MSN587: USU's 100-hour leadership residency
MSN587 Residency in Nursing Leadership and Systems Management is a 2-credit, 8-week course with 100 hours alongside a nurse leader preceptor, one student per preceptor. Your preceptor needs a graduate degree and at least a year of leadership experience, and USU approves both the preceptor and the site.
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MSN587 at a glance
USU's 2026-27 catalog lists MSN587 as Residency in Nursing Leadership and Systems Management: 2 credits and 100 leadership residency hours, completed in collaboration with a nurse leader preceptor. The Health Care Leadership concentration totals 30 credits and 100 clinical hours, all of them in this course.
| Item | What USU says |
|---|---|
| Catalog title | Residency in Nursing Leadership and Systems Management |
| Credits | 2 |
| Hours | 100 leadership residency hours |
| Length | 8 weeks |
| Preceptor | Nurse leader employed in a healthcare leader role |
| Ratio | One preceptor to one student, mandatory |
| Feedback | Weeks 1, 4 and 8 |
| Transfer credit | Not transferable |
| Timing | Last session of the program |
The rest of the concentration carries no hours: MSN580 Strategic Planning and Project Management in Healthcare, MSN581 Innovation in Organizational and Systems Leadership, MSN582 Leadership and Organizational Behavior, MSN584 Quality Measures, Safety, and Improving Patient Outcomes, MSN586 Entrepreneurship in Advanced Practice Nursing, the MSN core and the capstone. Unlike the Nurse Educator track, there are no advanced pathophysiology, pharmacology or assessment courses.
Who can precept a leadership residency
USU's practicum handbook describes the preceptor as a qualified nurse healthcare leader employed in a leader role in a healthcare setting. Before you name anyone, check each of these:
- At least one earned graduate degree: an MSN, MHA or MBA, or preferably a PhD, DNP, EdD or DNS
- At least one year of healthcare, healthcare technology or other qualifying leadership experience
- At least one year as an RN, with a current unencumbered RN license where they practice
- A current leader role in a healthcare setting
- No family or reporting link: they can't be a spouse, partner, first-degree relative or your direct supervisor
- Able to take you as their only student for the residency
The degree rule is broader than the Nurse Educator one. A nurse leader whose graduate degree is an MHA or an MBA can qualify, as long as the RN years, the leadership experience and the license are all there. USU checks those facts, not the job title, so gather them before you approach OFE.
The site, and your own employer
The handbook doesn't list site types for this residency the way it does for Nurse Educator students. Its test is a healthcare setting where your preceptor is employed in a healthcare leader role. A strong leader outside healthcare doesn't meet it.
The handbook's MSN and BSN site criteria also say practicum hours can't be part of your current employment position or work-related role. If you already work in a healthcare organization, settle early with your CPC whether any part of it could host you, and under whom. Your direct supervisor can't be your preceptor either way. Our page on clinicals at your employer compares the rule across USU programs.
Leadership work you already do in your paid role won't count toward the 100 hours.
How the eight weeks run
100 hours in eight weeks averages 12.5 hours a week. Your preceptor's calendar sets the pace, so agree on a weekly pattern with them before the course opens rather than in week one.
The practicum handbook builds in feedback at weeks 1, 4 and 8. Hours and evaluations are tracked in Project Concert, USU's clinical tracking system, and your D2L course shows what is due and when.
Hours must start within the course's first week. The catalog says clinical hours left incomplete are lost and repeated the following term. If your preceptor has to stop for reasons outside your control, OFE makes every reasonable attempt at an alternative, but a withdrawal and retake is possible. See changing preceptors for how USU handles a switch.
What OFE needs first
The catalog's field experience policy covers every clinical course, MSN587 included: at least three qualified preceptors with valid contact information, six months before the course starts. The practicum handbook's 16-week paperwork deadline names MSN578 and NUR378; the passage we rely on doesn't name MSN587. Confirm your exact date with your CPC and work to 16 weeks unless told otherwise.
- Name three leadersPut at least three nurse leaders on Appendix G, the Preceptor & Clinical Practicum Placement Interest Form, six months ahead. Our Interest Form page covers how it works.
- Preceptor paperworkThe leader you settle on completes Appendix H, the Preceptor Information and Acknowledgement Form. OFE asks for whatever else it needs to verify the degree and license.
- Health and safetyComplete the Appendix A checklist in Complio and keep every item current until the residency ends.
- Site agreementIf the organization has no agreement with USU, give OFE the site contact and let OFE run that process.
- Approval, then hoursBegin hours only after USU approves the preceptor, the site and your compliance, and begin them in week one.
Where MSN587 lands in your program
USU's figures for program length don't match, and that matters when you count back six months from the residency.
| 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 Health Care Leadership page | 24 months, with an accelerated 12-month pathway |
The catalog places MSN587 at the last session and also lists it, or MSN578, as a prerequisite for MSN600, the capstone. Find the session that holds your residency on your degree plan, then use the course calendar to turn that into dates.
If you're in the older Administration & Management track, which USU isn't admitting, your practicum is different: MSN559 (40 hours) and MSN595 (100 hours), 140 in all. See closed MSN tracks.
Why leadership residents choose us
A leadership residency depends on one person: a nurse leader with the right degree who will give a student 100 hours over eight weeks. That is exactly the search we run. We look for nurse leaders in healthcare organizations near you, outside your own reporting line, and check degree, RN license and leadership experience against USU's list before you submit anyone.
We can also help you assemble what the leader sends to OFE, and we stay available if the arrangement falls through. USU approves the preceptor, the site and the agreement, and we make sure what the leader sends OFE is complete. To start, send us your details.
Questions USU students ask
Can someone with an MBA precept MSN587?
Yes, if the rest fits. USU accepts an MSN, MHA or MBA and prefers a doctorate such as a PhD, DNP, EdD or DNS. The same person also needs at least a year of leadership experience, at least a year as an RN, a current unencumbered RN license where they practice, and a leader role in a healthcare setting.
Can my manager be my leadership preceptor?
Not if they are your direct supervisor. USU's practicum preceptor rules exclude direct supervisors as well as spouses, partners and first-degree relatives. A leader elsewhere in your organization is a separate question, tied to the rule that practicum hours can't be part of your job. Put it to your CPC before you list that person.
Is MSN587 the same as the Administration & Management practicum?
No. Health Care Leadership is the concentration USU is admitting, with one 100-hour residency. Administration & Management isn't admitting and uses two practicum courses totaling 140 hours, with a nurse executive preceptor for MSN595. The 2024-25 catalog also listed a Post-Master's Certificate in Health Care Leadership that included MSN587; it isn't in the current catalog.
Does USU pay leadership preceptors?
No. USU's Preceptor Resources Hub recruits preceptors in nursing leadership and education and offers benefits instead, including a tuition discount, continuing education, library access and an unpaid Honorary Clinical Faculty title. If a leader asks what precepting involves, point them to our page for clinicians precepting USU students.
Can I complete MSN587 in another state?
USU encourages clinical hours in your approved state of residence, and the catalog expects travel within your state if needed. The Health Care Leadership MSN isn't open to residents of DC or Maryland, and USU's Board of Nursing disclosure says it enrolls only FNP students in Washington. Your preceptor must be licensed where they practice.
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.