Doing your Liberty practicum where you work

The MSN rule, in Liberty's terms

The newest public MSN Student Handbook, for 2022-23, lets MSN students complete practicum in their existing workplace when all four of the conditions below hold. Current handbooks sit inside Canvas behind a login, so check the rule in your own copy before relying on it.

• The hours are unpaid. Practicum time can't be time your employer pays you for.
• An agreement is in place. Your workplace signs a Clinical Program Affiliation Agreement with Liberty.
• The site meets the course requirements. The setting and the preceptor have to fit the practicum course, not just your employer's needs.
• You're in a different area. The practicum sits in a different program, unit or department from the one where you work.

These are conditions, not suggestions. If one of them fails, the workplace option fails with it, however convenient the site would be.

What each condition means on the ground

Unpaid means practicum hours stay apart from your shifts. You can't log time you're on the clock for, even when the work lines up with your course objectives. Keep the two schedules separate so they never overlap in your log.

The agreement should be Liberty's standard one where you can manage it. The 2022-23 handbook encourages facilities that accept the Liberty University Clinical Program Affiliation Agreement, warns that a facility's own contract may delay approval, and says Liberty has no obligation to sign one. A facility that doesn't need an agreement signs an Attestation of Agreement letter instead. The preceptor site contract page covers both.

A different unit keeps your student role apart from your employee role. A staff nurse on one unit might ask about an administration practicum with nursing leadership in another department, for example, rather than on the floor where they work.

Course fit follows your track. The current catalog asks for an approved MSN or doctorally prepared preceptor for the Educator, Administration and Health Policy practicums, and an experienced informatics clinician for Informatics. See preceptor requirements for the full picture.

Health Policy is written with employed nurses in mind

One current course description leans toward the workplace. The 2026-27 catalog says Health Policy Practicum II and III, NURS 681 and NURS 682, are designed for students already employed in a healthcare organization, giving them exposure to executive management and policy-making.

That doesn't set aside the MSN conditions above. It does show the courses were written for nurses who already work inside a healthcare organization, which makes your own employer a natural place to start the conversation. The first course, NURS 680, looks at local, regional and state health policy, so it may need a setting beyond your own organization.

If that's you, talk with your course faculty early about which department and which leader fit the course objectives, and make sure the agreement covers the practicum. Our page on the Health Policy practicum covers all three courses.

FNP and PMHNP: no published rule

We found no current Liberty rule, for or against, on using your employer for FNP or PMHNP hours. The workplace conditions come from the MSN handbook, and no public DNP or graduate nursing handbook exists to check against. Don't assume the MSN rule carries over to NP tracks.

Some limits are known. FNP students can't use telehealth sites, while PMHNP students may use them for up to half of their practicum hours; see telehealth hours. An older PMHNP FAQ names PMHNPs and psychiatrists as approved preceptors and asks for half of each practicum's hours with a prescriber. And Liberty approves every site and preceptor.

If your employer looks like a good fit, raise it with the practicum team at APRN.DNPPracticum@liberty.edu before your Gate course. Ask directly whether unpaid hours, a separate unit and a signed agreement would be required, and keep the answer in writing.

Malpractice cover stops where your job starts

The 2022-23 MSN handbook says Liberty provides malpractice coverage for BSN, MSN and DNP students who are required to complete practicum, but only for Liberty-scheduled practicum and clinicals. It lists employment, moonlighting, volunteering and shadowing as outside that cover.

At your own workplace, that line matters more than anywhere else. Your practicum hours need to be clearly scheduled as Liberty practicum, and your paid work stays under your employer's arrangements. If the two blur, it can become unclear which cover applies to a given shift.

Current coverage limits aren't published. If the facility asks for proof, Liberty's Risk Management office handles certificates of insurance for student placements; give it at least three business days. More on Liberty's malpractice cover.

Before you ask your manager

Go in with specifics. A plan that already fits Liberty's conditions is far easier to approve than a general request to do your hours at work.

• Which unit, program or department the practicum would sit in, and how it differs from your job.
• Who would precept you, and whether they meet your track's credential requirement.
• Whether the organization will sign Liberty's affiliation agreement, and who handles student agreements there.
• How your practicum hours will be scheduled so they're unpaid and never overlap a shift.
• Your course numbers and hours: each MSN track carries 300 practicum hours across three courses.
• Who at Liberty handles your paperwork, as named in your Gate course.

Then confirm with Liberty before you log a single hour. Under the 2022-23 MSN rules, hours count only within the course term dates, and you and your preceptor meet before any hours are logged.

Finding a site beyond your employer

If your workplace can't meet the conditions, or you're on an NP track where the answer is unclear, we look for preceptors and sites outside your employer that fit your Liberty track and state. We help you prepare the preceptor's CV and license and the site details your Gate course asks for.

Whatever site you land on, Liberty approves it, and the file we help you build answers the questions its reviewers ask. Use the form below to tell us your track, your state and when your practicum starts.