The Nursing Education and Leadership practicums at Rivier University
Rivier University's online Nursing Education track has one practicum, NURS 559P, taken with the NURS 559S seminar, where you teach under a nurse educator. The Leadership in Health Systems Management track has a leadership practicum too, but Rivier's documents disagree on its number: NURS 571P on the 2026 sheet, NURS 562 and NURS 564 in the 2025-26 catalog. In both tracks you secure the preceptor yourself.
Find your educator or leader preceptor
Tell us your track, your state and your practicum semester.
Two online tracks under one placement policy
Both tracks are fully online, and each 2026 program sheet notes that the practicum can happen in your own geographic area. The graduate Practicum Placement Policy in the Nursing Student Handbook covers them exactly as it covers the NP tracks: identifying a qualified preceptor is your task, faculty and the Clinical Practicum Coordinator help, and graduate faculty make the final call on the site.
The preceptor rules are short. For Nursing Education, your preceptor is an RN who holds a master's and teaches as a nurse educator, whether on a hospital staff or in an academic program. For Leadership, your preceptor is a master's-prepared RN (a business master's counts) who holds a nurse leadership role. Our Education and Leadership preceptors page covers how to find and vet them.
The August 1 and December 1 cutoffs in the Handbook apply to all MSN practicum courses, these two included; the placement deadlines guide has the details.
NURS 559P and NURS 559S: teaching under a nurse educator
NURS 559P Advanced Clinical Education Practicum is worth 2 credits, and its companion is the 1-credit NURS 559S Advanced Clinical Education Seminar. In the catalog's description you teach across three kinds of setting, didactic, clinical and lab, with a nurse-educator preceptor beside you. Rivier offers the pair every fall and spring.
That three-part description is the best guide to choosing a site. A hospital education department may offer staff in-services and unit orientation but little lecture time; a school of nursing may offer lectures and skills labs but fewer clinical groups. Ask course faculty early how the three settings should be covered at the site you have in mind.
The MSN runs 32 credits on the traditional path (38 on the RN-MS and Bridge paths), about two years of 14-week courses, with five starts a year in September, October, January, March and May. Once graduates have the teaching experience the NLN requires, they can sit for its CNE exam.
No published clock hours for either practicum
Rivier's catalog and program sheets give credits for these practicums but no clock hours, unlike the NP tracks, where the Handbook sets 250 hours a semester. That gap matters when you ask a preceptor for time, because the first thing a busy educator or manager wants to know is how many hours you need and over how many weeks.
Get the figure from course faculty or the Program Director before you approach anyone, and put it in your first message to the preceptor. The course syllabus and your Program of Studies are the places to look for it in writing.
Rivier publishes no hour figure for NURS 559P or the Leadership practicum. Ask course faculty for yours rather than borrowing the NP tracks' 250.
The Leadership practicum: two numbers in two documents
Rivier's 2026 Leadership sheet pairs NURS 570 Advanced Nursing Leadership Theory with NURS 571P Advanced Nursing Leadership Practicum. The 2025-26 catalog lists four courses instead, with the practicum split across a fall and a spring.
| Source | Courses | Practicum shape |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 program sheet | NURS 570 theory and NURS 571P Advanced Nursing Leadership Practicum | One practicum course |
| 2025-26 catalog | NURS 561 and NURS 563 alongside NURS 562 Advanced Nursing Leadership I Practicum (fall, 2 credits) and NURS 564 Advanced Nursing Leadership II Practicum (spring, 2 credits) | Two practicums in consecutive semesters |
The difference is more than a label. Under the catalog you would need a leadership preceptor for two semesters in a row; under the sheet, for one practicum course. Your Program of Studies, confirmed with the Program Director, settles which applies to your start term. Rivier's DNP materials list NURS 571P in the Systems Leadership Bridge path as well.
The catalog adds that a leadership placement is matched to what you want from it (your interests, your goals, your learning needs), so arrive with a clear focus, such as staffing, quality or a unit project, when you first talk to a potential preceptor.
Certificate students in Nursing Education
The Nursing Education post-master's certificate runs at least 16 credits (16 to 36) and includes NURS 559P. The 2026 sheet lists NURS 550, NURS 552, NURS 559P, NURS 615 and NURS 616; the 2025-26 catalog's minimum list leaves out NURS 615. If your master's had no clinical component, expect added courses beyond that minimum list.
Length is a second conflict. The certificate sheet puts it at about a year and a half, while the certificate page gives five to seven semesters and also says about three on average. Ask the Program Director to confirm your course list and the semester your practicum falls in before the search begins, since the search should lead the practicum by four months or more. See post-master's certificates for the other certificate tracks.
Where you live: the State Guide for these tracks
Rivier's State Guide has separate Education and Leadership columns, and they differ from the NP columns. Both mark seven states red (unable to accept): the West Coast trio of California, Oregon and Washington, plus Iowa, Louisiana, Tennessee and Wyoming. Colorado, New York and South Dakota are yellow (call the Program Director). Alabama, red for FNP and PMHNP, is green for Education and Leadership. Our State Guide page explains how to read the colors.
Rivier's change-of-residence policy names the Leadership and Nurse Educator tracks too: if you move after acceptance, the Dean needs written notice at least 90 days ahead. Wherever the practicum happens, you need an RN license valid in that state.
Green is a starting point, not a promise. The Handbook warns that a state's nursing board or labor department rules can rule out a practicum there, so if you live near a border, check the state where the site sits as well as the one where you live.
How we find educator and leader preceptors
We search for nurse educators and nurse leaders with the same rigor we bring to NP placements: the Handbook's credential rule first, then fit. For NURS 559P that means an RN with a master's in a teaching role whose week includes classroom, clinical and lab teaching; for the Leadership practicum, an RN leader with a master's whose work matches the focus you bring. Every candidate works near you, in a state Rivier accepts for your track.
We confirm the hour figure with you before we contact anyone, pull together the educator's or leader's CV, license and credentials so the Preceptor Request Form goes in whole, and keep to Rivier's four-month lead time. The approval decisions sit with graduate faculty and the Clinical Practicum Coordinator; we hand them a request that is complete and fits Rivier's rules on the first pass. Use the form below to start.
Questions Rivier students ask
Can my own manager precept my Rivier leadership practicum?
Rivier's Handbook publishes no rule on employers or supervisors as preceptors. It sets the credential, a master's-prepared RN in a nurse leadership role, and encourages you to suggest clinicians you know professionally. The site decision belongs to graduate faculty, so raise a manager as a candidate with course faculty early.
Can the Nursing Education practicum be at a college instead of a hospital?
Yes. The Handbook accepts a nurse-educator preceptor in either a hospital or an academic setting. Because the course expects teaching across classroom, clinical and lab work, an academic site suits best when it can also give you time with a clinical group or in a skills lab.
Is there a certification exam for Rivier Leadership graduates?
Rivier's Leadership pages do not name one, unlike the Nursing Education track, whose catalog entry points to the NLN CNE exam. If a leadership credential matters to your career plan, ask the Program Director which options fit and whether your practicum focus can support one.
Do Nursing Education or Leadership students go to campus?
Rivier lists both MSN tracks as 100% online, with no campus days on either sheet, unlike the NP tracks. Your practicum happens in your own area with a local preceptor, under an RN license valid in that state, and the seminar runs online alongside it.
How long is Rivier's MSN Leadership?
About two years for 36 credits; the program page gives 36 to 42 depending on your entry path. Nursing courses run 14 weeks and business courses seven, with starts in September, January and May. Where the practicum falls in that plan comes from your Program of Studies.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-26
We check these pages against Rivier's own Nursing Student Handbook, program sheets, catalog, academic calendar and State Guide. Your program of study, your course faculty, your Program Director and the Clinical Practicum Coordinator have the final word.
Rivier asks you to identify a qualified preceptor. We make that the easy part.
Tell us your Rivier track, where you live and which semester your next practicum starts. We find preceptors who meet your track's rules, check early whether the site can contract with Rivier, and prepare everything the Preceptor Request Form asks for, well ahead of August 1 and December 1.
- Preceptors matched to the track: an MD, DO or FNP in outpatient family practice for
NURS 511, a psychiatrist or PMH-certified NP forNURS 521, a hospitalist or intensivist forNURS 638P - Preceptor license, credentials and CV ready for the Preceptor Request Form, with the site's contact details for the contract
- In your own area, in New Hampshire or any state Rivier's State Guide accepts
Start your placement plan
Track, city and semester is all we need to begin.