Ohio University's MSN Nurse Educator and its two teaching practicums
Ohio University's online MSN Nurse Educator (MS1225) is 30 credits with 500 practicum hours in NRSE 7940 and NRSE 7941, and the catalog places those hours in both academic and direct care settings. Plan for a teaching host and a clinical host. We find both near your home and prepare what faculty review before they approve them.
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Share your city and the term your first practicum starts.
What the Nurse Educator track is
The MSN Nurse Educator prepares nurses to teach, in nursing programs and inside health care organizations. In the 2026-27 graduate catalog it is MS1225, online and fall-only, and the track page confirms one intake each fall, next in Fall 2027. The courses page spreads it over five semesters, while the track's FAQ gives up to 2 years.
Besides NRSE 7001 and the three graduate core courses (NRSE 7810 to NRSE 7812), the track has two clinical science courses built for educators, NRSE 7211 Advanced Pharmacology and Pathophysiology for Nurse Educators and NRSE 7221 Advanced Health Appraisal. The teaching sequence is NRSE 7840 Foundational Knowledge for Nurse Educators, NRSE 7841 Instructional and Technology Strategies and NRSE 7842 Educational Design, Assessment and Evaluation.
Both practicums list NRSE 7842, NRSE 7841 and NRSE 7211 as requisites, so those three come first. According to the catalog, the program closes with a teaching simulation, a portfolio and a certification predictor exam.
The practicum path
Two practicums of 250 hours make up the 500: NRSE 7940 in the fall and NRSE 7941 in the spring, per the Knowledge Center's tentative offerings. Each is worth 4 credits, with a catalog line of 5.0 practicum and 1.5 lecture.
| Course | Term offered | Hours | What the catalog describes |
|---|---|---|---|
NRSE 7940 Nursing Educator Practicum I | Fall | 250 | Faculty- and preceptor-guided curriculum development, teaching and program evaluation in an educational setting, plus advanced nursing care in a direct care setting |
NRSE 7941 Nurse Educator Practicum II | Spring | 250 | Portfolio development and completion of summative assessments |
| Total | 500 | Academic and direct care settings with qualified preceptors |
Ohio University does not publish how the hours divide between teaching and direct care. Your syllabus and course faculty set that split, so ask for it before you approach anyone; a teaching host planning for most of your hours will set up the term differently from one expecting a small share.
Two kinds of setting, two kinds of host
According to Ohio University's MSN FAQ, Nurse Educator practicums usually take place in nursing schools or in a health care organization's professional development unit. The catalog adds the other half: advanced nursing care experiences in a direct care setting. A complete plan therefore names both.
On the teaching side, picture a nursing program where a faculty member lets you help plan, deliver and evaluate part of a course, or a professional development department inside a hospital or health system. On the clinical side, you need a direct care unit where an experienced nurse precepts your advanced nursing care. The credentials each host must hold are in the preceptor packet from the School of Nursing, and our preceptor requirements guide covers the general rules.
Watch the academic calendar. A nursing program's own term may not line up with Ohio University's fall semester, which runs 08/24 to 12/12/2026, so check the host's dates before you count on its classes for your hours.
The mistake to avoid: securing a teaching host and forgetting the direct care half of NRSE 7940 until the term has started.
Intensive, packets and repeat rules
The courses page lists a single on-campus intensive: a 1 to 2 day workshop and conference where you prepare and present your final project. The 2026-27 important-dates page shows no Nurse Educator date yet, so check your course site and our on-campus intensives page as the year goes on.
Clinical packets follow the graduate calendar, with the fall packet due in early July. The Fall 2026 deadline, which covered NRSE 7940 that term, was 07/06/2026, and the complete list sits on the packet deadlines page.
Repeat rules read differently here than for the NP tracks. The catalog entry for NRSE 7940 says it may be repeated for a maximum of 8.0 hours, while the NP and Nurse Leader practicums read "May not be retaken". The School of Nursing's grading policy in the Graduate Nursing Student Handbook governs how that works in practice; see failing or repeating a clinical course.
The Nurse Educator certificate and its term conflict
Master's-prepared nurses can take the teaching sequence on its own through the post-master's Nurse Educator certificate (CTNEDG). The catalog lists 14 credits, NRSE 7840, NRSE 7841, NRSE 7842, NRSE 7940 and NRSE 7941, with NRSE 7211 and NRSE 7221 as prerequisites at a B or better and completion in three semesters.
Beyond that, Ohio University's pages disagree. The catalog gives the certificate a summer-only entry term, while the certificate's web page lists Fall 2027 as its next start. The catalog certificate page states no practicum hours; the web page cites 500, at 250 each for NRSE 7940 and NRSE 7941. The web page's FAQ also describes 30 credit hours and up to 2 years, figures that match the MSN rather than a 14-credit certificate, and the certificates index gives 1 year.
Since both practicums follow the fall and spring pattern, your entry term decides when the preceptor search starts. Confirm it with graduatenursing@ohio.edu before you plan around either date. Inside the DNP, the curriculum page lists 57 total credits for students who add this certificate.
Why Nurse Educator students choose us
A Nurse Educator placement has two halves, and both need to hold for fall and spring. We search for them together, near your home: a teaching host whose work covers what NRSE 7940 asks for, namely curriculum development, teaching and program evaluation, and a direct care preceptor for the clinical side.
Your placement advisor checks each host's calendar against Ohio University's semesters, gathers the credentials and site details faculty review, and has them ready before the packet deadline. The approval decision belongs to faculty; what we control is that both hosts arrive on their desk fully documented. If a host's plans change mid-year, we find a replacement quickly.
Use the form below to start, or weigh your routes on searching alone, the coordinator or a service.
Questions Ohio University students ask
How many hours a week does the Nurse Educator practicum take?
Spread evenly over a 15-week semester, 250 practicum hours comes to roughly 17 hours a week. The MSN FAQ puts a typical clinical-course week at 18 to 20 hours of study with 2 to 3 days on site. A teaching host may work to its own class schedule, so agree on a weekly pattern before the term begins.
Is Ohio University's Nurse Educator track a nurse practitioner program?
No. It leads to an MSN focused on teaching, not to nurse practitioner certification, and its practicums build curriculum, teaching and evaluation skills alongside advanced nursing care. Nurses who want NP practice look at the FNP, PMHNP or AG-ACNP tracks. The DNP curriculum page also lists the Nurse Educator certificate as an optional add-on.
Do I need RN experience to apply to the Nurse Educator track?
Probably, but check. Ohio University's Nurse Educator web page asks for at least two years of RN practice, counted as full-time equivalent, from the last five years, while the catalog page for the track leaves that out. Plan on meeting the web page's standard and get a firm answer from graduatenursing@ohio.edu before applying.
Can I teach at the nursing program where I already work?
Ohio University's public pages do not rule on it. What they do require is an approved preceptor and site, with faculty approval of both. If you work for a nursing program or a hospital education team, mention it to course faculty early, and see the workplace clinical site guide for what helps such a placement.
Who finds Nurse Educator preceptors at Ohio University?
Ohio University's MSN FAQ offers two routes: propose your own preceptors for faculty to approve, or lean on the Graduate Clinical Coordinator, who can help set up a placement. Large hospital systems may also require their own centralized request. The routes can run side by side, and we fit alongside them by finding and preparing both of your hosts.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-24
We check these pages against Ohio University's own catalog, program pages and Nursing Knowledge Center. Your syllabus, the Graduate Nursing Student Handbook and your faculty have the final word.
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Tell us your Ohio University program, your community and your next clinical course. We find preceptors who fit the course and prepare what faculty review before they approve them.
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