JSU's Graduate Certificate in Nursing Education
JSU's Graduate Certificate in Nursing Education is 15 semester hours online: four courses on teaching in collegiate nursing programs and one 100-hour practicum, NU 5982. The practicum is the piece that needs a teaching setting and an educator to host you. Whatever role JSU takes in arranging it, we find both near you and prepare them to fit JSU's rules.
Find your NU 5982 teaching setting
Tell us where you live and when you expect to take the practicum. We start from your faculty's criteria.
Five courses, 15 semester hours
The certificate is open to nurses who hold a BSN plus an RN license that is current and unencumbered, and the catalog lists it as an online program. It is built from five 3-credit courses. Four are classroom courses on designing, teaching and evaluating collegiate nursing education; the fifth is the teaching practicum.
| Course | Title | Credits | Terms offered |
|---|---|---|---|
| NU 5890 | Developing Instruction Programs in Collegiate Nursing Education | 3 | Fall |
| NU 5893 | Issues and Trends in Collegiate Nursing Education | 3 | Spring |
| NU 5891 | Teaching, Learning, and Evaluation in Collegiate Nursing Programs | 3 | Summer |
| NU 5894 | Introduction to Instructional Design and Online Teaching | 3 | Spring |
| NU 5982 | Practicum in Collegiate Nursing Education, 100-hour practicum | 3 | Not stated |
The catalog page for the certificate gives no start terms or application deadlines, so ask the School of Nursing which entry term suits you. If you live outside Alabama, JSU asks that you reach the School of Nursing before applying to the university.
NU 5982, the 100-hour teaching practicum
NU 5982, Practicum in Collegiate Nursing Education, carries 100 practicum hours. JSU's certificate page says the practicum rests on student needs and is arranged with each student in a location convenient for them. The School's Nursing Education MSN page speaks of a teaching practicum in settings of the student's choice.
The course title points to collegiate teaching, meaning a nursing program that educates students. JSU's public pages list neither the settings nor the host educator credentials the course accepts, so your course faculty decide what qualifies. Get that answer, ideally in writing, before you approach any program.
This page covers how the practicum fits the certificate. The NU 5982 page goes into the course itself.
Confirm the setting types your NU 5982 faculty accept before you ask any school to host you. A host your faculty cannot approve sends you back to the start of the search.
Where the practicum falls in your sequence
JSU publishes no term-by-term order for the certificate. The MSN Nursing Education sample plan is a useful model: NU 5890 in the first fall, NU 5893 in the first spring, NU 5891 in the summer, then NU 5982 in a later spring beside NU 5894. In that plan the practicum comes once the three core teaching courses are done.
Which terms NU 5982 runs is not stated in the catalog. Before you commit to a host's calendar, confirm with your advisor the semester you will be registered, because a nursing program's teaching schedule and JSU's semester may not line up. JSU's full spring term for 2026-27 runs from January 6 through final exams ending April 27; the academic calendar page has every date.
From certificate to MSN
The catalog says the certificate's credits apply toward the MSN concentration in Nursing Education. That concentration totals 53 credits: the Population Health core, the same four teaching courses, NU 5982, and two population health practicums of 254 hours each (NU 5980 and NU 5985).
If an MSN is a possibility, plan the certificate with that step in mind. The MSN's two population health practicums come later and bring placement needs of their own, and the MSN Nursing Education page lays out that route. JSU's graduate time limit also applies: six years to finish the MSN or a certificate.
Graduate grade rules follow you into the certificate. Any graduate nursing grade of C or lower has to be repeated and raised to an A or B. Only one course can be repeated that way, and C grades in over 3 credits end your enrollment.
Clearance before you contact a host
Malpractice coverage for JSU graduate nursing students comes through the School of Nursing, and the handbook requires the proof to be approved before you contact any practicum site. Document tracking runs through CastleBranch, and missing items can hold up registration.
Settle both before your practicum search begins, since a host program will want to know you are covered. The malpractice and health insurance page explains the order JSU expects.
Two smaller handbook rules are worth knowing. JSU asks graduate students to wear a School of Nursing ID badge, issued by the Graduate Nursing Program Office, in clinical settings, so ask whether your teaching host expects it. And if your host sits in another state, remember that graduate students report changes in their projected clinical experience for approval.
How we find your teaching practicum
Jax State Preceptor specializes in JSU's practicums, and NU 5982 is a search we plan with care. Our placement desk finds a teaching setting and an experienced nurse educator that suit the course and sit near where you live or work. We ask for your course faculty's criteria first, then search nursing programs and education settings against them. The setting's approval belongs to JSU's faculty, and what we send them is complete and matched to the course from the start.
- Criteria firstWe confirm which settings and educator credentials your NU 5982 faculty will accept.
- Clearance checkedWe make sure your malpractice proof is approved and CastleBranch is current before we contact a host.
- Local searchWe approach nursing programs and education settings in your area, in Alabama or wherever you live.
- Calendar matchWe check that the host's teaching schedule leaves room for 100 hours inside your JSU semester.
- Paperwork readyWe gather the educator's license and teaching background and the setting's details for faculty review.
See how it works for the full service, or use the form below to start.
Questions to settle with your course faculty
Ask before you commit to a host
- Which settings count: a college or university nursing program only, or also practical nursing programs and hospital education departments.
- What credentials the host educator needs, since JSU's public pages do not list them.
- Whether hours with your own employer are allowed.
- How hours are logged and who signs them; JSU's public sources name no logging platform for graduate practicums.
- Whether the 100 hours should mix classroom, lab, clinical and online teaching, or can center on one.
- How the practicum is evaluated and when the host's input is due.
Having these answers early speeds the search, keeps faculty review to one round, and gives your host a clear picture of what 100 hours with you will involve.
Questions JSU students ask
How long does JSU's Nursing Education certificate take?
JSU publishes no set length. The certificate is 15 semester hours: four courses offered in fall, spring or summer, plus NU 5982, whose terms are not stated. The MSN sample plan places the same teaching courses across Semesters 1, 2, 3 and 5, a helpful model, but your advisor sets your actual order.
Do certificate credits count toward JSU's MSN?
Yes. The catalog says the certificate's credits apply toward the MSN concentration in Nursing Education. That MSN adds the Population Health core and two 254-hour practicums, NU 5980 and NU 5985, to reach 53 credits, so plan for two more placements if you continue.
Is the Nursing Education certificate fully online?
The catalog lists the certificate as online. NU 5982 is carried out at a teaching setting arranged with you, so expect practicum hours with a host program. JSU's graduate program pages also note possible on-campus events; ask the School of Nursing what applies to certificate students.
Can I complete NU 5982 where I already teach or work?
JSU's MSN Nursing Education page mentions a teaching practicum in settings of the student's choice, but the public sources state no rule about hours with your employer. Check with your NU 5982 faculty first, and see the workplace clinicals page for what to raise with them.
Does JSU's Emergency Preparedness certificate need a practicum too?
No. The Graduate Certificate in Emergency Preparedness Nursing Coordinator is 15 semester hours of emergency management coursework with no practicum. Of JSU's two graduate nursing certificates, only Nursing Education carries practicum hours, through NU 5982. If you plan to take both, the teaching setting for NU 5982 is the only placement you will need to line up.
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
Start your placement plan
Your program, your town and your next clinical semester is all we need to begin.