M.S.N. Clinical Practicum 

PRECEPTOR SUPERVISED CLINICAL EXPERIENCES 

Clinical experiences in the graduate program are supervised by qualified preceptors who are licensed and credentialed advanced practice nurses and physicians (MD or DO). Students may work with Physician Assistants if the supervising physician is also willing to work with the student and accepts responsibility as the preceptor of record., including completion of a Preceptor Agreement Students are primarily responsible for the identification of clinical preceptors and sites and may receive assistance from faculty when needed. The Clinical course coordinator and local clinical faculty will work with the student to ensure that they are linked with appropriate preceptors within a reasonable distance from their campus. As the student interacts with preceptors, the student needs to remember that they are representing the Penn State Ross and Carol Nese College of Nursing. The Ross and Carol Nese College of Nursing expects professional and courteous interactions.

Preceptor agreements are used to specify expectations for the clinical performance and clinical logs are used to document those experiences. The student’s role in securing and maintaining these documents will be fully explained in course syllabi and/or class sessions. The preceptor provides input regarding the clinical performance and, likewise, the student will have an opportunity to evaluate the preceptor and clinical agency/site. 

Should the student have any concerns or issues regarding preceptors or preceptor-supervised experiences that they feel have not been adequately addressed by the course instructor, the student should contact the Program Director. If the student is still unsatisfied with the resolution, they can contact the Associate Dean of Graduate Education & Research. 

GENERAL PRACTICUM INFORMATION 

All students must have all compliance requirements met in American DataBank (ADB) before attending clinical/practicum or continuing in clinical/practicum. Please refer to “Professional Compliances” in the M.S.N. Program Handbook for more information Students should keep copies of these documents. When sharing documents at clinical/practicum sites, write “copy” on any forms dispersed; this is a safety measure for the protection of your professional identification.

The student is responsible for tracking the required clinical hours per semester. At the end of each semester a summary of clinical hours should be provided to the Clinical faculty member. A copy of the students documented clinical hours will be maintained in the student’s Ross and Carol Nese College of Nursing permanent file. 

During the semester, students must communicate their clinical schedule to their Clinical faculty member. This can best be done by emailing or faxing a monthly calendar depicting the proposed schedule for clinical hours for the upcoming month. Any changes to the schedule must be reported prior to the date of the change. 

DEFERMENT OF CLINICAL GRADES 

There may be situations where the student is unable to complete the required clinical hours within the semester. If this occurs, the student can request a deferred grade (DF) in the course until the required hours are completed. The student must have the approval of their Clinical Faculty to extend clinical experiences and must arrange for supervision of these clinical rotations with a Clinical Faculty member. Approval of the Director of the Program is also required. 

For an NP student, it is important that the student inform the Clinical Faculty when the hours are completed and their Typhon log is updated, so that a completed grade can be processed for the student. Students have no later than 12 weeks after the course end date as noted on the Registrar's Schedule of Courses. These incomplete hours cannot be acquired during the break between fall and spring semesters and can only be acquired in the summer if the appropriate supervision can be arranged. 

CLINICAL PRACTICUM TRANSPORTATION 

All nursing majors have clinical experiences in a variety of settings at Hershey Medical Center, University Park, and their local areas that will require travel to a clinical site. The Ross and Carol Nese College of Nursing requires that students assume responsibility for providing their own transportation to and from the clinical site. The use of a car and/or car-pooling is a necessity. 

CLINICAL COURSE-SPECIFIC INFORMATION 

NURSE ADMINISTRATOR AND NURSE EDUCATOR PRACTICUM GUIDELINES 

All students must have all requirements met in American DataBank 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 Clinical Placement Coordinator 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. Penn State does not require an Academic Affiliation Agreement but some sites require one. 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 a Preceptor Request Form prior to the practicum semester. The Request Form will be submitted in Typhon and will be reviewed by the CON Contracts Assistant. Once the form is submitted, The CON Contracts Assistant 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. 

Course Faculty must also approve your practicum preceptor and will review the submitted Preceptor Request Form. 

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/. More information can be found in the M.S.N. Handbook.

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 completing all required forms in Typhon and sending all required paperwork to the preceptor and site. This may include:  1) the Preceptor Evaluation of Student; 2) Student, Preceptor, and Faculty Responsibilities form; and 3) 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. An evaluation form will be completed by your practicum faculty, in consultation with your preceptor at mid-semester and at the end of the semester. Students will send an evaluation form to the preceptor at the end of each practicum rotation. The instructions to initiate an evaluation form can be found at https://www.nursing.psu.edu/graduate-forms/.

Students will complete an evaluation of the preceptor and site at the end of each semester (or end of rotation). The instructions to complete the evaluation form can be found at https://www.nursing.psu.edu/graduate-forms/. 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 the New Look 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  

You may order online or by phone: 

http://newlookuniforms.com/

New Look Uniform Shop 

800 South 20th Street and Pleasant Valley Blvd. 

Altoona, PA 16602  

Phone: 814-944-5515  

Toll Free: 800-752-7986  

Fax: 814-941-2694 

Email: NewLookUniform@yahoo.com 

*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. Students will log hours/experiences in Typhon. 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.