Troy's online RN to BSN: three preceptorships in nine-week terms
Troy University's RN to BSN Student Orientation Manual is clear: "Students must identify and contact qualified preceptors in approved clinical settings according to the preceptorship course enrolled." The program page adds that you choose your preceptorship location. With 120 clinical hours spread over NSG 3310, NSG 4411 and NSG 4431, and terms only nine weeks long, we line up each preceptor before the term starts so you can keep working while you study.
Line up my RN to BSN preceptors
Tell us your city, your state and your next practicum.
How the RN Mobility track is built
Troy calls this program RN Mobility. It runs online through TROY Online in 9-week terms, five a year, with full-time and part-time options. The nursing component is 24 semester hours with 120 clinical clock hours, inside a BSN that totals 124 semester hours.
| Term | Courses | Practicum |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | NSG 3370 Professional Nursing; NSG 3319 Informatics in Nursing | None |
| 2 | NSG 3309 Health Assessment; NSG 3310 Health Assessment Practicum; NSG 3380 Pathophysiology and the Human Response | NSG 3310, 1 credit |
| 3 | NSG 4410 Population Health Nursing; NSG 4411 Population Health Nursing Preceptorship; NSG 4440 Research and Evidence for the Practicing RN | NSG 4411, 2 credits |
| 4 | NSG 4430 Leadership and Management in Nursing; NSG 4431 Leadership and Management in Nursing Preceptorship | NSG 4431, 2 credits |
The manual's own plan labels its terms 1 or 3 and 2 or 4 depending on when you are admitted, so your first practicum may fall in a different calendar term than a classmate's. Troy states 120 hours for the three practicums together; lead faculty confirm how they divide by course.
Matching a preceptor to each practicum
The manual ties the preceptor to the course: each practicum sets its own bar for who qualifies, and the setting has to be approved for that course. The exact qualifications for each course are in the RN to BSN manual and the Canvas course, and lead faculty approve every preceptor. The course titles point to the kind of setting that fits.
NSG 3310Health Assessment Practicum runs besideNSG 3309, so look for a setting where you can carry out full assessments with a preceptor observing.NSG 4411Population Health Nursing Preceptorship pairs withNSG 4410; community and public health settings match the course's focus.NSG 4431Leadership and Management in Nursing Preceptorship pairs withNSG 4430; a nurse in a leadership or management role suits the title.
Confirm each fit with lead faculty before you ask anyone. A preceptor who suits a course title can still miss a requirement listed in Canvas, and a nine-week term leaves no time to start over.
The Preceptor Information and Acknowledgement Form
Your paperwork is specific to this program: the RN to BSN Program Preceptor Information and Acknowledgement Form, posted in Canvas instead of the graduate manuals. Lead faculty approve it. After approval, the site gets the preceptor and agency agreement by email and sends it back to the Clinical Placements Specialist, whose role is explained on the Clinical Placements Specialist page.
Short terms leave little room for a slow signature. If a site routes the agreement through a legal or education office, that can use up part of your term before you log an hour, so have your preceptor and site confirmed before the term opens. The graduate form, with its biosketch and license copy, is a different document, covered on our Preceptor Information Form page.
Length, fees and clinical requirements
Troy describes the program's length more than one way. The RN to BSN page says as few as 18 weeks in one place and two or four semesters in another, while the 2025-26 degree map spreads the nursing courses over four terms across two academic years. Follow your advisor's plan; the academic calendar page explains how Troy's terms and semesters differ. Transfer credit, Concurrent Enrollment and a full- or part-time load all shift where each practicum lands, which is one more reason to know your term plan before you start recruiting.
Every practicum requires a current RN license, unencumbered, in the state that hosts your clinical work. Upload clinical requirements to ViewPoint Screening; Troy posts the due dates as Canvas announcements and sends them to your Troy email. The program also charges a clinical course fee for NSG 3310, NSG 4411 and NSG 4431.
Clinicals outside Alabama and Concurrent Enrollment
Because the program is online, your clinical hours happen in the state where you live and hold your RN license. Troy's Online Nursing Programs disclosure groups the RN to BSN with the MSN and DNP and gives each state one of four clinical-availability answers, but every row is dated 2020. Check your state on our clinicals by state page and confirm with the Clinical Placements Specialist before you recruit.
Students still in an approved ADN program can start early through Concurrent Enrollment, taking NSG 3370, NSG 3319, NSG 3309, NSG 3310 and NSG 3380 while they finish, as long as they stay in good standing in their ASN program. NSG 3310 is on that list, so ask the RN to BSN Assistant Coordinator how its practicum works before you hold an RN license. Troy's own Montgomery students can read the ASN guide.
Why RN to BSN students choose us
Working nurses choose Troy's RN to BSN so school fits around their shifts, and the preceptor search is the part that fits least neatly. We are the most thorough way to handle it: for each of your three practicums we find a qualified preceptor near you in a setting suited to the course, confirm their interest, and give you what the Preceptor Information and Acknowledgement Form asks for before the term begins.
We plan all three practicums when you enroll, so the search for NSG 4431 is under way long before your final term. We flag sites likely to need a new agreement and stay on call if a preceptor's schedule changes mid-term. Lead faculty approve every preceptor, and we make sure the form in front of them is complete from the start. If the BSN leads you on to Troy's online MSN FNP, we are ready for that search too.
Questions Troy students ask
Do Troy RN to BSN students find their own preceptors?
Yes. The RN to BSN manual makes finding and contacting a qualified preceptor the student's task, in an approved setting that fits the course, and the program page lets you choose your preceptorship location. Lead faculty then sign off using the Canvas-based Preceptor Information and Acknowledgement Form.
Which courses in Troy's RN to BSN need a preceptor?
Three: NSG 3310 Health Assessment Practicum at 1 credit, NSG 4411 Population Health Nursing Preceptorship at 2 credits, and NSG 4431 Leadership and Management in Nursing Preceptorship at 2 credits. Between them they hold the program's 120 clinical clock hours. Each is taken alongside its paired didactic course in the same term.
Can I do my Troy RN to BSN preceptorship at my own hospital?
The RN to BSN manual asks for qualified preceptors in approved clinical settings and lets you choose the location. The ban on hours in your own work setting appears in Troy's graduate manuals for MSN and DNP courses. Ask lead faculty how your employer fits before you recruit, and keep a second setting in mind.
What is the Flexible Option in Troy's RN to BSN?
The RN to BSN manual's Clinical Experience section describes a Flexible Option built around an 8-hour shadow experience in each of NSG 4411 and NSG 4431. Ask lead faculty whether it applies to you and how the rest of each course's clinical work is completed; the Canvas course and the manual have the details.
Does Troy's RN to BSN run on semesters or terms?
Terms. Troy's Help Desk describes five 9-week terms a year: roughly early August to mid October, mid October to mid December, early January to early March, mid March to late May, and late May to late July. Troy's graduate nursing programs run on semesters instead, which is why RN to BSN deadlines arrive faster.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-27
We check these pages against Troy's own 2026-27 MSN, DNP, AMSN and RN to BSN orientation manuals, program pages, degree maps and state authorization pages. Your faculty advisor, your course faculty and the School of Nursing have the final word.
Troy asks you to recruit your preceptor. We make that the easy part.
Tell us your Troy program, where you live and which semester your next clinical course starts. We find preceptors who meet Troy's rules for the course, check the setting against Troy's limits, and prepare everything the Preceptor Information Form and biosketch ask for, well ahead of the form deadline.
- Preceptors matched to the course: a graduate-prepared NP or physician for
NSG 6619, pediatrics and women's health forNSG 6666, adults and older adults forNSG 6668 - Preceptor Information Form details, a biosketch and a copy of the preceptor's license, ready for your faculty advisor
- In your own area, in Alabama or a state where Troy can offer clinicals, never in your own work setting
Start your placement plan
Program, city and semester is all we need to begin.