MSN578: USU's 100-hour teaching residency
MSN578 Teaching Residency for Nurse Educators is a 2-credit, 8-week course with 100 hours of teaching activity, supervised one-to-one by a nurse with an MSN or a doctorate. The catalog places it at the last session of your program, and the practicum handbook wants your paperwork on file 16 weeks before it starts.
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MSN578 at a glance
USU's 2026-27 catalog lists MSN578 as Teaching Residency for Nurse Educators: 2 credits and 100 clinical hours. The Nurse Educator concentration totals 30 credits and 100 clinical hours, and every one of those hours sits in this course.
The practicum handbook describes the work as clock hours of teaching activities, guided by a university-approved specialty nurse educator preceptor. The table pulls together what the catalog and the handbook say.
| Item | What USU says |
|---|---|
| Catalog title | Teaching Residency for Nurse Educators |
| Credits | 2 |
| Hours | 100 clock hours of teaching activities |
| Length | 8 weeks |
| Preceptor | Master's- or doctoral-prepared nurse |
| Ratio | One preceptor to one student |
| Settings | Healthcare or academic |
| Hour reporting | Weekly, in Project Concert |
| Transfer credit | Not transferable |
| Timing | Last session of the program |
Alongside the residency, the concentration covers MSN530 Curriculum Development and Teaching Strategies, MSN577 Test Construction, Assessment and Evaluation of Learning Outcomes, advanced pathophysiology, pharmacology and health assessment (MSN570, MSN571, MSN553), the MSN core and the MSN600 capstone.
Who can precept MSN578
USU's practicum handbook sets the bar for a Nurse Educator preceptor. OFE and USU check each point below before a preceptor is approved, so confirm them yourself before you put a name forward.
- At least one earned graduate degree in nursing: an MSN or a doctorate
- At least one year of experience as an RN in the specialty area of your practicum
- A current, unencumbered RN license, or a multistate privilege
- Employment in a healthcare or academic setting
- No personal or reporting tie: not your spouse, partner, first-degree relative or direct supervisor
- Room for you alone, since the ratio is one preceptor to one student
Job titles vary from one employer to the next, so check the degree, the license and the years of RN experience in the specialty rather than relying on a title. Meeting every point makes a preceptor eligible to be considered; the approval itself is USU's decision.
Where the 100 hours can happen
The catalog allows healthcare or academic settings. The handbook lists acute care areas such as ICU, cardiac, med-surg, oncology, emergency and psychiatric units, and outpatient or chronic care such as dialysis, hospice and skilled nursing. It recommends academic settings, naming ADN programs and prelicensure BSN programs.
Your own employer is the harder case. The handbook's site criteria say practicum hours can't be part of your current employment position or work-related role, so teaching you already do in your job doesn't count. Whether another unit or department at the same employer could work is a question to settle with your CPC before you list it. Our page on clinicals at your employer covers how the rule differs by program.
Tennessee-based students have one more rule. The residency has to be in a nursing clinical specialty area, with a preceptor who has expertise in that specialty and teaching experience.
Teaching you already do as part of your paid role doesn't count toward MSN578, even when it looks like residency work.
What OFE needs, and when
Two dates from two documents apply. The catalog's field experience policy asks for at least three qualified preceptors, with valid contact information, six months before each clinical course. The practicum handbook asks for the MSN578 paperwork to be done 16 weeks before the course. Plan to both: leads at six months, a finished file at 16 weeks.
- Submit your leadsList at least three possible preceptors on Appendix G, the Preceptor & Clinical Practicum Placement Interest Form, and agree with your Clinical Placement Coordinator (CPC) which to pursue. The Interest Form page walks through it.
- Send the preceptor packetThe preceptor you settle on completes Appendix H, the Preceptor Information and Acknowledgement Form. OFE tells you what supporting documents it needs with it.
- Clear complianceWork through the Appendix A health and safety checklist in Complio, the American DataBank system USU uses. You pay the Complio fees.
- Leave the agreement to OFEIf the school or hospital has no agreement with USU, OFE sends one to the site. New agreements can take months, which is one reason leads are due so early.
- Start in week oneOnce OFE confirms approval, begin hours in the first week. The catalog warns that a late start can mean withdrawal and a retake.
How long the program runs, and where MSN578 falls
USU publishes three different lengths for the Nurse Educator MSN, and they don't agree. Date your residency from your own degree plan and your advisor's answer, not from a marketing figure.
| Source | Length stated |
|---|---|
| 2026-27 catalog program page | 30 credits, 3 to 6 semesters, 12 to 22 months |
| Catalog time-to-completion table | 22 months standard, 55 months maximum |
| usuniversity.edu Nurse Educator page | 24 months, or 12 months on the accelerated pathway |
The order of courses has a wrinkle too. The catalog says MSN578 "must be taken at the last session" (USU 2026-27 catalog), yet it also lists MSN578 or MSN587 as a prerequisite for MSN600, the Evidence Based Capstone Project. Ask your advisor which sessions hold the residency and the capstone in your plan, then count back six months and 16 weeks on the course calendar.
During the eight weeks
100 hours over eight weeks averages 12.5 hours a week. Your preceptor's teaching schedule sets the pace, so agree on a weekly pattern before the course opens rather than in week one.
You report hours weekly in Project Concert, USU's clinical tracking system, which also houses evaluations. Unfinished hours don't carry forward: the catalog's field experience policy says incomplete clinical hours are lost and have to be repeated the following term.
If your preceptor has to stop partway through, tell your CPC the same day. OFE makes every reasonable attempt to find an alternative when the cause is outside your control, but if nothing works, a withdrawal and retake at your own cost is possible. Our page on a preceptor who drops out sets out what to do first.
Why MSN578 students choose us
Plenty of Nurse Educator students start with their own network, and we make that search wider and more thorough: finding MSN- or doctorally prepared nurses in hospitals or nursing programs near you who will take one student for eight weeks, and checking their degree, license and specialty experience against USU's list before you put them on the Interest Form.
We also help you gather what the preceptor sends to OFE, and we stay on hand if the arrangement falls through. USU decides on every preceptor, site and agreement, and our checks mean each candidate arrives with the degree, license and experience USU asks for. To start, use the request form.
Questions USU students ask
Can a nursing school instructor precept my MSN578 residency?
Yes, if they meet USU's rules. The handbook recommends academic settings such as ADN and prelicensure BSN programs. The instructor needs an MSN or doctorate, at least a year as an RN in the practicum specialty, and an unencumbered RN license or multistate privilege. They can't be your relative, partner or direct supervisor, and they precept you one-to-one.
Can I do my teaching residency at the hospital where I work?
Possibly, but not as part of your job. USU's practicum site criteria say hours can't come from your current position or work-related role, and your preceptor can't be your direct supervisor. If you have a different department in mind, describe it to your CPC and get an answer before you list it on the Interest Form.
Is MSN578 part of the old Post-Master's Nurse Educator certificate?
The 2024-25 catalog listed a 16-credit Post-Master's Certificate in Nurse Educator that included MSN578 and 100 hours. That certificate is not in the current catalog, and its USU web page no longer loads. If you started it earlier, ask OFE which handbook and deadlines apply to you now.
Do I need a preceptor in my own state for MSN578?
USU encourages students to complete clinical hours in their approved state of residence, and the catalog expects you to travel within your state at your own expense if that is where the placement is. Your preceptor needs a current RN license or multistate privilege. Check out-of-state clinicals before looking across a state line.
What if USU doesn't approve the preceptor I found?
USU can decline a preceptor who falls short on degree, license, specialty experience or the relationship rules. You then need another name, which is one reason the catalog asks for three leads, not one. Ask your CPC exactly which rule was missed so the next person you approach clears it.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-23
We check these pages against USU's own catalog, handbooks and disclosures. USU's current handbook and your Clinical Placement Coordinator have the final word.
Six months out is USU's rule. We start now.
Tell us your USU program, your state and when your next practicum opens. We look for preceptors who meet USU's rules and help you build the packet the Office of Field Experience and Program Director review.
- Preceptors matched to the course: family practice, pediatrics, women's health, urgent care within USU's caps
- Appendix H, license, CV and board certification gathered the way OFE asks
- In person near you; telehealth only inside USU's 40-hour limit
Start your placement plan
A placement advisor replies with what a USU-ready preceptor and site look like for you.