course alongside NU 619. Online MSN students generally take one course per module anyway, but here the rule is firm. Treat the module that holds NU 619 as a practicum-focused eight weeks with 60 hours on site, and ask your preceptor to block that time early.
Is the nursing education certificate practicum shorter than the MSN's?
No. The catalog lists 180 practicum hours with a preceptor for the Advanced Graduate Certificate in Nursing Education, the same total as the MSN track, spread over NU 619, NU 690 and NU 691. The certificate leaves out the MSN core and the clinical science courses, not practicum time, so plan your preceptor search just as an MSN student would.
Can a nursing school faculty member be my NE preceptor?
Sacred Heart's written requirement for NE preceptors is a CV and RN license approved by your academic advisor, and educational settings appear among the College of Nursing's placement types. NU 619 still needs direct patient care, so a faculty preceptor fits NU 690 and NU 691 more naturally than NU 619. Confirm the fit with your advisor before you ask.
How early should I line up NE preceptors?
In your first year. A site new to Sacred Heart can need up to nine months for its affiliation agreement after you file the CRF, and compliance is due two weeks before each practicum course. Where one organization can host all three courses, planning them together keeps you to a single agreement and one set of site contacts.
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 2026-27 Graduate Catalog: Advanced Graduate Certificate in Nursing Education
- Sacred Heart University MSN and Post-MSN Certificate Online Student Guide, 2026-27
- Sacred Heart University Online: Nursing Education specialization
- Sacred Heart University Online: State Authorizations
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.