UofM's MSN in Nursing Leadership: courses, plans and immersions
Nursing Leadership is UofM's 33-credit online MSN built around workplace culture, ethics, finance and evidence-based leadership, with two precepted immersions that total 360 hours on the course list. On the full-time plan, a student who starts in fall meets the first immersion straight away. Whatever shape UofM's placement support takes for you, we match you with a nurse leader preceptor and an organization that fit the college's rules.
Line up your leadership immersion
Tell us when you start, full or part time, and where you live. A placement advisor replies with nurse leader preceptors who suit Immersion I.
Where the 33 credits go
The Leadership concentration pairs the 12-credit MSN core that every UofM concentration shares (NURS 7021, NURS 7022, NURS 7023 and NURS 7024) with a 21-credit leadership block. Unlike the nurse practitioner and Nursing Education tracks, the Leadership course list carries no advanced assessment or pharmacology course of its own.
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| NURS 6900 | Power of Workplace Civility and Diversity | 3 |
| NURS 7912 | Collaborative Professional Relationships Management | 3 |
| NURS 7913 | Accountable and Ethical Nursing Leadership Practices | 3 |
| NURS 7914 | Healthcare Business and Finance | 3 |
| NURS 7915 | Evidence-Based Leadership to Improve Patient Care | 3 |
| NURS 7917 | Nurse Leader Immersion I (120 hours) | 2 |
| NURS 7919 | Nurse Leader Immersion II, Roles and Transition to Practice Residency (240 hours) | 4 |
The five non-immersion courses are taught online. The two immersions are spent in person with a preceptor at an organization near your home, and they are the only part of the plan that needs a host organization outside UofM.
Plans of study and the first-term immersion
UofM posts a full-time Leadership plan of four terms and a part-time plan of five, with admission in fall and spring. Every version schedules Immersion I, NURS 7917, in a fall term.
That produces four possible timings. Full time from a fall start puts the immersion in term one; full time from a spring start puts it in term three. The part-time plan pushes it back: term four for fall entrants, term three for spring entrants. Leadership is the only UofM MSN concentration where precepted hours can begin in the opening term.
The calendar makes that timing tight. Fall 2026 classes began on August 24, and the fall application deadline is July 1, so an applicant who files near the deadline on the full-time plan has under eight weeks between the deadline and an immersion term. The first clinical course guide shows the first practicum term for every UofM program.
The immersions in short
Immersion I runs 120 hours and the residency runs 240, for 360 in all. The catalog says the student in NURS 7917 works under a qualified preceptor, but UofM publishes no definition of what qualifies a leadership preceptor, so that standard is applied when your preceptor agreement is reviewed.
Leadership students have a choice Education students lack: the bulletin lets them go back to a familiar site for the residency, as long as the preceptor qualifications are met. A leader who hosted your first 120 hours can take you back for the 240, or you can move to a second organization for a wider view.
The hour count carries a conflict. The 2025-26 bulletin's hours table gives 360 specialty hours but 500 for the whole program, and UofM does not say where the other 140 come from. Ask the Education and Leadership track coordinator before your first immersion. The leadership immersions guide covers both courses and the preceptor question in depth.
Admission, and the extra science RN-to-MSN applicants need
Applying directly takes a 3.0 undergraduate GPA, a passed NCLEX-RN, undergraduate statistics worth three credits, and a professional resume that documents recent or ongoing clinical work. Applicants whose GPA falls from 2.75 to 2.99 have a conditional route: two graduate courses first, with admission once both earn a B or better.
Nurses without a BSN can use the RN-to-MSN pathway. It requires NURS 3007, NURS 4108 and NURS 4111 at LCON with a C or better, and graduates finish with the MSN only, with no BSN conferred. Leadership applicants on this pathway have one more hurdle than the rest: health assessment, pharmacology and pathophysiology coursework as well.
Fall applications close July 1 and spring applications December 1. Throughout the program your RN license must carry no restrictions and be issued either in Tennessee or in an approved state where the immersions happen. LCON holds no distance education authorization for California. For the compact and licenses held in other states, see the RN license guide.
When you already work in nursing management
If you already hold a charge, manager or director role, your own employer can look like the natural host for an immersion. LCON's rule points the other way: no practicum hours at your current workplace unless compelling circumstances prevail, and even then the placement needs sign-off from faculty and program administration, with documentation on file. The workplace clinicals guide explains how that request works.
Other LCON rules shape the same terms. To move forward, each immersion course needs a B or higher, and the catalog's Leadership entry applies the same B floor to every course. Your clinical schedule reaches clinical faculty by Monday of week two, changes go in writing a week in advance, and no course's hours may be compressed below seven weeks. Before any immersion, your DISA Complio and HealthStream myClinicalExchange items must be current, and the drug screen has to be recent, taken no earlier than 30 days before a fall or spring clinical term.
Why UofM Nursing Leadership students choose us
We are built for UofM's clinical process, and the Leadership concentration's early fall immersion is exactly where a head start matters. With or without placement support from UofM, you get a leader and an organization from us that meet its rules.
- A search that begins the week you share your start date, timed to a first-term immersion if your plan has one.
- Nurse leaders outside your own employer, with enough operational scope to involve you in staffing, budgets, quality work and team decisions.
- The preceptor's license, leadership title and credentials organized for the preceptor agreement form, next to the organization's details.
- An early answer on whether your Immersion I preceptor can host the residency, or a second leader lined up if not.
- A standby search if a preceptor withdraws mid-term, so the seven-week minimum stays within reach.
The Office of Community Partnerships and Practice reviews the preceptor agreement, and your clinical faculty sign off on the schedule. Our part is delivering them a complete file that already matches LCON policy. To begin, send us your start term or fill in the short form that closes this page.
Questions UofM students ask
How many credits is UofM's MSN in Nursing Leadership?
Thirty-three. Twelve come from the four-course MSN core shared by every concentration, and 21 come from the leadership block: five online courses in civility, relationships, ethics, finance and evidence-based leadership, plus the two immersions. UofM's MSN page gives a credit range of 31 to 46 across all concentrations, and Leadership sits near the low end.
Is there a part-time Nursing Leadership plan?
Yes. The part-time plan spans five terms, against four for full time. Immersion I moves back to term four for fall entrants and stays at term three for spring entrants. Either way the immersion still lands in a fall term, so your preceptor search should aim at the summer before it.
What is the Executive Leadership concentration at UofM?
The college's FAQ page still lists Executive Leadership as one of three MSN concentrations. The 2026-27 catalog and the current MSN programs page name the concentration Nursing Leadership and list it among five. Treat the catalog as the authority on names, credits and courses.
Can I start the Nursing Leadership MSN in spring?
Yes. UofM admits Leadership students for spring as well as fall, with the spring application due December 1. Full time or part time, a spring starter reaches Immersion I in term three, the first fall term after classes begin, which gives a longer runway to find a preceptor.
What is the time limit for the Leadership MSN?
Every MSN requirement must be completed within five calendar years. LCON also expects continuous enrollment: a single missed fall or spring semester calls for a readmission form, while two or more consecutive misses require a fresh application. Summer terms are excluded from that count.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-27
We check these pages against UofM's 2026-27 catalog, the LCON Academic Bulletin, program pages and licensure disclosures. Your clinical faculty and your plan of study have the final word.
Whether UofM helps or you start alone, we find the preceptor.
Tell us your UofM concentration, your next practicum and the town you train near. We find preceptors and sites that fit the course and prepare what the preceptor agreement form needs, early enough for approval before the first clinical day.
- Preceptors matched to the rotation rules: an NP preceptor, family practice for FNP, inpatient and critical care for AG-ACNP
- License, certification and site details ready for the preceptor agreement form, with your Complio items in order
- Across the Mid-South, Tennessee and the states UofM serves
Start your placement plan
Your concentration, your town and your next clinical semester is all we need to begin.