ETSU MSN Nursing Education: a specialty practicum and two teaching practicums
East Tennessee State University (ETSU) teaches its MSN Nursing Education concentration mostly online, but the practicum courses need an on-ground preceptor to reach their hours. ETSU's plan lists three: a 60-hour clinical specialization practicum and two 180-hour practicums with experienced academic nurse educators, one per semester from semester 3.
Plan your education practicums
Tell us your specialty track and where you live.
The teaching roles this concentration targets
ETSU builds this concentration around the competencies a nurse educator needs, anchored in one clinical area you choose. The target jobs are teaching posts in practical nursing, associate degree, BSN and RN to BSN programs, plus clinical educator roles, and the program readies you for the NLN's CNE certification exam.
Most courses are asynchronous, though some faculty require synchronous sessions. New students begin each fall, and applications close May 1. The first two semesters are coursework, including NRSE 5110 Curriculum Development and Design and NRSE 5111 Instructional Strategies, along with the shared MSN core. Clinical work starts in semester 3 and continues every term until you finish, ending with the comprehensive exam or culminating experience that every ETSU MSN student completes.
Three practicums, three kinds of preceptor
Each practicum in ETSU's 2023 plan calls for a different preceptor. The table shows what the plan and the 2026-27 catalog say about each one.
| Course | Plan semester | Credits | Hours | Preceptor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
NRSE 5115 Clinical Specialization Practicum | Semester 3 | 1 | 60 | Tied to your specialization track |
NRSE 5046 Nursing Education Didactic Practicum | Semester 4 | 3 | 180 | Experienced academic nurse educator |
NRSE 5045 Nursing Education Clinical Practicum | Semester 5 | 3 | 180 | Experienced academic nurse educator |
The catalog adds that both 180-hour courses include a clinical preceptorship placement. Course-level detail for all three is on ETSU nursing education practicums. NRSE 5115 carries 1 credit for its 60 hours while the other two carry 3 credits for 180; ETSU publishes no formula behind those pairings, and our hours per credit page shows how they compare with other tracks.
429 or 420 hours: a conflict to settle early
The total printed on ETSU's plan is 429 hours. Add up the practicum lines on that same plan and you get 420. Nothing on ETSU's pages explains the nine-hour difference. Until faculty confirm which total applies to your catalog year, plan and log as if the higher figure stands.
The plan pages have other quirks worth knowing. Every semester on the full-time page carries the label "Spring," and the part-time page shows the same five-semester, 42-credit sequence as the full-time one, with NRSE 5115 falling in summer. Every ETSU program's figures, including conflicts like this one, are collected on ETSU clinical hours.
Two ETSU figures, one program. Confirm 429 versus 420 with course faculty before your final practicum, not in its last week.
Your specialization track decides the first preceptor
In semester 3 you add one clinical specialization course and pair it with NRSE 5115. ETSU's plan lists four options, and your choice points the 60-hour practicum at a particular kind of site.
| Course | Specialization | Where the NRSE 5115 hours point |
|---|---|---|
NRSE 5025 | Advanced women's health and perinatal | Settings serving women and families |
NRSE 5026 | Advanced pediatric | Settings that see children daily |
NRSE 6412 | Clinical prevention in mental health services | Mental health settings |
NRSE 5028 | Advanced adult and geriatric | Adult and older adult settings |
ETSU Online lists five clinical focus areas for the concentration, adding critical care, but the plan shows no critical care track. If critical care is your field, ask your advisor how it maps onto the four tracks before you register for semester 3.
ETSU publishes no written credential minimum for the NRSE 5115 preceptor, so confirm with course faculty what they want to see before you approach a clinician in your track.
Finding academic nurse educators to precept you
The two 180-hour practicums need a preceptor most graduate students have never searched for: an experienced academic nurse educator. ETSU Online's MSN FAQ applies to this concentration as it does to the others. The graduate clinical coordinator has contacts and past-preceptor lists, and you are expected to drive the search.
Schools of nursing close to home are the obvious first calls, since teaching in them is exactly the career this concentration points to. Because each course includes a clinical preceptorship placement, ask faculty whether one educator can cover both the teaching and the clinical sides or whether you need a second preceptor.
Each educator you propose then goes through the same graduate steps as an NP preceptor would: written up on the Intent Form, submitted in ProjectConcert, approved by faculty, credential-checked by student services and backed by a site contract before any hours start. The form on ETSU's site does list NRSE 5045 and NRSE 5046, but it was built around the NP tracks and dates to 2021, so request the current version from the coordinator. The Intent Form guide covers each field.
A semester-by-semester search plan
- Semester 1Settle on a specialization track with your advisor, since it decides the
NRSE 5115setting. Start your ProjectConcert compliance file so immunizations, CPR and the background check are current before any site asks. - Semester 2Secure the specialty preceptor for
NRSE 5115and file the Intent Form and ProjectConcert entry, leaving time for faculty approval and a contract before semester 3 opens. - Semester 3While you complete the 60 specialty hours, approach academic nurse educators for the didactic practicum. One educator who can host both 180-hour courses saves a second search, if faculty agree.
- Semesters 4 and 5Complete
NRSE 5046and thenNRSE 5045, logging hours and scheduling mid-term and final preceptor evaluations in ProjectConcert. Confirm the 429 or 420 total before the last month.
Living outside Tennessee adds one more step. An education practicum in another state has to clear that state's regulators as well as ETSU's own individual review, so tell the College where you live well before semester 2.
Why ETSU education students work with us
We search for all three practicums together: a specialty clinician for NRSE 5115, and academic nurse educators in your own community for NRSE 5046 and NRSE 5045. Each preceptor we bring you comes with degrees, license and certification details and a clear description of the teaching setting, so faculty can judge the fit quickly.
We ask about the contract in our very first call with a site, which buys the College time to complete it. We also keep your hour plan straight on the 429 versus 420 question. Your clinical faculty approve each preceptor and the College confirms credentials; we make sure what arrives for their review is complete and matches ETSU's rules the first time. Send us your track and semester through the form below.
Questions ETSU students ask
Is ETSU's Nursing Education MSN fully online?
Mostly. Coursework is largely asynchronous and some faculty add synchronous sessions. The practicum courses are the in-person part: ETSU says they need an on-ground preceptor to reach the required hours. You complete those hours at sites near you, such as a nursing program or a clinical setting in your specialty track.
Can I complete the practicum where I already teach or work?
No ETSU page permits or rules out a practicum at your own school or hospital. Faculty will know about the link, because the preceptor form covers employment at the site and prior training with the same person, and the call is theirs. Raise it with course faculty early; see clinicals where you work for more.
When should I start looking for education preceptors?
During your first year. NRSE 5115 falls in semester 3 and the two 180-hour practicums follow in semesters 4 and 5. ETSU publishes no preceptor submission deadline or contract lead time, so aim to have the specialty preceptor settled during semester 2 and begin approaching academic educators soon after.
What certification does the concentration prepare me for?
ETSU says completers are ready for the Certified Nurse Educator (CNE) exam offered by the National League for Nursing. Eligibility is set by the NLN, not ETSU, so read its current requirements alongside your ETSU plan of study before you map out your final year.
Can two educators share one 180-hour practicum?
ETSU's paperwork allows for it, since the Intent Form has a question about a second preceptor. Whether faculty accept a split for NRSE 5046 or NRSE 5045 is their decision, so ask before you promise hours to two people, and give each educator's credentials and planned hours separately when you file.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-25
We check these pages against ETSU's own catalog, College of Nursing pages, plans of study and ProjectConcert guides. Your plan of study, your syllabus, your course faculty and the graduate clinical coordinator have the final word.
ETSU asks you to lead the preceptor search. We make it the fastest part of your program.
Tell us your ETSU concentration, where you live and which semester your next practicum starts. We find preceptors who fit the course's patient population and prepare everything your Preceptor Intent Form and ProjectConcert entry need.
- Preceptors matched to the course: young and middle adults for
NRSE 5012, older adults forNRSE 5014, women forNRSE 5022, children forNRSE 5024, psychiatric care forNRSE 5405 - Credentials, license numbers, certification dates and the site's patient mix ready for faculty approval
- In your own community, in Northeast Tennessee or wherever ETSU approves your clinicals
Start your placement plan
Program, city and semester is all we need to begin.