Sacred Heart University online RN-to-BSN: 72 practicum hours in NU 376 and NU 387
Sacred Heart University's online RN-to-BSN, Accelerated RN-BSN included, has 72 clinical hours spread over two 8-week courses, NU 376 and NU 387, with preceptors you select. The student guide asks you to identify them nine months before the first clinical course, because a new site's affiliation agreement can take that long. We find preceptors and sites that fit both courses and gather the file your academic advisor approves.
Plan your RN-BSN practicum
Tell us your start month and where you work.
The RN-to-BSN at Sacred Heart
The RN-to-BSN is Sacred Heart's online degree-completion path for licensed RNs. It totals 120 credits: 14 prerequisite credits, 49 in liberal arts and science and 57 in the nursing major. You can transfer in up to 90 credits, NU 290 Validation of Prior Learning awards 30 to 36 nursing credits for your RN education, and the last 30 credits must be earned at Sacred Heart.
The nursing sequence runs NU 305 Transition to Professional Practice, NU 315 The Human Journey of Nursing, NU 325 Health Assessment for RNs, NU 335 Information & Technology for Nursing Practice, NU 345 Evidence-Based Practice and NU 355 Leadership in Contemporary Nursing Practice, then the two practicum courses. Each nursing course needs a C+ (77) or better.
There is no residency. The standard track offers six starts a year (January, March, April, June, August and October) and SHU Online puts it at 18 months; the Accelerated RN-BSN admits once a year, in August, and can finish in as few as 10 months by pairing two courses at a time.
The two practicum courses
The undergraduate catalog describes two courses with a practicum component, care management and public-health nursing, and says students select preceptors and design their own learning objectives and strategies with faculty approval.
| Course | Credits | Focus | Comes after |
|---|---|---|---|
NU 376 Care Management: Individuals & Families | 4 | Care transitions from hospital to the community setting, with a family assessment | NU 305, NU 315, NU 325, NU 335, NU 345, NU 355 |
NU 387 Populations & Global Health Nursing | 5 | Global communities as consumers of health services: aggregates, groups and the community | The same list plus NU 376 |
SHU Online gives the program total as 72 clinical hours. Research found no official split between the two courses, so ask your academic advisor or check the RN-BSN student guide for each course's share before you build a schedule with a preceptor. Each practicum course runs eight weeks, like every other course in the program.
Settings follow the course focus. NU 376 suits organizations that manage the move out of the hospital, such as care management, home care or a transitional care program. NU 387 suits public and community health: a health department, a community health center, school health or another agency serving a defined population.
The nine-month rule and the steps behind it
The RN-BSN guide sets the clock: "Nine months prior to the first clinical practice course" you identify potential preceptors and organizations. That lead time matches the affiliation agreement, which the same guide says can take up to nine months for a new site. The deadlines page sets this rule beside the MSN deadlines.
- Pick preceptors and organizationsChoose potential preceptors and sites for
NU 376andNU 387, off your own unit. - Advisor approvalYour academic advisor reviews each preceptor's CV and RN license(s) and approves the match.
- Contract Request FormFile the CRF shared by the MSN Online and RN-BSN programs; the Clinical Contract & Compliance Coordinator checks for an existing agreement or starts one.
- ComplianceFinish your Health Account no later than two weeks before the course, by the firm date the Clinical Placement Coordinator gives you. Professional liability insurance is due before each practicum course, and your RN license is required before
NU 335,NU 345,NU 355and both practicum courses. - First-week meetingMeet your preceptor in week one to set a schedule and a plan for the course objectives.
No clinical day begins without full compliance and an affiliation agreement in place. Module dates and registration windows are on registration and modules.
Your employer can host, your unit cannot
Sacred Heart allows RN-BSN clinical time at your employer with one boundary: you may do fieldwork within the institution that employs you but not on the unit or clinic where you currently work. A nurse on a medical-surgical floor could, for example, complete NU 376 hours with the same hospital's care management team, but not on that floor.
The CRF asks if the site employs you and if the preceptor is someone you already work alongside; give straight answers to both. Family members and close friends may not precept you. The wider picture, including how NP students handle the same question, is on clinicals where you work.
Your own unit is off limits even with a different preceptor: the rule is about where you work, not who supervises you.
Where RN-BSN students can train
The RN-BSN is a non-licensure program, so the New York limit that binds NP students does not apply. Sacred Heart's State Authorizations page names the RN-BSN among the programs whose preceptorships may be completed in New York agencies; the New York rule page covers the NP side. In any state, your RN license must be current and unencumbered where the hours happen.
SHU Online tells RN-BSN students they can complete field work close to home, and that is the practical aim: two community-facing placements within reach of your work schedule. For a site in Connecticut, add the Connecticut Hospital Association's Health & Safety Test, passed at 85 or higher, to your Health Account before the course.
If you plan to continue into a master's, the RN-to-BSN-to-MSN page shows how these same two courses sit inside the bridge program.
Why RN-BSN students choose us
Nine months is a long runway, and you are likely working while you study. Your placement advisor lines up a care-transitions preceptor for NU 376 and a community or population-health preceptor for NU 387 (sometimes within one organization), away from your home unit and inside your commute. We collect each preceptor's CV and RN license for your academic advisor and get the site's contract contact for the CRF so the affiliation agreement can start without delay.
We watch your module dates and the compliance deadline, and when a preceptor pulls out, whether before the module or halfway through it, we source someone new who fits the same course. Sacred Heart approves the preceptor and holds the contract with the site; we make sure the paperwork it receives is whole. Send your start month through the contact page to get the search moving.
Questions Sacred Heart students ask
How many clinical hours are in Sacred Heart's RN-to-BSN?
72, according to SHU Online's FAQ and the Accelerated RN-BSN page. They sit in NU 376 Care Management: Individuals & Families and NU 387 Populations & Global Health Nursing, each eight weeks long. The catalog prints no hour total, and no public source splits the 72 between the two courses, so confirm each course's share with your advisor.
Does the Accelerated RN-BSN have the same practicum?
Yes. The Accelerated RN-BSN page gives the same 72 clinical hours. The difference is pace: one intake a year in August and two courses at a time, finishing in as few as 10 months. With a calendar that short, the nine-month preceptor search may need to begin before your first course, so start planning when you apply.
Is there a residency or campus visit in the RN-BSN?
No. SHU Online's FAQ states that the RN-BSN has no residency requirement. Coursework is online, and the practicum happens at the organizations you arrange near home. If you continue into a nurse practitioner track through the RN-BSN-MSN, one Sacred Heart page mentions an on-campus residency for that later stage.
What happens if my preceptor backs out before NU 376?
Tell your academic advisor promptly and start on a replacement, because the new preceptor needs approval and a new site may need its own agreement. The RN-BSN guide requires compliance and an affiliation agreement before any clinical day, so a late change can push the course to a later module. See when a preceptor drops out for a fuller plan.
Do I need liability insurance for the RN-BSN practicum?
Yes. The RN-BSN guide asks for professional liability insurance documented immediately before any course with a clinical or field component, which means before NU 376 and before NU 387. It goes into your Health Account with the rest of your compliance, by the firm date the Clinical Placement Coordinator sets.
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 RN-BSN and RN-BSN-MSN Student Guide, 2026-27
- Sacred Heart University 2026-27 Undergraduate Catalog: Nursing Completion Programs (RN-BSN, RN-BSN-MSN)
- Sacred Heart University Online: RN to BSN
- Sacred Heart University Online: Accelerated RN to BSN
- 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.