MRU's MSN in Healthcare Systems Leadership: the practicum
MRU added an MSN in Healthcare Systems Leadership in 2026. It runs 40 credits with one practicum course, MSN5855, which carries 180 hours alongside a nurse leader who holds at least a master's degree. You secure that preceptor yourself, and a graduate clinical coordinator approves the choice before the practicum starts.
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MSN5855
Program facts
The credential is a Master of Science in Nursing with a Specialty in Healthcare Systems Leadership. It is not in MRU's 2025 catalog; a 2026 addendum added it, and the program page on mru.edu was last updated in September 2026.
The plan is 40 credits. Full-time students finish in 12 months over three semesters, and part-time students in 24 months over six. Delivery is onsite in Miami Springs and online. Of the program's 720 total hours, 540 are didactic and 180 are practicum, and every one of those 180 sits in a single course.
Admission requirements
- A BSN or a bachelor's degree in a health-related field
- An active RN or APRN license
- Living in Florida or a SARA member state from start to finish
- An interview
The practicum course, MSN5855
MSN5855 is titled Interprofessional Organizational and Systems Leadership & Practicum. It carries 7 credits, split between 45 didactic hours and the 180 practicum hours, and includes a comprehensive organizational project. MRU says the course is aligned with CNML domains.
| Credits | Didactic hours | Practicum hours | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whole program | 40 | 540 | 180 |
MSN5855 alone | 7 | 45 | 180 |
Full-time students take MSN5855 in semester III, their last. Part-time students take it in semester V, which leaves one semester after it. With 16-week semesters from Fall 2026, finishing 180 hours and a full organizational project inside one term means the preceptor and host organization should be settled before registration opens; the calendar page has the dates.
A small inconsistency: the web page prints the course as MSN5855 in one plan and MSN5850 in another. The addendum uses MSN5855, and so does this page.
Who finds and approves the preceptor
MRU describes the practicum as a "leadership clinical preceptorship" and applies the same approach as its nurse practitioner tracks: students must secure their own preceptors. A clinical coordinator from the graduate nursing programs approves each preceptor before the preceptorship begins. If you do not provide one, MRU assigns a preceptor for an additional fee.
That puts this program under the same own-preceptor model described on our secure your own preceptor page. How the fee for an assigned preceptor is listed and whether a waiver applies are set out in MRU's fee tables; our Practicum Affiliation Fee page explains the fee as MRU describes it for its NP programs, and you should confirm how it applies here with the coordinator.
Approval steps, forms and timelines are not published. The preceptor approval page lists who approves for each MRU program, including this one.
What kind of preceptor fits
The addendum is specific: the preceptor must be a nurse with a master's degree or higher who works in administration and management. That rules out two common near-misses. A non-nurse executive, however senior, does not meet the "nurse" requirement, and a bedside nurse with an MSN who holds no administrative role does not meet the management requirement.
Within those limits there is room. A nurse manager, a director of nursing, a chief nursing officer or a nurse leading quality or operations could fit, provided the degree and the role both line up. Those titles are examples, not an MRU list; the coordinator decides.
Think about the project as well as the person. MSN5855 includes a comprehensive organizational project, so the preceptor needs to be in a position to give you access to real data, meetings and decisions. Our preceptor requirements page covers the NP rules, which differ from this one.
Both tests apply: nurse, and master's-prepared in an administrative or management role. A preceptor who meets only one will not fit MRU's description.
A working timeline for the practicum
MRU publishes no deadline for naming a leadership preceptor, so the sequence below is a practical one rather than an official one. It works backwards from the one hard date MRU does publish: insurance proof at least 15 days before the practicum begins.
- One semester ahead: build a shortlistIdentify nurse leaders who hold at least a master's degree and work in administration or management, ideally in an organization where a system-level project is realistic. Confirm both facts before you ask anyone.
- Agree the scope with your preceptorTalk through what the comprehensive organizational project could be and whether the organization will let you do it. A willing preceptor in an organization that will not share information is a weak match.
- Send details to the graduate clinical coordinatorApproval has to come before the preceptorship begins. Ask the coordinator what documents they need, because the forms are not published.
- Clear yourselfLiability insurance proof at least 15 days before the start date, plus whatever background, drug-screen and immunization items your coordinator confirms.
- Complete 180 hours inside the termKeep your own running record of hours and project milestones in whatever system your syllabus names, so nothing is missing on the course's last day.
Clearance, insurance and accreditation
MRU's catalog sets rules every nursing student must meet before any externship, and this practicum is a clinical preceptorship, so plan on meeting them. You need an individual liability insurance policy, with proof due at least 15 days before the start date (see the liability insurance page). Background changes must be disclosed in writing to the Office of Academic Affairs within 24 hours, immunization proof must come from a Florida-licensed provider, and the flu shot is annual. Confirm with your coordinator which clearance vendors and tracking systems the HSL addendum expects, and which accounts to open.
On accreditation, the addendum places the program under the ACEN accreditation of MRU's master's programs. Whether ACEN has reviewed this new specialty separately was not found in any public source. MRU also says the coursework is aligned with CNML domains but does not say graduates are eligible for the CNML exam. The accreditation page has the wider picture.
Why leadership students choose us
A nurse-leader preceptor is a different search from a clinical one. We look for master's-prepared nurse leaders in administration and management near you, whose organization can support the project, and we help you gather their degree, license and role details for the coordinator. MRU approves the preceptor, and we make sure the coordinator receives a complete, well-matched profile to review. Tell us your practicum semester through the form below.
Questions MRU students ask
Can my own manager be my MSN5855 preceptor?
MRU has published no rule on this point. Your manager would need to be a nurse with at least a master's degree working in administration and management, and the graduate clinical coordinator would have to approve. Ask the coordinator before you ask your manager.
Does MRU's leadership MSN make me eligible for the CNML exam?
MRU does not say. The addendum describes the coursework, including MSN5855, as aligned with CNML domains, but it stops short of stating exam eligibility. Alignment with an exam's content areas is not the same as meeting its eligibility rules, so check the certifying body's own requirements and ask your program before counting on it.
Is the Healthcare Systems Leadership MSN a nurse practitioner program?
No. It is a leadership master's with a single 180-hour practicum alongside a nurse leader in administration and management. MRU's nurse practitioner options are the MSN-FNP and the FNP, PMHNP and AGACNP post-master's certificates, each with far more clinical hours and patient-care preceptors.
Can I do the leadership practicum outside Florida?
If you live in a SARA member state for the whole program, yes. California is excluded because it is not a SARA member. Wherever the practicum happens, the preceptor must be a master's-prepared nurse in administration or management, and the graduate clinical coordinator must approve them before any hours count.
Is it MSN5855 or MSN5850?
MRU's addendum uses MSN5855, and that is the code this site uses. The program web page shows MSN5855 in one plan and MSN5850 in another, which looks like a typo. Go by the code that appears when you register in the student portal.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-24
We check these pages against MRU's own catalog, addenda and program pages. The nursing student handbook on the MRU student portal and MRU's Office of Academic Affairs have the final word.
MRU says secure your own preceptor. We start the search now.
Tell us your MRU program, where you live and when your next clinical course starts. We look for preceptors who fit the course and help you gather what MRU checks before approving them.
- Preceptors matched to the course: adult primary care for
MSN5700, women's health, pediatrics, psychiatric or acute care - Credentials, license and site details collected before MRU's credential check
- Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach, or wherever in a SARA state you live
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