Kent State MSN Nurse Educator: the program and its two practicums
Kent State's Nurse Educator concentration is a fully online MSN of at least 30 credits, with 300 practicum hours on its program page, half spent in your clinical specialty and half teaching beside a seasoned educator. Both placements take place in person near home, under the RN license of the state you live in, and the search for each preceptor begins with you.
Plan both educator placements
Your specialty, your state and your first practicum term are enough to start.
What the Nurse Educator MSN includes
Kent State lists the Nurse Educator as one of five fully online MSN concentrations, admitting in fall and spring, and no course requires a campus visit. You take the 12-credit MSN core shared by every concentration, then at least 18 concentration credits built around curriculum design, evaluation, teaching technology and two practicums.
The core is NURS 60025 Health Policy and Advanced Nursing Practice (or NURS 50089, taught only abroad), NURS 60010 Advanced Nursing Informatics, NURS 60101 Theoretical Basis for Nursing Practice and NURS 60403 Methods of Inquiry. The concentration courses are in the table.
| Course | Credits | Where it fits |
|---|---|---|
NURS 60601 Curriculum and Instruction | 3 | Required before the educator practicum |
NURS 60602 Roles and Evaluation | 3 | Required before the educator practicum |
NURS 60605 Nursing Education with Technology | 2 | Required before the educator practicum |
NURS 60607 Clinical Nursing and Education Issues in a Specialty Area | 2 | Specialty course sharing its title with the first practicum |
NURS 67092 Clinical Nursing and Education Issues in a Specialty Area Practicum | 2 | First practicum, in your clinical specialty |
NURS 60592 Nursing Education Practicum | 3 | Second practicum, in the educator role |
NURS 60016, or NURS 60015 + NURS 60045 + NURS 60441 | 3 or 9 | Advanced practice foundation, needed before NURS 67092 |
Your foundation choice sets when practicum starts
Before NURS 67092, the catalog asks for one of two foundations: three separate courses in advanced health assessment (NURS 60015), pathophysiology (NURS 60045) and pharmacology (NURS 60441), 9 credits together, or the single 3-credit NURS 60016. The 3-credit option keeps your plan at the 30-credit minimum; the three-course route adds 6 credits.
Kent State publishes no semester-by-semester MSN roadmap. Your standard plan goes into the Graduate Planning System (GPS) after admission, and the first practicum can come no earlier than the term after you finish your chosen foundation. The educator practicum, NURS 60592, follows once NURS 60601, NURS 60602 and NURS 60605 are complete.
Pace matters as well. Kent State notes that part-time students often carry 4 to 6 credits a term, though a concentration may require at least one full-time semester of 8 or more credits. A practicum term adds weekly site time on top of coursework, so build your GPS plan with that load in view.
300 hours in two different settings
Kent State's Nurse Educator page sets the practicum at 300 hours, split evenly: one course in your own clinical specialty, one in the teaching role. The catalog describes both courses in weekly contact hours rather than totals. NURS 67092 carries 10 practicum contact hours a week for 2 credits, and NURS 60592 pairs one lecture hour with 10 practical contact hours a week for 3 credits.
One Kent State page disagrees. The educator rotation description written for preceptors gives 180 hours. That is a conflict between two official pages, so your syllabus, your practicum faculty and your concentration coordinator decide which figure your course uses. The Nurse Educator practicum courses page walks through each course, and the clinical hours overview compares every program.
The 300-hour program page and the 180-hour rotation page are both Kent State's. Ask which one your course follows before you tell a preceptor how many hours you need.
Who precepts a Nurse Educator student
The educator practicum pairs you with a seasoned nurse educator, whether in academia, a professional development department or both. That could be nursing faculty at a college or a hospital educator who runs orientation, competency programs or continuing education. Kent State's Become a Preceptor page names Certified Nurse Educators among the roles it recruits.
For the specialty practicum, the catalog places you in your clinical specialty area, and your syllabus and practicum faculty define which preceptor roles fit it. Kent State's general graduate criteria cover both placements: license and certification that are active and unrestricted, a year or more of clinical practice, and sign-off from the preceptor's employer. Every criterion appears on the preceptor requirements page.
Practicum faculty and the concentration coordinator approve each preceptor and site. Kent State counts practicum hours solely at facilities under a current affiliation agreement with the College of Nursing, and the college arranges those, so a school of nursing or education department new to Kent State needs lead time.
Approved states and licensure
The online Nurse Educator MSN enrolls students in 21 states: Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia. Kent State cautions that a state's own laws can block practicum courses, and anyone who relocates after admission reports it to the Office of Student Services straight away.
Every course is online, yet both practicums are done in person in your home state, under a valid RN license there. For practicum in Ohio that means an unrestricted Ohio license; elsewhere, the license of your home state. The RN license page covers when proof is due.
The catalog describes the Nurse Educator credential as optional and required in no state, and the concentration is absent from Kent State's licensure disclosure table. The lists for every program are on approved states.
A planning timeline for both placements
- Open the GSN Canvas course earlyAll admitted graduate students are enrolled in it. Look for the Practicum Information tab: the placement guide and the steps for agencies with no-direct-contact rules sit there.
- Attend the first-practicum orientationRequired of everyone, it comes four to six months ahead of
NURS 67092, with notice from your coordinator. Use that date as the start line for the specialty search. - Confirm the specialty preceptor the semester before
NURS 67092Your concentration coordinator helps with this first placement during the preceding semester. Finish the Clinical Compliance Policy items before you register, since practicum courses need special approval. - Start educator planning by mid-FebruaryKent State's educator rotation description has planning with faculty begin in mid-February of the semester before the practicum. Approach academic and staff-development educators ahead of that point.
- Log every practicum day in TyphonYour hours go in the Typhon database Kent State keeps for CNS, educator and leadership students, and each practicum day must be logged within 15 days. The Typhon guide explains the rest.
Why Nurse Educator students choose us
Two placements in two different worlds make the Nurse Educator search unusual. We find a clinical preceptor in your specialty and an experienced educator in a school of nursing or a hospital education department, both near where you live, and we plan them as a pair so the educator placement is ready the term your prerequisites are done.
For each candidate we assemble the credentials, license and site details your practicum faculty and concentration coordinator look at, so nothing is missing when the packet lands with them. We flag early when a college or health system will need a new affiliation agreement, and if a preceptor steps away mid-term, your placement advisor finds a replacement. Share your specialty and start term with the form below; how it works explains each step.
Questions Kent State students ask
Is Kent State's MSN Nurse Educator program fully online?
Yes. The catalog lists the Nurse Educator among Kent State's fully online MSN concentrations, so no course requires a campus visit. Your two practicums still happen in person at sites close to home, and your home state must be one of the 21 Kent State approves for this program.
Do I need all three advanced practice courses for the Nurse Educator MSN?
No. The catalog accepts either NURS 60015, NURS 60045 and NURS 60441 together, or the single 3-credit NURS 60016. Either one opens NURS 67092, the specialty practicum. The three-course route adds 6 credits to your plan, so talk it through with your advisor before you register.
Can I complete the educator practicum where I already work?
Kent State publishes no ban on this for the Nurse Educator; its one published workplace exclusion sits in the PMHNP concentration. Your preceptor still needs employer approval, the site needs a current affiliation agreement, and your practicum faculty must agree the experience meets the course objectives. The workplace practicum page covers the wider rules.
What credential does Kent State's Nurse Educator MSN lead to?
The catalog says the Nurse Educator concentration leads to an optional credential that no state requires, unlike the APRN concentrations, which lead to national certification and an Ohio APRN license. The College of Nursing also holds NLN Center of Excellence designations running from 2013 through 2026.
How many hours a week is the Nurse Educator practicum?
The catalog lists 10 practicum contact hours a week for NURS 67092, and 10 practical contact hours plus one lecture hour for NURS 60592. Over a 15-week semester that comes to about 150 site hours per course, in line with the even split on Kent State's program page. Your preceptor's schedule sets your actual days.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-24
We check these pages against Kent State's own catalog, handbooks and program pages. Your MSN or DNP handbook, your syllabus, your practicum faculty and your concentration coordinator have the final word.
Kent State says the preceptor search is yours. We make it the fastest part of your practicum.
Tell us your Kent State concentration, where you live and which semester your next practicum starts. We find preceptors who fit the course and prepare everything your practicum faculty and coordinator review before they approve.
- Preceptors matched to the course: primary care for
NURS 61292, acute care forNURS 61092, psychiatric care forNURS 61592, women's health forNURS 66192 - Credentials, license and site details ready for your practicum faculty and coordinator
- In your own community, in Ohio or wherever you live and hold your RN license
Start your placement plan
Program, city and semester is all we need to begin.