How Walden's Practicum Advantage™ Benefits Nursing Students

Being in the right place at the right time can make all the difference in your life and life’s work. And when you choose to earn a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) degree online at Walden University, an innovative student support feature called Practicum Advantage™ can help you find the right place and time to advance your skills as a healthcare professional.

For MSN candidates enrolled in nurse practitioner or specialty care online degree program specializations, a practicum is vital to developing the skills of a nurse. It’s just as important to find a nursing preceptor who can help train, mentor, and inspire. In fact, research shows that a strong partnership with a nurse leader helps nurses make an easier transition to a job and can contribute to career longevity.¹

Walden’s Practicum Advantage™ provides the coaching, resources, and self-help tools you need to identify a local practicum site and nursing preceptor that fit with your education and career goals.

At the heart of it is a dedicated regional field experience team that is available by chat, phone, or email to help explain the process and practicum requirements, assist with submitting documents, approve nurse preceptor credentials, and help with securing affiliation agreements between Walden and a site.

Practicum Advantage™ also provides:

• Access to a robust database of potential sites: The database lists sites where other Walden students have completed their field experiences and where the accredited university may already have an agreement in place. This can make it easier to identify a potential site.
• Guidance from Walden’s Career Planning and Development team: Many students earning online nursing degrees say that finding the ideal practicum site and nursing preceptor is similar to applying for a job. It can take time, and Walden is here to support you in your search by offering resources such as networking tips and interview and résumé tools.
• Support from Student Success Advisors: Your dedicated Student Success Advisor can assist you with all aspects of your online degree planning, including helping you to understand the requirements of your nursing program, determine when your practicum will begin, and more.

Walden’s Practicum Advantage™ is also available in the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (RN-BSN) Completion Program and the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) online nursing school degree program, as well as the Post-Master’s Certificates in Nursing program.

Another Component: Walden University Practicum Pledge^™
Walden University understands that finding a site or preceptor can be challenging and we are dedicated to supporting you at every step of the way to ensure a timely and successful placement. Walden University Practicum Pledge^™ creates a collaborative search process between our MSN NP and DNP NP students and our large network of field sites and preceptors. If after several tries you’re unable to identify your own site and preceptor, we pledge to help match you with a preceptor and site. We’ve added a dedicated Field Placement Team to explain the process and requirements and proactively partner with you to offer site and preceptor matching. The Walden University Practicum Pledge^™ gives our students added confidence as they embark on their NP journey.

The Walden Nursing School Advantage

No. 1 in Master of Science in Nursing graduates in the U.S.,² Walden offers an online MSN degree program that lets you tailor your studies to your career interests.

If you want to provide direct patient care, these nurse practitioner specializations can prepare you to pursue certification and credentialing: Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner, Adult-Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner (AGPCNP), Family Nurse Practitioner, Pediatric Nurse Practitioner (PNP) Primary Care, and Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP).

If specialty care is your passion, Walden offers the following online nursing school paths to these nursing careers: Nursing Education, Nurse Executive, Nursing Informatics, and Public Health Nursing.

Walden’s online MSN degree program is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE), which signifies a nursing program’s quality and integrity.³ Another Walden advantage is flexibility. In the university’s online nursing school, you can earn a degree while working and staying active in your personal life. Log in to the coursework for your online classes wherever you have an internet connection.

One of Walden’s Enrollment Specialists can help get you started down the path to a career as a nurse practitioner, nurse leader, nurse educator, or wherever your ambitions lie. And with Practicum Advantage™, you can pace yourself and plan to arrive at your nursing career destination at just the right place and time.

Walden University is an accredited institution offering a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) online degree program with multiple specializations. Expand your career options and earn your degree in a convenient, flexible format that fits your busy life.

¹Source: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jan.15060
²Source: National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) IPEDS database. Based on the most recent year of completions survey data available, using CIP code family 51.38 “Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research, and Clinical Nursing” for Master’s degrees (Award level 7). Available at https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/use-the-data. (Retrieved January 2021; may consist of or include provisional release data.)
³Source: www.aacnnursing.org/CCNE

The baccalaureate degree program in nursing (BSN), master’s degree program in nursing (MSN), post-graduate APRN certificate program, and Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program at Walden University are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (www.ccneaccreditation.org).

Walden University is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission, www.hlcommission.org.