NURS 680, 681 and 682: the Health Policy practicum

The three Health Policy Leadership practicums

All three courses share one title and differ only by Roman numeral, which makes the catalog descriptions the best way to tell them apart:

The concentration's other courses are NURS 721, PADM 550, PPOG 530 and PPOL 501. Earlier numbers with matching titles, NURS 627, 628 and 629, still appear in the course list. Health Policy is also one of the five concentrations in Liberty's combined RN-BSN-MSN, where the MSN portion uses this same trio and the same 300 hours.

Hours, splits and logging

The plan footnote gives 300 practicum hours for the three courses and an MSN- or doctorally prepared preceptor. It does not divide the hours by course, and Liberty has not published a telehealth or simulation rule for MSN practicum hours. Each course syllabus in Canvas sets its own target.

The dated 2022-23 MSN handbook used a smaller track total, so its numbers are out of date, but a few logging rules are worth asking about: hours counted only between term dates, one practicum course per sub-term, and logs kept in the clinical tracking system, which Liberty moved from Typhon to InPlace in 2022. See the InPlace guide.

Ask your faculty how meeting, hearing or drafting time is logged before you commit to a site, since the course descriptions center on policy-making rather than direct care.

Prerequisites

NURS 680 lists one prerequisite, NURS 527, the MSN Practicum Gate. NURS 681 requires NURS 680, and NURS 682 requires NURS 681. That is a shorter list than the Community Health and Administration practicums, which also name the MSN core courses.

NURS 527 carries zero credits and appears in semester one of the plan, and no practicum course can start until you pass it. You submit practicum requirements there, so the Gate is where your site and preceptor paperwork first meets Liberty's review. More in the Gate courses guide.

Admission sets the base: an active RN license in your state of residence, a BSN (or a bachelor's in another field plus an RN, with bridge courses in the first year), a 3.0 undergraduate GPA and an introductory statistics course before NURS 500.

Preceptors, settings and the employed-student design

Liberty wants an MSN- or doctorally prepared preceptor for all three courses. Settings follow the course level: local, regional and state policy in NURS 680, executive management and policy-making inside a healthcare organization in NURS 681, and local or state policy-making in NURS 682. The dated handbook described the setting simply as one where policy is developed.

According to the catalog, NURS 681 and NURS 682 were designed with a particular student in mind: one already working in a healthcare organization. That is the clearest nod to employer sites anywhere in Liberty's current MSN catalog. The dated handbook's conditions for workplace practicums still matter: unpaid practicum time, a signed Clinical Program Affiliation Agreement, and a program, unit or department separate from your paid role.

If you do not work in healthcare now, ask the MSN practicum staff how NURS 681 works for you before you register. The workplace practicum page goes further.

Cleared before the first hour

Health Policy students clear the full MSN pre-practicum list, and a policy office or agency may add onboarding of its own:

• NURS 527 passed and your practicum requirements accepted
• A preceptor site contract with an approved MSN- or doctorally prepared preceptor
• AHA CPR certification and the MSN immunization set: MMR, TB, varicella, Hepatitis B and a flu shot
• Training in HIPAA and in bloodborne pathogens
• A criminal background check and 10-panel drug screen, at your own cost

The practicum must be in the United States and outside Washington, DC and the territories; Liberty's lookup lists Health Policy among the MSN tracks not approved in Washington. The RN license must be valid where you train. For the contract step, see the site contract page.

Reaching the policy nurses you need

Health Policy preceptors are harder to picture than clinical ones: nurse leaders in government, health systems or professional bodies who hold an MSN or doctorate and do real policy work. We search for them near you, check that they meet Liberty's stated credential, and help you prepare the CV, license details and site information for NURS 527 and the contract.

If your NURS 681 plan depends on an employer arrangement that falls through, we look for an alternative. When a policy office has never hosted a Liberty student, we help you explain what the contract and the three courses ask of it. Each preceptor and site still goes to Liberty for approval, and a policy office that understands the contract is ready when that review arrives. Tell us where you are and which course comes next.