Drexel MSN Nursing Leadership: the practicum site and preceptor

The MSN in Nursing Leadership in Health Systems Management is fully online and, in Drexel's words, designed for part-time attendance by working nurses. Its quarter-catalog version totals 45.0 credits, 160 practicum hours included. New students can start in Winter 2027 or Fall 2027, and Drexel Online notes no on-campus requirements. A Fall 2027 start follows the 2027–28 semester catalog from the first term, while a Winter 2027 start begins on quarters.

The same practicum courses appear in the MSN/MBA dual degree. Two related credentials have no practicum: the Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Nursing Leadership, built from NUPR 663, NUPR 664 and NUPR 665, and the leadership certificate that semester-era Nursing Education graduates earn. Drexel's newest leadership route, a BSN-to-DNP that first appears in the 2027–28 catalog, builds on that same NURS 7103 course before its DNP project work.

Drexel Online describes the practicum as 160 hours over 20 weeks at a predetermined practicum site with an approved preceptor. The steps below follow Drexel's published wording.

1. Declare six months aheadYou declare your intent to complete the practicum six months in advance. Put the date on your calendar in your first year.
2. Work with the track directorThe Leadership track director works with you to identify an acceptable practicum site and preceptor. Come with your goals and any organizations you already know.
3. Confirm the site and preceptorThe practicum runs at a predetermined site with an approved preceptor, and the course descriptions describe the work as done in conjunction with an expert nursing leader.
4. Clear complianceClinical Compliance coordinators support MSN students too. Ask which items your site needs, such as background checks or immunizations, and allow time for them.
5. Complete 160 hours over 20 weeksThe hours run through NURS 568 and NURS 569 on the quarter plan, or NURS 7103 on the semester plan.

For the full list of CNHP requirements, and the slow ones to start first, see the clinical compliance page.

Drexel states 160 hours for the quarter pair without dividing them between the two courses, and NURS 7103 carries no published hours so far. The two quarter courses cover operations management and then information management, so a site where you can see both budgets and data systems up close serves the whole practicum rather than half of it. Each quarter course also pairs the site work with a symposium, as its title says, so expect to bring what you see on site back to your online class.

Drexel's published preceptor rules for NP students don't govern this practicum. It calls for an expert nursing leader, and the track director judges what is acceptable. Drexel's 2016–17 handbook for advanced role students, now dated, looked for preceptors holding an MSN or higher and working in senior management, and had Leadership students record hours in Exxat. Current pages confirm neither detail.

Strong candidates tend to be nurse executives, directors and managers whose work touches operations, finance or health information. Drexel publishes no rule on completing the practicum at your own employer or under your own manager, so raise it with the track director before you build a plan around it.

Location still matters. Drexel's State Regulations page says it can't currently admit advanced-role MSN students living in Colorado, Minnesota, Nebraska, South Dakota or Wyoming, and Washington's nursing commission approves Drexel practice experiences for the Leadership MSN. The state authorization page has the details for every program.

Senior nurse leaders are busy, and 160 hours over 20 weeks is a real commitment for them. A practicum also asks an organization to open its meetings, budgets and systems to an outside student, which some organizations handle only through a formal agreement with the school; the affiliation agreement page explains how Drexel contracts with sites. The six-month declaration helps, but only if the search for a willing leader starts well before it.

Drexel's switch to semesters on August 23, 2027 affects timing too. A student on the quarter plan whose practicum would fall after the Summer 2027 transition term may find it scheduled as NURS 7103 instead of NURS 568 and NURS 569. Ask your advisor, who is building individual transition plans for continuing students, which course and dates apply before you ask a leader to commit. The semester conversion page covers the change.

The track director's involvement is a real advantage, and we help you get the most from it. Before your planning conversation, we research nurse leaders near you whose roles match the practicum's focus on operations and information management, ask whether they would take a Drexel student for 20 weeks, and bring you a shortlist of leaders who have said yes in principle. You arrive at the track director's table with strong options already in hand.

Once a site is chosen, we gather what Drexel and the organization need: the leader's CV and credentials, the contact who handles any affiliation agreement, and the organization's onboarding steps. Drexel approves the site and preceptor, and we see that the leadership paperwork arrives at Drexel finished and in step with its rules on the first look. If your preceptor changes roles mid-practicum, we are on call to source another leader. The MSN Nursing Education page covers the sister practicum; start with the form on this page.