ETSU Executive Leadership Practicums I, II and III

Who precepts you: a nurse administrator

The 2026-27 catalog describes Practicum I as an introduction to the nurse executive role, with a nurse administrator serving as your preceptor. ETSU Online frames the concentration around complex systems, organizational theory, financial management and leadership, and describes roles ranging from managing a unit up to executive posts, usually inside hospitals or other large healthcare organizations. That is the range of settings to search.

ETSU does not publish written minimums for leadership preceptors. The College's placement guidelines for Nursing Administration and Executive Leadership, and its preceptor orientation materials, now return "page not found," so nothing here describes them. Before you approach anyone, ask the coordinator and the faculty who teach the practicums what they look for in a nurse administrator.

Tennessee's board rule adds a floor for the programs it approves, ETSU included: the preceptor's license must be unencumbered, valid where the preceptor works and at your target level or higher, backed by competencies that fit the course. The details are on preceptor requirements.

The same courses in the DNP leadership track

Students in ETSU's BSN-to-DNP Executive Leadership concentration, also called Nursing and Healthcare Leadership, take all three practicums in their third, fourth and fifth terms, then move on to the four DNP residencies in semesters 6 to 9.

Here ETSU's figures conflict. The 2020 full-time plan gives NRSE 5504 only 120 hours but still claims 1,040 in total, even though the hours in its own rows come to 980. The part-time version gives NRSE 5504 the full 180, and with that figure the sum does come to 1,040. Neither plan flags the gap, so get the hours for your NRSE 5504 confirmed in writing before you arrange the preceptor.

The DNP leadership concentration admits every other year with a few seats, and two MBA concentrations are linked to it through articulation agreements the curriculum office has approved. DNP completers can sit for ANCC's Nurse Executive Advanced credential, and MSN completers for the Nurse Executive exam.

Why ETSU leadership students choose us

A strong leadership practicum depends on a nurse administrator who can show you the nurse executive role up close for 180 hours at a time, across three semesters. We search for that person in your own community, confirm their title, degrees, license and certification details for the Intent Form, check that the organization can host you through summer, fall and spring, and raise the contract question at the outset, well before NRSE 5502 starts.

If a preceptor steps away between practicums, we find a replacement. Approval stays with ETSU: clinical faculty sign off on the nurse administrator and the College checks every credential, and our part is handing them a submission with nothing missing so the answer comes back quickly. Send your start term through our contact form.