APU MSN in Healthcare Administration and Leadership: the practicum plan

Program and delivery

The MSN HAL is 37 units for RNs with a BSN. The role courses are online only, and the nursing core runs both online and face-to-face. Because the program is asynchronous online, applicants outside Southern California are welcome, which sets it apart from APU's NP tracks.

You need an active, unencumbered nursing license in the state where your practicum takes place. APU also offers a 19-unit HAL post-master's certificate and a separate 39-unit MS in Healthcare Administration for people with nonclinical bachelor's degrees. The MS has one administrative practicum, MHA 580, and is not a nursing clinical program.

Graduates are prepared for the ANCC and AONL nurse leadership exams. If teaching interests you more than administration, compare the MSN in Nursing Education, which shares the same online format.

The practicum courses and hours

The catalog lists two practicum courses. Neither prints clock hours, so the figures below work out from APU's 45 hours per clinical unit.

APU's own documents do not agree here. The 2025-26 HAL program guidelines, which cite the 2020-21 catalog, name GNRS 543 with 90 practicum hours and give GNRS 567 90 hours as well. The current catalog lists GNRS 562 and three practicum units for GNRS 567, which works out to 135. Your syllabus settles which figure applies to your cohort.

The HAL certificate carries a conflict of its own: the catalog lists one practicum, GNRS 567, while the certificate's web page promises two administrative practicum experiences.

How the practicum site is chosen

HAL runs differently from APU's NP tracks. Your course faculty work with you to identify a practicum site and preceptor. On Practicum Survey A you name your employer and up to three other sites, and the School of Nursing team then confirms affiliation agreements and requests the placement.

The placement coordinator becomes the preceptor's first point of contact: sending the preceptor handbook, collecting the Preceptor Agreement Form, securing the organization's affiliation agreement and checking that your practicum requirements are current. Practicum Survey B then goes to the site's education or placement contact.

Your survey choices carry most of the weight. Four well-researched sites, each with a named leader willing to precept, give the team real options; four hospital names with no contact behind them give the team very little to work with.

The published calendar

APU posts a practicum calendar on its student hub, and it runs well ahead of the course. For a fall practicum, Practicum Survey A is due April 15; for spring, September 15. The School of Nursing aims to confirm your start date by August 1 for fall and December 15 for spring. The full sequence, including Survey B and the student requirements deadline, is on our HAL practicum page.

Before any of that, APU asks you to watch a 15-minute practicum orientation video. Students contact the coordinator one to two months before the course, and out-of-state students should reach out six months ahead.

Put plainly, a fall practicum begins with spring homework. If you register for GNRS 567 in August with no survey on file, you are already behind the calendar APU publishes.

The nurse leader preceptor

APU's HAL guidelines describe the preceptor by course. For GNRS 567, a nurse administrator with proven leadership. For the care-management practicum the guidelines list as GNRS 543, ideally a leader of interdisciplinary care-management teams, and preceptors with business or management degrees are especially suitable. Both courses also apply the general qualifications in APU's preceptor handbook, which is not public.

You and your preceptor sign a learning contract that faculty approve, and the preceptor rates your engagement, professionalism and final project. The final project is the heart of the practicum, so look for a leader whose current priorities give you real work to own.

APU's graduate integrity rules apply as well: a preceptor cannot be a relative or close friend, and a placement at your own employer requires a written division of labor that keeps practicum time apart from your paid role.

Logging, compliance and out-of-state students

HAL students log hours weekly in Medatrax, a rule the 2025-26 HAL guidelines carry over from APU's graduate guidance; our Medatrax page covers what happens when entries go missing. CastleBranch has a separate package code for HAL, so set up the right package before your requirements deadline. CastleBranch notes that document review can take 7 to 10 business days, so upload well ahead of the July 1 or November 15 requirements date.

Out-of-state students face two extra steps. APU currently turns away distance applicants living in 14 states and Washington, DC, and an agency far from Southern California may need a brand-new agreement. APU asks out-of-state students for six months of notice, and the state rules are on our state authorization page.

ELM students who pick the HAL track must have a year of RN clinical experience, or its equivalent, before GNRS 567.

Why nurse leaders choose us

We help you fill Practicum Survey A with sites that can say yes. For each one we identify a nurse administrator or care-management leader who fits the course, confirm interest, and gather the organization's legal name, legal signer and education contact so Survey B and the agreement keep moving.

We work to APU's calendar, so your options are ready before April 15 or September 15, and for out-of-state students we start at the six-month mark. If a preceptor changes roles before the practicum begins, we bring you another leader who fits the project. If you want to stay with your employer, we help you shape a project and a division of labor that sit outside your regular role, so faculty can approve it with confidence. APU's faculty and School of Nursing team approve every site; we hand them a complete, well-matched choice. Start on our contact page.

Questions APU students ask