NU 5982: JSU's 100-hour teaching practicum
NU 5982, Practicum in Collegiate Nursing Education, is where JSU's nurse educator students teach under a mentor for 100 hours. It is required in both the MSN Nursing Education concentration and the Graduate Certificate in Nursing Education, and JSU describes it as a practicum built around the student's needs and "planned with students in a location convenient for them."
Get your placement plan
Tell us your JSU program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with the preceptor and site options that fit your JSU course.
The course in brief
The catalog entry is short: three credits, and a note that the course "Includes 100 hour practicum." It does not list the term the course is offered, which is one reason the two programs that use it place it differently.
| Item | What JSU publishes |
|---|---|
| Course | NU 5982 Practicum in Collegiate Nursing Education |
| Credits and hours | 3 credits, 100 practicum hours (2026-27 catalog) |
| Term offered | Not stated in the catalog |
| MSN Nursing Education sample plan | Semester 5, spring |
| Graduate Certificate in Nursing Education | Required course; term placement not published |
| How it is arranged | Based on student needs and planned with the student (certificate page) |
NU 5982 is the first of three practicums in the concentration and the only one in the certificate, so for many nurse educator students it is their first run through JSU's clinical clearance: CastleBranch items, malpractice approval and faculty sign-off on the setting.
Where it sits in the MSN Nursing Education plan
JSU's fall-start sample plan builds up to the practicum with three education courses in the first year: NU 5890 on developing instruction programs in the fall, NU 5893 on issues and trends in the spring, and NU 5891 on teaching, learning and evaluation in the summer. NU 5982 follows in semester five, a spring, next to NU 5894, the course on instructional design and online teaching.
By our mapping, a Fall 2026 entrant teaches in Spring 2028. Two population health practicums come straight after, NU 5980 that summer and NU 5985 that fall, so the concentration's clinical work runs across three terms in a row. The population health practicums guide covers those two, and the MSN Nursing Education page shows the whole 53-credit plan.
JSU describes the concentration as online courses with a required practicum, so the teaching hours are the part of the program you complete in person.
For Graduate Certificate students
The 15-credit Graduate Certificate in Nursing Education uses the same practicum. It pairs NU 5982 with the four education courses, NU 5890, NU 5891, NU 5893 and NU 5894, and admits nurses who hold a BSN plus an active RN license with no encumbrances. Its credits apply toward the MSN Nursing Education concentration if you continue.
JSU's certificate page is the source of the practicum's clearest description: "A practicum is required. The practicum is based on student needs, and is planned with students in a location convenient for them." What it does not publish is the term in which certificate students take NU 5982, so confirm that with the MSN program coordinator when you plan your courses. More on the certificate is in the certificate guide.
What makes a good teaching setting
The MSN Nursing Education page says students take part in "a teaching practicum in their settings of choice," and every course in the sequence is framed around collegiate nursing education. JSU does not post a list of accepted settings or mentor qualifications, so your course faculty confirm the fit.
Given the course titles, the natural matches are nursing programs that teach students at the college level: a BSN or associate program's classroom, its clinical teaching, its simulation lab or its online courses. A hospital's staff education department teaches nurses too, but whether it meets a collegiate practicum's aims is a question for your faculty before you commit.
Many nurse educator students hope to teach where they already work. JSU publishes no rule on that for graduate students, and the workplace clinicals guide lists the questions to settle first.
Confirm with your course faculty that a setting fits a collegiate practicum before you arrange hours there: the course titles all point to college-level nursing education.
Planning 100 hours around a working schedule
A hundred hours in one spring is lighter than the population health practicums. As an example, JSU's Spring 2027 term runs from January 6 to finals ending April 27, with spring break March 22 to 26, so across roughly fifteen teaching weeks the load averages about seven hours a week by our arithmetic.
The host program's calendar matters as much as JSU's. A nursing school's exam weeks, clinical rotations and its own spring break decide when there is teaching to do, so we line your hours up with the host's schedule from the start. One JSU rule comes before scheduling anything: the malpractice policy you buy through JSU must be approved in the document tracker ahead of your first contact with a practicum site, with CastleBranch items current as well; the malpractice guide explains that step.
How we match you with a teaching practicum
However JSU and you plan the practicum between you, we find a mentor and setting that meet JSU's rules and suit your teaching goals, in a location convenient for you. We look for experienced nurse educators in nursing programs near your home, check that the setting offers the kind of teaching your course asks for, and prepare the mentor's credentials and the setting's details so JSU's faculty have what they need to decide.
Your faculty give the final approval, and we see that the file in front of them answers their questions before they ask. If a mentor's schedule changes during the spring, we stay on call and look for another setting quickly. Tell us your program and planned term through the form below.
Questions JSU students ask
How many hours is the JSU nursing education practicum?
The 2026-27 catalog lists NU 5982 at three credits and 100 practicum hours. In the MSN Nursing Education concentration those hours are separate from the two population health practicums, NU 5980 and NU 5985, which carry 254 hours each and follow in the next summer and fall.
Can I do NU 5982 at the hospital where I work?
JSU speaks of a practicum in the student's settings of choice and a location convenient for them, but it publishes no rule on graduate practicums at a place of employment. Two questions go to your course faculty: whether your employer is acceptable at all, and whether a hospital education department fits a collegiate nursing education practicum.
Does JSU's Graduate Certificate in Nursing Education include a practicum?
Yes. JSU's certificate page states that a practicum is required, and the course is NU 5982 with its 100 hours. It sits alongside four education courses in the 15-credit certificate, and those credits apply toward the MSN Nursing Education concentration if you continue.
Who can mentor a JSU student in NU 5982?
JSU does not publish mentor qualifications for the teaching practicum. Because the course is framed around collegiate nursing education, we look for experienced nurse educators working in college-level nursing programs. Your course faculty confirm whether a particular mentor and setting meet the course requirements.
In which term does JSU offer NU 5982?
The catalog entry does not name a term. JSU's fall-start MSN Nursing Education sample plan places it in semester five, a spring, while the certificate's term is not published. Part-time and spring or summer starts change the timing, so check your individual plan of study.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-27
We check these pages against JSU's 2026-27 catalog, nursing handbooks, program pages and licensure disclosures. Your course faculty and your plan of study have the final word.
Whether JSU helps or you start alone, we find the preceptor.
Tell us your JSU program, your next practicum or residency and the town you train near. We find preceptors and sites that fit the course and gather what JSU's faculty need to clear them, early enough for the semester.
- Preceptors matched to the course: family practice across the lifespan, adult-gerontology acute care, DNP residencies
- License, certification and site details ready for JSU's clearance, with your CastleBranch and malpractice items in order
- Across Alabama and in Georgia, Florida, Mississippi and Tennessee
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