Nurse Administrator & Educator Practicum Guidelines

All students must have all requirements met in Castle Branch before the practicum course start date. Students are primarily responsible for the identification of practicum preceptors and sites. This preceptor may not be a family member or close friend. Assistance may be provided by the Assistant Dean for Online Education and Outreach based on a list of preceptors/sites with current affiliation agreements that have been used by the program. Practicum preceptors should be either a Nurse Administrator or Nurse Educator dependent on your option. Preceptors should be masters prepared. Your practicum hours may be completed in your place of employment, but not in the area in which you are employed. If you are currently working in a nurse administrator or nurse educator role, your preceptor should be at a role level higher than your level. 

Students are encouraged to seek preceptors who will provide a mentoring opportunity and are appropriately prepared academically. Students will need to evaluate the preferred practicum site for the requirement for an Academic Affiliation. Some sites require that any student (and in some cases students who are also employed at the site) complete an Academic Affiliation Agreement. This is an agreement between the site and Penn State Ross and Carol Nese College of Nursing. Academic Affiliation Agreements may take up to 12 months to complete so identifying the site early in the academic plan of study is essential. 

Students will submit an Academic Affiliation Request Form at the end of the first semester of study (full-time students) and at the end of the second semester of study (part-time students). The Request Form will be submitted to Dr. Sheri Matter at sxm1898@psu.edu. Once the form is submitted, Penn State Ross and Carol Nese College of Nursing will initiate contact with the site to facilitate the Agreement process. Students will be advised when the Agreement is approved and signed. In some instances, a site may not agree to an Affiliation. In that case, the student will be required to select another option for the practicum/clinical site. It is important to have a primary site choice identified for the practicum courses and alternate sites in mind in case the first site agreement is not successful. The Request Form will be made available to the students via the CON Graduate Advising team. Students may not register for any clinical/practicum course without completing the Academic Affiliation Request process. 

Course Faculty must also approve your practicum preceptor. Once a preceptor and site have been identified and Affiliation Agreement confirmed, the following information should be sent to the course instructor: Full Name of the Preceptor, Name of the Practice/Site, Full Practice Address, Phone number, email, and phone number. 

Students who identify potential Alternative Clinical Experiences need to follow the policy on Alternative Clinical Experiences and complete the Alternative Clinical Form which can be found on the forms page of the Ross and Carol Nese College of Nursing website: https://www.nursing.psu.edu/student-forms/.

It is the responsibility of the student to contact their preceptor to discuss a mutually agreeable schedule and obtain directions to the site.  Ideally, this will be arranged prior to the beginning of the semester. Students may need to complete facility specific paperwork and /or attend an orientation at the facility prior to starting practicum hours.

Students will be responsible for bringing all required paperwork to the preceptor. This will include:   1) The Preceptor Agreement Form; 2) the Preceptor Evaluation of Student Performance; 3) Student, Preceptor, and Faculty Responsibilities form; and 4) Course Syllabus to their preceptor on or before the first day of the clinical rotation.  These forms can be found in Typhon and the instructions to access these forms can be found at https://www.nursing.psu.edu/graduate-forms/.Be certain that you are choosing the forms for your CURRENT course.

Faculty may discuss the student progress with preceptors throughout the semester to validate hours and completion of course objectives. The Student Evaluation Form will be completed by your practicum faculty, in consultation with your preceptor at mid-semester and at the end of the semester. The Preceptor Feedback of Student Performance will be completed by your preceptor at the end of each practicum rotation. The instructions to initiate a Preceptor Feedback can be found at https://www.nursing.psu.edu/graduate-forms/.

Students will complete Student Evaluation of Preceptor and Site at the end of each semester (or end of rotation). A link to the online evaluation can be found in the Practicum Paperwork and Preceptor Forms folder of your practicum course in Canvas. Completion and submission of this documentation is needed to complete requirements of each practicum course each semester. 

DRESS CODE 

Students are expected to wear appropriate professional attire for all practicum experiences. Students may need to wear a lab coat* with a name tag. Both can be purchased at a uniform shop. Some practicum facilities may have other requirements for their dress code. Students should check with their practicum faculty or the site to identify variations in the dress code. Inpatient practicum sites should verify appropriate attire with their preceptors, i.e. scrubs versus street attire. 

The name tag should have the following lines:

1. Name and educational credentials (ex. RN, B.S.N.) 

2. Penn State Ross and Carol Nese College of Nursing 

3. Nurse Administrator or Educator M.S.N. Student  

*Note that some sites prefer students do NOT wear lab coats. Each student should check with the preceptor regarding this. If lab coats are not required by the site, a name tag should be worn at all times.

DOCUMENTATION OF PRACTICUM HOURS 

1. All practicum hours must be completed during the semester in which students are registered for the course, so it is important to plan accordingly. Students may not complete practicum hours when the University is closed. 

2. All practicum hours /experiences will be logged. Logs for documentation of practicum hours are available in the course materials in Canvas. Completion and submission of this documentation is needed to complete requirements of each practicum course each semester. The student is responsible for tracking the required practicum hours per semester. All practicum hours must be logged within 7 days of the experience date.  

3. During the semester, students must communicate their practicum schedule and updates to their Course faculty member. Course faculty will determine the due dates for submission of practicum schedule and updates.   

COURSE SPECIFIC INFORMATION 

NURS 848 Synthesis and Application of the Nurse Administrator Role (6 credits- 180 hours):  Practicum in the application of the nurse administrator role in health care settings. Prerequisite: NURS 845, 846, and 847.

NURS 843 Synthesis and Application of the Nurse Educator Role (6 credits- 270 hours): Practicum in the application of the nurse educator role in academic and healthcare settings. Prerequisite: NURS 840, 841, and 842.