TTUHSC's leadership practicums, one every semester
TTUHSC's MSN Advanced Nursing Leadership track, and the MSN/MBA built on it, puts a practicum in each of its four semesters: NURS 5211, NURS 5212, NURS 5213 and NURS 5214. The catalog describes 128 practicum hours spread across a 16-week term, about eight hours a week, and Practicum II centers on a quality improvement project that your site and TTUHSC both approve. Because Practicum I opens the program, the site search starts before your first class.
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Tell us your TTUHSC program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with the preceptor and site options that fit your TTUHSC course.
The four practicums, side by side
The ttuhsc.edu plan lists 32 credits over four semesters, eight credits a term, and every practicum is a 2-credit course shown as (2:1:8). In TTUHSC's own key that means two credits, one lecture hour a week and eight practicum hours a week. All four share one title, Advanced Nursing Leadership in Practice, with a Roman numeral for the term.
| Semester | Course | What the catalog says |
|---|---|---|
| I | NURS 5211 Practicum I | 128 practicum hours over 16 weeks, about 8 hours a week |
| II | NURS 5212 Practicum II | Built around a quality improvement project at the practice site, approved by the site and the TTUHSC QIRB |
| III | NURS 5213 Practicum III | 128 practicum hours; described as precepted |
| IV | NURS 5214 Practicum IV | 128 practicum hours; described as precepted |
The leadership track converts credits to clock time at one to eight, well above the one-to-three used for the education and informatics tracks. The credit-to-clock guide compares every ratio TTUHSC uses, from the nurse practitioner courses to the DNP.
Practicum I begins in semester one
TTUHSC's PMHNP and midwifery plans give students three terms of coursework before any clinical course. The leadership plan gives none: NURS 5211 sits in Semester I. A Fall 2026 start opens on Sept. 8 and a Spring 2027 start on Jan. 11, so the weeks between your admission letter and the first class are the time you have to line up a site and whatever approvals it needs. The academic calendar guide lists every 2026-27 date.
Admission gives you a head start. TTUHSC asks leadership applicants for two years of RN experience, or one year while currently in a managerial position, so every student arrives with working ties inside health care. Those contacts are a sensible first place to look for a Practicum I setting, subject to faculty approval.
Plan all four terms at once rather than one at a time. A site that suits Practicum I may not be able to host a project in Practicum II, and the precepted III and IV need a named preceptor whose calendar reaches that far.
The quality improvement project in Practicum II
NURS 5212 is the practicum that produces something. The catalog centers the course on a quality improvement project at your practice site, and it names two approvals: the site's and the TTUHSC QIRB's. The organization you choose has to be willing to host a project and sign off on its scope, not simply to host your hours.
TTUHSC does not publish a QIRB timeline or proposal format on its public pages, so ask course faculty during Semester I when the project plan is due and what the review needs from you. Build that date into your Practicum I planning instead of discovering it at the start of Practicum II.
If your Practicum I site could also host the project, raise it with faculty early. Carrying one organization into the second term can spare you a second search, provided faculty agree the setting fits the course.
Who finds the site and who approves it
TTUHSC's leadership page says students complete the program "via online courses and practicum experiences" and stops there: it does not say who arranges a practicum site. The graduate FAQ's general rule is that graduate students obtain their own preceptors to fit each clinical course, with both the preceptor and the facility approved by SON staff and faculty, and an electronic preceptor agreement for every preceptor each semester.
Practicum III and IV are described as precepted, so plan on a named preceptor for those terms at the least. For Practicum I and II, ask course faculty what each course expects. TTUHSC publishes no qualification list for leadership preceptors, so faculty also judge whether a given leader fits.
Facility agreements run through the SON Office of Student Success unit called Clinical Placement, Affiliation Agreements, and Preceptor Management. The affiliation agreements guide explains that side of the approval.
Using your own workplace
Admission welcomes applicants who already hold a managerial position, so the obvious question is whether the practicum can happen at work. TTUHSC's public rules are uneven here. The Student Handbook bars undergraduates from clinical hours on their own unit without Program Director permission. On the graduate side, only the Post-Master's DNP catalog text addresses it, allowing practicum hours at the student's place of employment when the experience meets the learning objectives, with faculty approval.
No matching rule was found for the MSN leadership track, so ask course faculty before you build a plan around your employer, and get the answer before the term begins. The workplace clinicals guide compares the rule program by program.
Weeks, hours and grades
The practicum course text assumes 16 weeks per semester, while the SON calendar gives fall and spring terms of about 15 weeks (Fall 2026 runs Sept. 8 to Dec. 18). A missing week changes your weekly pace, so build your schedule from the syllabus for your term. If one of your four semesters is a summer term, remember that Summer 2027 runs only May 24 to Aug. 13.
Grading follows the graduate rule. The clinical portion is pass/fail, failing it fails the whole course, every nursing course needs a B or better, and practicum work that runs past the term takes a "PR" (In Progress) grade.
TTUHSC's archived graduate FAQ lists the leadership track as 100% online, so the program asks for no campus days; your time divides between online courses and your practicum site. The MSN/MBA dual program uses these same four practicums, and the leadership program guide covers both versions of the track.
Why leadership students choose us
A leadership practicum depends on the right person more than the right building: a nurse leader whose role matches the course, inside an organization willing to host a QI project. We search for that match near where you live, across all four semesters, and we prepare what TTUHSC's review needs each term: the preceptor's license, role and organization details, plus the facility's details and agreement status.
Your placement advisor plans the four terms as one sequence, so the Practicum II project site and the precepted III and IV are in place before they turn urgent, and a backup is ready if a preceptor changes jobs. TTUHSC's staff and faculty give the final approval; we make sure what reaches them is complete and fits TTUHSC's rules the first time. Start with how it works or the form below.
Questions TTUHSC students ask
How many practicum hours are in TTUHSC's MSN leadership track?
TTUHSC lists hours course by course rather than as a program total. The catalog gives 128 practicum hours each for Practicum I, III and IV, over a 16-week term at about eight hours a week. Practicum II has the same credit format in the web plan and is built around a quality improvement project at your site.
Is TTUHSC's Advanced Nursing Leadership MSN fully online?
The coursework is online, and TTUHSC's archived graduate FAQ described the leadership track as 100% online, without the campus days its NP tracks require. The practicums are the hands-on part: each one runs through a practice site, and the catalog describes Practicum III and IV as precepted.
What experience does TTUHSC require for the leadership track?
Applicants need two years of RN experience, or one year of RN experience while currently in a managerial position. That rule shapes the practicums too, since every student starts with at least a year inside health care and contacts who may point toward a Practicum I setting, subject to faculty approval.
Does the MSN/MBA have its own practicums?
No separate set. The MSN/MBA dual program enters through the Advanced Nursing Leadership track and uses the same four practicums, NURS 5211 through NURS 5214. Ask your advisor how the MBA courses fit around them, since a practicum still lands in every nursing semester of the plan.
Can my own manager precept my leadership practicum?
TTUHSC's public pages do not address it. Every preceptor needs approval from SON staff and faculty and an electronic agreement each semester, and course faculty judge whether a preceptor fits the course objectives. Put the question to faculty before you ask your manager, and have a second candidate in mind.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-26
We check these pages against TTUHSC's catalog, Student Handbook, program pages and licensure disclosures. Your course faculty, your program director and the plan of study for your cohort have the final word.
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