Specializations Overview
The practicum experience helps students transition from the role of learner to that of scholar-practitioner. To achieve this transition, students develop and engage in a relationship with their Practicum Faculty and an approved preceptor, focusing on roles and role functions; the achievement of individualized Learning Objectives; and the completion of a project conceptualized by them and their preceptor, and approved by their practicum course Faculty Member. Practicum courses or practicum competencies (Tempo Learning®) are designed to be the capstone experience for students. The practicum experience requires students to apply the knowledge, concepts, and skills that they have acquired in their didactic courses during their program of study particularly in relation to their specialization. Therefore, didactic courses should be completed prior to entering practicum courses.
The primary objective of the practicum is to guide students to focus on a role that they are interested in occupying after the completion of the MSN or PMC Specialty program. Here are some examples:
- Nurse Executive: Under the guidance of a preceptor in a leadership role, students apply knowledge, theories, and expertise in leadership and management to the practicum experience.
- Nursing Education: Under the guidance of a preceptor in an education role, students apply knowledge, theories, and expertise in a nursing school, community, or staff-development setting. Additionally, students further advance their knowledge in a clinical specialty area of their choice through experiential opportunities related to educating students, patients, and/or staff.
- Nursing Informatics: Under the guidance of a preceptor in informatics, students apply their new knowledge and expertise in the nursing informatics role. Examples of appropriate settings include information systems development organizations, hospitals, and clinics.
- Public Health Nursing: Under the guidance of a preceptor in the public health nursing role, students apply knowledge, theories, and expertise in the assessment and development of culturally competent interventions targeted at community and population levels. Additionally, students will further develop their management and leadership skills with an emphasis on public health program evaluation.
Required Activities
Students must satisfactorily complete all the requirements of their practicum courses or practicum competencies in accordance with the information provided in the Course Syllabi. Students complete the didactic portion of the track online. Students are not allowed to take multiple practicum courses concurrently. Students must receive a grade of Satisfactory (S) for the practicum components in courses that have integrated didactic (theory) and practicum components to successfully pass the course. They earn 5 quarter credits and receive a letter grade on a 4.0-grading scale for each course.
Note: Students who changed specializations through enrollment and/or had to reenroll after a break in enrollment are readmitted under a newer catalog than the original catalog of admission. To confirm which catalog you are enrolled under, please contact Student Success Advising.
Practicum Hours & Activities
Students must complete all required hours of combined role practice and project hours during the 10 weeks allotted to the practicum experience (11 weeks for Tempo Learning® students). They may start logging practicum hours during the first week of the course provided they have received a practicum approval notice from the field experience coordinators and their Practicum Faculty Member.
Practicum is an onsite experience and practicum hours must be completed onsite at the practicum site with the preceptor.
Nurse Executive:
- MSN Nurse Executive specialization students must complete NURS 6600: Capstone Synthesis Practicum, with a minimum of 144 hours of supervised experience
- Post Master’s Nurse Executive Certificate students, may complete the optional NURS 6600 Capstone Synthesis Practicum however, it is not required for completion of the certificate.
Nursing Education:
- MSN Nursing Education specialization students must complete:
- NURS 6341: Specialty in Clinical Nursing with a minimum of 72 hours of supervised experience to advance their knowledge and assessments skills within a selected clinical specialty
- NURS 6351: Role of the Nurse Educator, with a minimum of 72 hours of supervised experience.
- Post Master’s Certificate in Nursing Education students must complete:
- NURS 6351 Role of the Nurse Educator as a requirement with a minimum of 72 hours of supervised experience
- NURS 6341 Specialty in Clinical Nursing is not required for completion of the certificate.
Nursing Informatics:
- MSN Nursing Informatics specialization students must complete the following:
For students enrolled with a catalog prior to Spring 2019:
- NURS 6431 Evaluation Methods for Health Information Technology (72 hours)
- NRSE 6600 Capstone Synthesis Practicum (144 hours)
For students enrolled with a catalog beginning Spring 2019:
- NURS 6461 Capstone Synthesis Practicum, with a minimum of 216 hours of required supervised experience.
For Post Master’s Certificate in Nursing Informatics students, enrolled with a catalog prior to Spring 2019:
- NURS 6431 Evaluation Methods for Health Information Technology is required for completion of the certificate.
- NURS 6600 Capstone Synthesis Practicum is optional and not required for completion of the certificate.
For Post Master’s Certificate in Nursing Informatics students enrolled with a catalog beginning Spring 2019:
- NURS 6461 Capstone Synthesis Practicum is optional and not required for completion of the certificate.
Public Health Nursing:
- MSN Public Health Nursing specialization students must complete:
- NURS 6720: Population-Based Public Health Nursing Interventions (216 hours) and
- NURS 6730: Public Health Nursing Leadership (144 hours)
Note: For all practicum courses, hours counted toward practicum must be logged after the course starts and must be approved by the course instructor prior to starting practicum with preceptor.
NOTE: Students may not log any hours before the start of the course or before they receive approval and are registered for the course.
The following activities count toward required practicum hours:
- Activities that are directly related to the completion of practicum goals and objectives
- Shadowing the preceptor including observations that allow students to gain exposure and experience so they can perform required tasks/skills required by the practicum experience
- See the “Practicum Project” section for the number of hours allowed to count towards practicum hours.
Note: Shadowing should be kept to a minimum—no more than 20% of the time in each practicum course— and a debriefing session with the preceptor is recommended after each shadowing experience.
Also Note: Shadowing the preceptor in NURS 6341 is not an approved activity.
- Attendance at meetings
- Preparation of all materials directly related to completion of the practicum
- Activities related to the practicum project
The following activities are not included as practicum hours (Note: This is not an exhaustive list.):
- Travel time related to and from practicum activities
- Communication (e.g., emails, phone calls), unless conferencing or doing project-related communications
- Assignments related to the didactic portion of the course
- Meal breaks
Note: Practicum hours are course and term specific. Practicum hours do not carry over to a different term or practicum course if a student withdraws, drops a course, or fails a course.
Practicum Project
The practicum project is part of the practicum hours and should not consume more than one third of the practicum hours for NURS 6351 and one half of the practicum hours for NURS 6600 and NURS 6461. Students cannot log hours on the project until their conference call and Learning Objectives are approved by the preceptor and course Faculty Member. Students are responsible for ensuring that all parties participate in the conference call.
Students do not complete research in their practicum course. Instead, they design and implement a project that they base on research and scholarly literature.
Practicum Project Guidelines
Major practicum project guidelines are as follows:
- Determine if a project is a real-world problem and scan the practicum setting environment.
- What are the issues related to the specialization that are recognized as serious?
- In addition, consider Walden’s mission of positive social change.
- How does the project promote improvement of the human and social condition by creating and applying ideas to promote the development of individuals, communities, and/or organizations, as well as society as a whole?
- Consult the literature, as well as the preceptor and leaders, within the field.
- Review current professional practice standards to determine if the standards are being met in the practicum setting.
- Plan the scope of the project so that it is possible to complete the project during the practicum time frame.
- Organize the project into sections so that it can be implemented and evaluated, when feasible.
- Develop a product that can be shared in the practice setting and other professional venues.
In Week 2 of the practicum course, students begin to formulate project ideas. They work closely with preceptors and practicum course Faculty Members to identify a topic that meets a need within the organization where they are doing their practicum. Students develop three or more project objectives. (Note: Project Objectives are separate from Learning Objectives.) Final approval for the project must come from practicum course Faculty Members. Practicum projects may not begin until students receive approval.
The practicum project is calculated as part of the practicum hours but cannot constitute more than one third of the practicum hours for Nursing Education (NURS 6351) and no more than one half for Nurse Executive (NURS 6600), Nursing Informatics (NURS 6461) and Public Health Nursing (NURS 6720 and 6730). Project hours must be completed on-site.
Note: Hours logged in Meditrek® for working on a project prior to project approval will not be counted and will have to be made up.
The practicum project completion:
- Nurse Executive track: Project will be developed and completed in NURS 6600
- Nursing Informatics track: Project will be developed and completed in NURS 6600 (catalog prior to Spring 2019) or NURS 6461 (catalog beginning Spring 2019)
- Nursing Education track: Project will be developed and completed in NURS 6351. The practicum course NURS 6341 does not have a project as an assignment.
- Public Health Nursing track: Project with be developed in NURS 6720 and will be implemented and completes in NURS 6730.
The items listed below compose the major parts of the project:
- Introduction
- Goal statement that identifies what students expect to accomplish, a focus area, and the population
- Background about the real-world problem and topic area
- Three to five measurable Project Objectives (using Bloom’s taxonomy as a guide)
- Evidence-based review of the literature
- Methodology (i.e., how students will accomplish the objectives)
- Resources needed
- Formative evaluation
- Summative evaluation
- Timeline
- Conclusion
At the end of the practicum course, students create a PowerPoint presentation of their practicum project. Students give a summary presentation of the entire experience to their class and practicum Course Faculty. Students also present the project to selected individuals at their practicum site. More detailed presentation guidelines are provided in the practicum course.
Portfolio
Students submit the final portfolio in the practicum course. They update any portfolio items that need editing or revision based on Faculty comments. Assignments from the practicum course are added to the portfolio, and students may add other items as well. The final portfolio will be examined for content and format to ensure it is a professional representation of accomplishments. Students then have a comprehensive professional portfolio to use as they start the next phase of their career.