NURS 5340 Management Seminar and Practice
NURS 5340 is the 10-week practicum course in UTA's online MSN in Nursing Administration: 90 hours in a health care setting plus a capstone community partnering project. UTA's pages disagree on whether those hours are “logged” or “preceptored,” so plan for a nurse leader and confirm with your faculty.
Find a nurse leader for NURS 5340
Tell us when your Administration practicum starts, where you live and whether you can use your employer. A placement advisor replies with next steps.
NURS 5340 at a glance
UTA's online Administration program is 12 courses taken in an exact sequence, and NURS 5340 is the one built around a seminar plus practice in the field. This is what UTA's catalog and program pages publish.
| Item | What UTA publishes |
|---|---|
| Catalog title | Management Seminar and Practice |
| Credits | 3 |
| Online length | 10 weeks |
| Hours | 90: “logged” on the MSN page, “preceptored” on the RN-to-MSN page |
| Project | Capstone community partnering project |
| Catalog description | “Synthesize management, organizational, and leadership concepts and theories in selected health care settings” |
| Setting | Health care facilities where administrative senior nurses are present |
The program page describes where practicum work happens as “healthcare facilities in which administrative senior nurses are present,” with UTA faculty guiding and coaching you through the assignments. In other words, the site has to give you access to nurses in administrative roles, not only nurses at the bedside.
“Logged” or “preceptored”? Two UTA pages, two wordings
UTA's online MSN Administration page describes the course as “90 logged hours with capstone community partnering project.” The RN-to-MSN page, which lists the same course, says “90 preceptored hours required.” Both are current UTA pages, and neither explains the difference.
The safer reading is to expect a preceptor. Earlier UTA syllabi, from Spring 2015, required “90 onsite clinical hours,” graded a preceptor evaluation at 10 percent, and had students negotiate the project presentation with the agency and preceptor. Even a logged-hours course may need someone on site to verify your time.
Ask your course faculty which wording your section follows before the term opens. If a preceptor is required, you want that person approved before week one, not found in week two of a 10-week course.
Do not read “logged” as “no preceptor needed” until your course faculty confirms it in writing.
The four Administration courses with hours
NURS 5340 sits inside a larger block of practice time. UTA's online Administration page lists hours on four courses:
| Course | Title | Credits | Online length | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|---|
NURS 5339 | Roles and Functions of the Nurse Administrator | 3 | 5 weeks (10 on the RN-to-MSN page) | 90 hours of clinical application |
NURS 5340 | Management Seminar and Practice | 3 | 10 weeks | 90 hours plus the community partnering project |
NURS 5341 | Financial Management in Nursing | 3 | 5 weeks (10 on the RN-to-MSN page) | 45 hours of clinical application |
NURS 5342 | Management of Nursing Operations | 3 | 5 weeks | 45 hours of clinical application |
UTA publishes no program total; the four figures add up to 270 hours by our count. Because you must follow the exact course sequence, ask your faculty whether one site and leader can serve more than one of these courses. UTA's pages are silent on that point. UTA clinical hours by track sets these figures beside the NP and Education tracks.
Who can precept an Administration student
UTA's current preceptor page lists general minimums for graduate preceptors, an active unencumbered license and a year in the role, but it has no entry for Nursing Administration. The program page says only that the practicum happens where administrative senior nurses are present.
The one explicit qualification comes from a 2015 syllabus. Earlier UTA syllabi said preceptors were selected for their management knowledge and expertise, and required “A master's degree in nursing, health care administration, or business administration.” The same syllabus added: “Exceptions are considered on an individual basis.” No current UTA page repeats that rule, so treat it as a strong signal of what faculty look for, not as published policy.
In practice, that points toward a chief nursing officer, a director of nursing or another senior nurse leader with a graduate degree. Your course faculty make the final call on any individual.
The community partnering project
The capstone community partnering project is the part of NURS 5340 that goes beyond clock hours. UTA's current pages name it but do not describe it.
Earlier UTA syllabi, from Spring 2015, set it out as a “Community Partnering project, paper, presentation” relevant to the nurse administrator's role. The presentation was negotiated with the agency and the preceptor. The same syllabus also graded a Round Table, a clinical journal worth 45 percent and the preceptor evaluation worth 10 percent.
That older design is a useful planning cue. Choose a site and leader who can hand you a real organizational problem to work on and a place to present what you find, not just a desk to shadow from. Confirm the current project requirements in your Canvas course before you pitch the idea to a site.
Your employer, and how sites were chosen before
UTA's RN-to-MSN page says, for NURS 5339, that a “location other than place of employment is preferred.” No UTA page states an employer rule for NURS 5340 itself. If you want to use your own organization, ask your faculty first, and read clinical hours at your employer for UTA's general limits.
Earlier UTA syllabi said sites and preceptors were “selected jointly by the student and the nursing administration faculty.” Sites could be agencies with an existing affiliation agreement or other facilities through “a letter of agreement.” Today UTA posts its placement policies in Exxat, and the affiliation agreement page explains why a site without an agreement can stall you.
UTA's state map lists the MSN in Nursing Administration in every state and DC except New York, Tennessee, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming. Email NursingSOA@uta.edu before you seek a preceptor in another state.
Why Administration students choose us for NURS 5340
UTA leaves the NURS 5340 search to you, with the Department of Graduate Nursing stepping in when a student has difficulty. We make that search our specialty: a senior nurse leader with the time to take you on for 10 weeks, the background faculty expect and room for your community partnering project.
A placement advisor searches for nurse executives and directors near you, at an organization other than your employer when your faculty prefer that, and prepares what UTA's reviewers want to see, such as the leader's CV and license details, so UTA can approve from a complete file. Use the form below to start, or see how our process works.
Questions UTA students ask
Is UTA's MSN in Nursing Administration fully online?
The coursework is. UTA's MSN handbook says Administration is offered only in the accelerated online format, with courses of 5 to 10 weeks taken in a fixed sequence and a finish in as few as 19 to 22 months. The practicum hours are the exception: you complete them in health care facilities where senior nurse administrators work. See the MSN in Nursing Administration overview.
Do Administration students need UTA's clinical clearance?
It is not clear. UTA's Graduate Nursing Clinical Clearance Requirements policy names MSN Education, NP and DNP students, and does not name Administration. Clinical agencies can still set their own requirements through their agreements with UTA, so a hospital may ask for immunizations or a background check anyway. Ask your advisor, and read UTA clinical clearance.
Can my NURS 5340 preceptor have an MBA instead of an MSN?
Earlier UTA syllabi, from 2015, listed a master's in nursing, health care administration or business administration as acceptable, with exceptions considered individually. UTA's current public pages do not restate a degree rule for Administration preceptors. An MBA-prepared nurse executive fits the older wording, but confirm with your course faculty before you ask them to commit.
Does the post-master's Administration certificate include NURS 5340?
Yes. UTA's online certificate page lists NURSC 5340 at 10 weeks among its courses, but it labels hours only on NURSC 5342. The catalog lists the certificate at 27 credits while the online page says 12, and your actual plan comes from a gap analysis of your MSN transcript and experience. Ask for your practicum hours in writing once that analysis is done.
How much RN experience do I need for the Administration MSN?
UTA's catalog lists two years of clinical experience as a registered nurse among the unconditional admission criteria, along with CPR. The online program page adds that applicants with fewer than two years may be granted provisional admission. That experience also helps in the practicum, where you work alongside senior leaders.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-23
We check these pages against UTA's own sources. UTA's current handbook and your course faculty have the final word.
Hand us the search. Keep your term.
Tell us your UTA track, your county and when your clinical course opens. We look for a preceptor and a site that fit what UTA asks for, and we help you put the approval packet together.
- Matched to your track's population and setting
- Paperwork prepared the way UTA's clinical team expects it
- In person near you, or a virtual option where your course allows it
Start your placement plan
A placement advisor replies with what a UTA-ready preceptor and site look like for you.