Clinical Experience
Doctor of Nursing Practice/Family Nurse Practitioner (DNP/FNP) and Post-Masters FNP
As an DNP/FNP-track student, you will complete 675 precepted clinical hours in your identified practice setting. Working with Medical Doctors (MD), Osteopathic Physicians (DO), Physician Assistants (PA), and Nurse Practitioners (NP) who agree to precept and/or mentor you. Your preceptor/mentor will make sure you receive an outstanding learning experience at a practice site as close to home as possible.
Your clinical experiences focus on primary care and ambulatory practice. Geriatric, adult, pediatric, obstetric, and gynecologic populations are all included in your clinical and practice experiences that take place in a range of settings including private practices, community clinics, public health facilities, acute care settings, and some specialty clinics. During your campus-based seminar weekend intensives, workshops will introduce skills and intellectual concepts that you will integrate into your clinical and practice settings.
Additionally, DNP level practice hours can be completed across a variety of community practice settings and healthcare organizations. Throughout the program of study, you will be exposed to a variety of didactic courses to augment and facilitate your practice and learning experiences. The DNP practice hours align with the AACN new essentials (2021) where you will advance necessary skills and build upon the AACN level two sub-competencies that prepare you as a DNP scholar. There is a total of 1000 hours as a requirement to satisfy the DNP degree. Previous clinical and practice experience at the post-graduate level are considered within your degree plan.
This partnership between the academic and clinical practice environment not only prepares you for clinical practice, but for future employment opportunities.
Most students obtain precepted and mentored experiences at multiple sites to obtain the widest possible experience in practice patterns, skill sets, and specialties. Faculty will perform evaluations each semester to determine your progress with preceptor and mentor interactions, including patient encounters, to ensure your student experience meets our rigorous standards.
You will have opportunities to work in community clinics, private practices, urgent care settings, rehabilitation centers, hospitals, Indian reservations, military sites, specialty clinics, or family practice settings within your home state.