A nursing externship course addresses the need for students to have increased critical thinking and clinical skills to ease the transition from academia to the role of registered nurses. Upon review of the literature, an externship or internship for students that utilizes preceptors indicated that students who participate in an externship/internship course had increased clinical skills, critical thinking abilities, time management skills, understanding of the nursing process, confidence, and understanding of the healthcare system. Research indicates that more nursing externship courses that utilize preceptors need to be incorporated into nursing curriculum to ease the transition of the nursing student to the role of a registered nurse. A partnership has been formed between Belmont School of Nursing and Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) to offer a nursing externship course to senior level nursing students. This partnership has resulted in benefits for students, Belmont School of Nursing, and Vanderbilt University Medical Center. The curriculum design developed has been adopted by VUMC and shared with other nursing schools in Tennessee and Kentucky. The nursing externship course design and implementation will be shared with participants.