How many practice-experience hours does Excelsior nursing require?
Each Excelsior MSN capstone requires 135 practice-experience hours, and the RN-to-BS in Nursing adds roughly 90 more. Those are the two numbers that matter. The 135 MSN hours are built around an independent project supervised by a volunteer mentor you source; the roughly 90 RN-to-BS hours are community and capstone practice you arrange in your own workplace or community. Excelsior's graduate nursing is indirect-care only, with no nurse practitioner, APRN, or DNP track, so none of these hours involve direct patient care at the graduate level. This page lays out every requirement in one place.
Practice-experience hours by program and course
Answer first: the table below maps each Excelsior nursing program to its capstone course, its practice-experience hours, and what the hours involve. These are Excelsior's published figures; confirm the exact requirement and course numbers against your current Excelsior catalog before you plan, since curriculum details change over time.
| Program | Capstone course | Practice-experience hours | What it is |
|---|---|---|---|
| MS in Nursing Education | NUR676 | 135 | Independent education project supervised by a volunteer mentor |
| MS in Nursing Informatics | NUR686 | 135 | Mentor-supervised informatics project in a real setting |
| MS in Nursing Leadership & Administration | NUR646 | 135 | Independent leadership and administration project |
| RN to MS bridges | NUR676 / NUR686 / NUR646 | 135 | Combined route into Education, Informatics, or Leadership; same capstone hours |
| RN to BS in Nursing | NUR448 + NUR462 | ~90 | Community health plus capstone direct practice; NUR342 uses a live adult volunteer |
The three MSN tracks and their RN-to-MS bridges all share the same 135-hour capstone requirement. The RN-to-BS is the only program on this list with a lower, split hour count.
What are the 135 MSN practice-experience hours?
The 135 hours are the practice-experience portion of your MSN capstone, and they are the same across all three graduate tracks. In Nursing Education you complete NUR676, in Nursing Informatics NUR686, and in Nursing Leadership and Administration NUR646. In each case you plan and carry out an independent project in a real setting, guided by a volunteer mentor and approved by Excelsior faculty. Because these programs are indirect-care, the hours center on education, informatics, or leadership work rather than bedside care, and the RN-to-MS bridges into each track carry the same 135-hour capstone.
Three things are yours to arrange, and Excelsior faculty only signs off on what you bring. First is the mentor, a person with a master's degree or higher and expertise in your specialization who volunteers as your resource. Second is the site, the agency or organization that hosts your project, along with any affiliation agreement and CastleBranch compliance it requires. Third is the project itself, an independent capstone the site will host and your faculty will approve.
What are the roughly 90 RN-to-BS hours?
The RN-to-BS in Nursing adds about 90 practice-experience hours across two courses, plus a hands-on assessment in a third. NUR448 Community Health carries about 45 hours of community-based or population-health practice. The NUR462 capstone carries about 45 direct practice hours built around your capstone project. NUR342 does not add to that 90 in the same way, but it does require you to complete a full health assessment on a live adult volunteer who consents to take part. All of it is workplace-embedded and student-arranged, which is why many working nurses complete it near where they already live and work.
NUR342
A complete health assessment on a live adult volunteer you recruit and who consents. No clinical site is required for this one.
NUR448
About 45 community-health practice hours in a public-health, clinic, school, or community-agency setting you arrange.
NUR462
About 45 direct practice hours tied to an evidence-based capstone project you plan, carry out, and evaluate.
What counts toward practice-experience hours?
Hours count when they are spent on the approved project in the approved setting, logged as Excelsior requires, and signed off by your mentor and faculty. At the MSN level that means time on your independent education, informatics, or leadership project; planning, carrying out, and evaluating the work all count. At the RN-to-BS level it means community-health practice for NUR448 and the direct capstone practice for NUR462. What does not count is unrelated day-job work, hours logged before faculty approves your project, or time with a mentor who does not meet Excelsior's criteria.
- Time on the faculty-approved capstone project in the approved setting.
- Planning, implementation, and evaluation phases of the project.
- Community and population-health practice for the RN-to-BS NUR448.
- Direct capstone practice hours for the RN-to-BS NUR462.
- Work overseen by a mentor who meets Excelsior's eligibility criteria.
Who can serve as the mentor for these hours?
A qualified mentor is an individual with a master's degree or higher who has expertise in your specialization and volunteers to serve as your resource, subject to Excelsior faculty approval. Excelsior's word is mentor, not preceptor, and while some students call it a preceptor, the role is the same: a knowledgeable professional who guides your practice experience. The mentor is never paid; the arrangement is voluntary. Faculty approves the mentor you propose but does not find one for you, which is exactly why sourcing the right person early matters so much.
Mentor criteria at a glance: master's degree or higher, expertise in your specialization, willing to volunteer, and approved by Excelsior faculty. We verify each of these before you commit, so you do not lose a term to a mentor who cannot be approved.
How far ahead should you arrange your hours?
Start four to six months before your capstone term. That window gives you time to source and verify a mentor, secure a site, route any affiliation agreement through the site's administration, clear CastleBranch background, drug screen, and immunizations, and scope a project your faculty will approve, all before the term opens. Excelsior provides no clinical instruction in its School of Nursing, so none of this happens automatically; the earlier you begin, the more room you have if a first option falls through.
There is no clinical instruction provided in any program in the School of Nursing. The hours are real, but the mentor, the site, and the project are yours to arrange.
Practice-experience hours, answered
How many practice-experience hours does the Excelsior MSN require?
Each Excelsior MSN capstone requires 135 practice-experience hours built around an independent project with a volunteer mentor you source. This applies to Nursing Education (NUR676), Nursing Informatics (NUR686), and Nursing Leadership and Administration (NUR646), and to the RN-to-MS bridges into those tracks.
How many hours does the RN-to-BS add?
The RN-to-BS in Nursing adds roughly 90 practice-experience hours, spread across NUR448 Community Health at about 45 hours and the NUR462 capstone at about 45 direct practice hours. NUR342 also requires a hands-on health assessment on a live adult volunteer.
Do practice-experience hours involve direct patient care?
No. Excelsior's graduate nursing programs are indirect-care only, with no nurse practitioner, APRN, or DNP track. MSN practice-experience hours are built around an independent project in education, informatics, or leadership, not bedside patient care. The RN-to-BS hours are community and population focused.
Who qualifies as a mentor for the hours?
Excelsior defines a qualified mentor as an individual with a master's degree or higher and expertise in your specialization who volunteers to serve as your resource, subject to faculty approval. Excelsior uses the term mentor; some students call it a preceptor. The mentor is never paid.
How far ahead should I arrange the hours?
Start four to six months before your capstone term. Excelsior provides no clinical instruction and leaves the mentor, site, and project to you, and affiliation agreements and CastleBranch compliance take time, so early runway keeps the hours from pushing your term.
Plan your hours before the term does it for you
Tell us your Excelsior program, your city, and your capstone term. We will come back with a mentor, a site, and a project scoped to your hour count.
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Excelsior nursing programs overview
Every program, its practice-experience hours, and who arranges the placement for each one.