1000 practice hours are required for the completion of the Doctor of Nursing Practice Degree. Up to 500 of these hours may be transferred from their master’s degree in nursing. APRNs with national board certification may validate completion of the 500 hours from their master’s degree by submitting a copy of their national board certification to the Chair of Graduate Nursing. Non-APRN students will be required to submit a Practice Hours Verification form that includes the courses taken, the number of credit hours, and the practice hours completed in that course. The form must be signed by the Department Chair or designee at the institution where the master’s degree in nursing was received. 215 hours are embedded in DNP coursework that students complete. These hours are included in the following courses:
- NURS 717 (50 hours embedded)
- NURS 721 (50 hours embedded)
- NURS 725 (40 hours embedded)
- NURS 855 (75 hours embedded)
Total hours = 215
If the student is still deficient in hours after the embedded practice hours are added to those brought from their Master’s institution, an individual plan will be developed for the student to accrue those hours. This may include an independent study or BSN to DNP coursework that contains embedded practice hours.
The remaining required 500 practice hours are accrued through work in DNP Project courses. The hours are as follows:
- NURS 866 (Project Proposal) 125 hours
- NURS 874 (DNP Project 1) 200 hours
- NURS 875 (DNP Project II) 175 hours
Total hours = 500
All practice hours from project courses will be documented on the Doctor of Nursing Practice Hour Tracking Document. Hours from all three courses will be documented on the same form along with activities completed, date, relevant course objectives to the activity (refer to syllabus), program outcomes, and DNP Essentials. The Program Outcomes and DNP Essentials are included in the Tracking document for easy reference.