NURS 674, 675 and 676: the Nursing Administration practicum

The practicum courses and who takes them

The Nursing Administration concentration is 36 credits; the MSN/MBA and MSN/MSHA are 60 credits each. All three use this sequence after the MSN Practicum Gate:

Earlier numbers for the same sequence, NURS 623, 625 and 626, still appear in the course list with matching titles. The MSN/MBA page adds that the dual degree has no required on-campus intensives.

Hours and how they are counted

The catalog footnote attaches 300 practicum hours to the three courses as a block, and the online MSN page calls 300 a minimum across three practicum courses. No per-course figure is published, so the syllabus for each course sets that term's target.

The 2022-23 MSN handbook, the newest public one, used a smaller total and a different split, so it is no guide to current hours. Some of its working rules may still hold: one practicum course per sub-term, hours only within term dates, a first meeting with the preceptor before logging, and 80% of your time with your one approved preceptor for the course. Confirm each with your course faculty.

Liberty has published no telehealth or simulation allowance for MSN hours, so plan on-site leadership time unless faculty tell you otherwise. The hours overview shows how this track compares with the others.

Prerequisites for each course

NURS 674 has the longest list of the three: the MSN core courses NURS 500, 501, 502 and 503, plus NURS 521, NURS 523, the Gate NURS 527, and the business course BUSI 610. NURS 675 requires BUSI 642 and NURS 674, and NURS 676 requires NURS 675.

The concentration's other courses are BUSI 610, BUSI 642, NURS 523 and NURS 524. Because BUSI 642 gates the second practicum, check that it lands in the right term if you ever change your sequence, or NURS 675 will slide with it.

The Nurse Educator foundations (NURS 504, 505 and 506) are not part of this track, so the NURS 505 proctor step does not apply. For admission, you also need a current RN license in the state where you live, and an intro statistics course comes before NURS 500.

The preceptor and the setting

Your preceptor must be approved and hold an MSN or a doctorate, per the catalog, and the NURS 674 description refers to this person as a nurse leader. The dated handbook adds that the preceptor should work in nursing administration or leadership and be licensed in good standing, and it preferred a doctorate, certification and two years in the field.

The facility is your choice. The site affiliation agreement and the practicum contract with your preceptor both have to be in place before NURS 674 opens. The dated handbook steered students toward facilities willing to sign the Liberty University Clinical Program Affiliation Agreement, warning that a facility's own contract can slow approval and that Liberty need not agree to it.

Your own employer can host you under the dated rules if you are not paid for the hours, the facility signs an agreement, and you work in a department other than your own. See using your workplace.

Cleared before day one

Liberty's MSN catalog says you must meet every pre-practicum requirement before the first practicum course, and that students assume all practicum costs. For this track, that means:

Before you register for NURS 674

• NURS 527, the MSN Practicum Gate, passed
• A site affiliation agreement signed with the facility you chose
• A practicum contract in place with an approved nurse leader preceptor
• An AHA CPR card, plus MMR, TB testing, varicella, Hepatitis B and influenza records
• HIPAA and bloodborne pathogens training completed
• A criminal background check and 10-panel drug screen, which the dated handbook says run through CastleBranch and stay valid for one year
• Any extra onboarding your facility requires

Washington is open to this track and both dual degrees; DC and the U.S. territories are not. Your RN license must cover the practicum state. For the contract itself, read the site contract guide.

Finding a leader for all three courses

The hard part is finding a nurse leader who will take a student through three courses in a row. We search for nurse managers, directors and executives near you who meet Liberty's MSN or doctoral requirement, and we help you prepare the preceptor CV, license details and site information for NURS 527 and the site agreement.

MSN/MBA and MSN/MSHA students get the same help. If your capstone in NURS 676 calls for a different leader or unit than the first two courses, we can search for that as well. If a preceptor changes jobs midway, we keep looking. Liberty approves the site and the preceptor, and the agreement and credentials we help you prepare are what that approval rests on. Send us your track and term, or see what shapes the cost first.