YSU's Nurse Educator practicums: 150 hours in two courses
Youngstown State University's MSN in Nursing Education and its post-master's Nursing Education certificate share two supervised practicums: NURS 7022 Nurse Educator Practicum 1 at 50 hours and NURS 7023 Nurse Educator Practicum 2 at 100 hours, 150 in all. Both take place in education and health care settings, and the second centers on nursing education. YSU's public pages say what the practicums require but not who arranges them, so this guide sets out what is published and what to ask.
Get your placement plan
Tell us your YSU program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with preceptor and site options in your community that fit your YSU course.
NURS 7022 Nurse Educator Practicum 1NURS 7023 Nurse Educator Practicum 2
The two practicums at a glance
Both courses appear in the 2026-27 catalog with the same four prerequisites and a stated number of supervised hours, which is more than YSU's catalog says about its NP practicums. YSU's online program guide gives the combined total as 150 practicum hours.
| Course | Credits | Hours | Setting in the catalog description | Prerequisites |
|---|---|---|---|---|
NURS 7022 Nurse Educator Practicum 1 | 1 | 50 | A variety of education and health care settings | NURS 7018, NURS 7019, NURS 7020 and NURS 7021 |
NURS 7023 Nurse Educator Practicum 2 | 2 | 100 | A variety of education and health care settings, with a focus on nursing education | The same four courses |
| Total | 3 | 150 |
One detail stands out: the catalog does not make NURS 7022 a prerequisite for NURS 7023. Both open once the four education courses are done, and the order between them comes from your curriculum plan, which YSU keeps on Blackboard in its graduate orientation module, so check it there rather than assuming.
Where they fall in the MSN and the certificate
The MSN in Nursing Education is 33 credits: five core courses (NURS 6900 to NURS 6904, 15 credits), the four education courses NURS 7018 to NURS 7021 (12), the two practicums (3) and NURS 7005 Capstone Practicum (3). YSU's online page says it can be finished in as few as 14 months. The catalog lets the Capstone run alongside or after the practicum pair, once both carry a B or better; the Capstone guide covers that choice.
The post-master's Nursing Education certificate is 15 credits: the same four education courses and the same two practicums, with no Capstone, in as few as eight months. The catalog says the certificate helps prepare you to sit for the National League for Nursing Certified Nurse Educator examination; for the MSN, it describes graduates as able to take the national exam to become a Certified Nurse Educator. Both start in any of the four online terms. More on the Nursing Education program page.
Grades and transfer follow the graduate rules. The catalog requires a B or A in Nursing Education courses and allows one repeat after a C, and the handbook caps Nursing Education transfer credit at 9 hours while barring transfer of any practicum course, so both practicums are taken at YSU.
Education and health care settings
The catalog names the settings only broadly: education and health care for both courses, with NURS 7023 adding a focus on nursing education. The program description fills in the picture by naming the roles the program prepares you for: academic nurse educator, patient educator, and educator in a health care agency or in the community.
Read together, those point to settings like the ones below. This is our reading of YSU's wording, not a YSU list, so confirm any setting with your clinical faculty before you commit to it.
- A school of nursing: classroom teaching, a simulation or skills lab, or a clinical group
- A hospital or health system's staff development or clinical education department
- A patient education program within a hospital, clinic or health system
- Community health education run by a health agency or public health department
The nursing education focus of NURS 7023 suggests its 100 hours lean toward teaching nurses or nursing students, the academic side of the role; that too is our reading. If you work in health care, the handbook's rule still holds: employment hours cannot count as practicum hours, even at the site where you work. The workplace guide explains the NP version of those limits.
Who supervises, and who arranges it
The catalog calls both courses supervised practicums but sets no credentials for the supervisor. The handbook's list of approved preceptors (certified APRNs, certified nurse-midwives, physicians, and physician assistants in limited cases) is written around the NP specialty populations, and the online FAQ's preceptor answers cover FNP and AGACNP only. No public YSU text says whether the student or the school arranges the educator practicum.
Some graduate-wide rules do apply. Clinical faculty approve clinical sites and preceptors, every graduate nursing student must keep an Exxat account open and current throughout enrollment, and compliance documents must be uploaded to Exxat no later than 30 days ahead of the first clinical practicum; the Exxat guide covers that part.
Questions to settle while you are in NURS 7018 to NURS 7021
- Who arranges the site and the supervising educator: you, the school or both
- What credentials and experience YSU expects of the supervising educator
- Whether your employer can host the practicum, and under what limits
- What paperwork or agreement the site needs, and how far ahead
- Which order your curriculum plan sets for
NURS 7022andNURS 7023
Put these to your advisor and clinical faculty, ideally before the last education course ends.
Pace and lead time
Should each course fit in one 7-week term, that means roughly 7 hours a week for NURS 7022 and 14 for NURS 7023 (our arithmetic; YSU does not state the term length for these two courses). That is lighter than an NP practicum week, but academic settings keep their own calendar: a school of nursing's classes, labs and clinical groups follow its semester, which may not line up with YSU's 7-week terms. Ask a prospective host which weeks have teaching you can join.
Build in lead time as well. Compliance in Exxat must be complete 30 days before the first practicum, and a new site may need paperwork of its own. Opening the conversation with a host while you are still in the education courses keeps the practicum term from starting without a placement.
How we help Nursing Education students
We find an experienced nurse educator and a setting near you that fit the practicum ahead, NURS 7022 or NURS 7023: a school of nursing, a staff development department or a patient education program, matched to the teaching role you are aiming for. We check each option against what your clinical faculty require and give you everything the site and YSU ask for, early enough that the 30-day Exxat deadline and your first practicum week stay on track.
Choose Nursing Education on the form below and tell us where you live and when your first practicum begins. The planner on the clinical hours page sets these 150 hours beside YSU's other programs.
Questions YSU students ask
Do YSU Nursing Education students need a nurse practitioner as preceptor?
Nothing public says so. The handbook's approved-preceptor list, which centers on APRNs and physicians, is written around the NP specialties, and the catalog asks only for supervised practicum hours in education and health care settings. Ask your clinical faculty what credentials they expect of the supervising educator before you approach anyone.
Can I complete NURS 7022 and NURS 7023 at the hospital where I work?
Possibly, but not on paid time. Under the handbook, time you are paid for never substitutes for practicum time, even at your own workplace. YSU does not publish Nursing Education versions of the NP rules about your own unit and your supervisor, so ask your clinical faculty whether those limits apply to you as well.
Does the Nursing Education certificate include the full 150 practicum hours?
Yes. The 15-credit post-master's certificate includes both NURS 7022 and NURS 7023, the two courses whose catalog descriptions carry the 50 and 100 hours. Certificate students skip the MSN core courses and the Capstone, not the practicum time, so everything on this page about settings, supervision and lead time applies to them in full.
Can I take NURS 7022 and NURS 7023 in the same term?
YSU does not say. The catalog gives both the same four prerequisites and does not require one before the other, while the handbook's rule against pairing courses is written for the NP programs. Your curriculum plan on Blackboard sets the order, and your advisor can confirm whether a combined term is possible.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-26
We check these pages against YSU's own catalog, graduate handbook, online program pages and FAQ, and Ohio rules. Your clinical faculty, the Graduate Clinical Coordinator and your advisor have the final word.
YSU asks you to secure your preceptor. We find one near you.
Tell us your YSU track, where you live and when your next practicum starts. We find preceptors near you who fit the practicum, check YSU's rules and hand you what the preceptor request needs, two months ahead, with the next term's preceptor already in view.
- Primary care preceptors for FNP practicums
NURS 7061toNURS 7065, acute care for AGACNPNURS 7071toNURS 7075 - Outside your own unit and away from your supervisor, in a state YSU accepts
- Across Ohio, from the Mahoning Valley to Cincinnati, and in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Michigan
Start your placement plan
Program, city and start date is all we need to begin.