DNP practicum hours at NAU

Q: Does NUR 608 still exist?

NAU's 2022-23 DNP handbooks still use NUR 608 for extra practicum hours, but it does not appear in the DNP course lists of the 2024-25 or 2026-27 catalogs. If your transferred hours leave you well short of 1,000, ask the DNP Coordinator which course will carry the extra hours on your plan of study.

Updated September 27, 2026, reviewed by the NAU Preceptor placement team

Northern Arizona University's Doctor of Nursing Practice requires 1,000 hours of clinical practice, at least 240 of them completed at NAU, with as many as 760 brought in from an earlier accredited graduate program, master's or post-master's, that ended in national certification. The NAU hours are earned in NUR 703 and, when more are needed, NUR 608. The DNP is not accepting applications, so this guide is for students already enrolled.

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1,000clinical practice hours in NAU's DNP

240hours at minimum completed at NAU

760hours at most transferred from a prior program

Numbered steps. You choose the site and the mentor: 1 Request form.; 2 Affiliation agreement.; 3 Mentor credentials.; 4 Mentor Statement of Agreement.; 5 Go-ahead.. — You choose the site and the mentor: 1 Request form.; 2 Affiliation agreement.; 3 Mentor credentials.; 4 Mentor Statement of Agreement.; 5 Go-ahead..

How the 1,000 hours add up

The total has two parts: hours you bring and hours you earn at NAU. The 2022-23 DNP Practicum Handbook notes that most students who are already practicing APRNs complete an additional 240 practicum hours, the minimum NAU requires of everyone.

The DNP hour rule
Part	Hours	Where NAU says it
Transferred from an accredited master's or post-master's program leading to national certification	Up to 760	2022-23 DNP Practicum Handbook
Completed at NAU	At least 240	2026-27 catalog
Total clinical practice	1,000	2026-27 catalog

Your transfer figure is not an estimate. Admission asked for an official letter from the institution that granted your degree stating the actual number of clinical hours you completed. If that letter shows 600 hours, for example, 400 remain to earn at NAU: the 240 minimum plus 160 more.

NUR 703 and NUR 608

Every DNP student enrolls in NUR 703, titled Doctor of Nursing Practice Clinical Immersion. The 2022-23 practicum handbook requires at least one credit and equates each credit with 60 practicum hours, and the DNP Project handbook places NUR 703 in the final four semesters. One way the numbers fit: 240 hours is four credits, or one 60-hour credit in each of those four terms. Your plan of study governs.

The project handbook adds that hours are not carried over, since each credit incurs 60 hours. Hours logged beyond a term's enrolled credits should not be assumed to bank toward the next term.

NUR 608 was for students needing additional practicum hours; in the handbook's words, only they enrolled in it. The AY 21-22 graduate handbook listed NUR 703 at 4 to 9 credits and NUR 608 at 1 to 8, while the catalog shows NUR 703 at 1 to 9 units, pass-fail, and NUR 608 no longer appears in the 2024-25 or 2026-27 DNP course lists. Ask the DNP Coordinator how extra hours are handled now.

You choose the site and the mentor

The DNP is the one NAU nursing program where the handbook puts the search squarely on the student: students choose a site, make first contact with a potential preceptor or mentor, and design their practicum plans together with the DNP Coordinator. Scheduling your days with the mentor falls to you as well. The approval route runs like this:

Request form.Complete the DNP Preceptor/Agency Request Form from the NUR 703 or NUR 608 course content or the DNP Coordinator. The handbook's procedure points to Appendix F, but the form is Appendix G.
Affiliation agreement.NAU starts one if the agency has none on file, even when you work there. The affiliation agreements guide covers lead times.
Mentor credentials.Your mentor provides a resume or CV along with license and certification.
Mentor Statement of Agreement.The mentor's agreement, signed off by course faculty and the DNP Program Coordinator.
Go-ahead.Once site and mentor clear, NAU lets you know you can start. Course faculty and the DNP Coordinator must approve each practicum activity before it happens.

Mentor rules and the workplace limits

The 2022-23 handbook sets a short list for mentors and preceptors. A mentor needs demonstrated expertise in their field and a job at the practicum site. Excluded outright: relatives, domestic partners and significant others, anyone who directly supervises you, and fellow DNP students. For direct patient care, the same license, experience and certification rules as the FNP program apply.

Hours at your own workplace carry two more limits: your mentor must sit outside your reporting line in both directions, and the practicum time has to come outside your usual work schedule. Time with patients in a private home does not qualify. The who cannot precept you guide and the workplace practicum guide go further.

Hours at your own job count only when they fall outside your normal shifts and your mentor neither supervises you nor reports to you.

Logs, the project and the clock

The 2022-23 handbook has you upload clinical logs and end-of-semester summaries to the DNP Repository and load your license in Typhon; the tracking guide covers what may have changed since. The handbook also ties the NAU hours to your DNP project, describing the 240 as the hours used for project completion.

That project has its own requirements. The DNP Project handbook asks you to consult the hosting agency before planning begins and to secure a Letter of Cooperation from it at the outset, and every DNP project must go to NAU's IRB before any data is collected, sometimes to the site's IRB as well. The project includes an oral defense.

Doctoral students have eight years from admission to finish, and should be registered each fall and spring term; the progression rules guide covers grades and time limits.

How we help enrolled DNP students

Because the DNP puts the search on you, the right site matters twice: once for the practicum hours and again for the project it hosts. We look for agencies near home where a qualified mentor is employed on site, screen out anyone the handbook excludes, and ask up front whether the agency would issue a Letter of Cooperation for a DNP project.

Your placement advisor gathers the mentor's CV, license and certification, tells you early whether NAU needs a new agreement with the agency, and helps you plan the hours across the terms of NUR 703. If a mentor leaves partway through, we start on a replacement at once so your project keeps moving.

Questions NAU students ask

My MSN program documented 500 clinical hours. How many will I need at NAU?

By NAU's rule, 1,000 minus the hours your official letter documents, and never fewer than 240. With 500 documented, that leaves 500 to earn at NAU, well above the 240 floor. Under the 2022-23 handbook, hours beyond the NUR 703 minimum went through NUR 608; confirm with the DNP Coordinator how that works today.

Is NAU still admitting DNP students?

No. The 2026-27 catalog closes the plan to applications, and the College's graduate admissions page confirms it. Students already enrolled continue under the program's rules, and the DNP program guide covers its structure, units and status in more detail.

Can DNP practicum hours be done by telehealth or in patients' homes?

Home visits are out: the 2022-23 handbook says patient hours cannot be completed in a private home setting. Telehealth is not addressed in the archived handbooks. If part of your planned practicum is virtual, get written approval from course faculty and the DNP Coordinator first, since every practicum activity needs their prior approval.

Does NUR 608 still exist?

NAU's 2022-23 DNP handbooks still use NUR 608 for extra practicum hours, but it does not appear in the DNP course lists of the 2024-25 or 2026-27 catalogs. If your transferred hours leave you well short of 1,000, ask the DNP Coordinator which course will carry the extra hours on your plan of study.

DNPDoctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)Northern Arizona University's post-master's DNP: 74 units, 1,000 practice hours with 240 at NAU, a mentor you arrange, and its closed admissions status.HoursClinical hours by programClinical hours in each Northern Arizona University NP program: 780 for FNP, units for the PMHNP practicum, 1,000 for the DNP, and what makes an hour count.RulesWho cannot precept youNAU's DNP rules bar relatives, partners, direct supervisors and fellow DNP students as preceptors. What the FNP rules leave open and how to screen a candidate.WorkplacePracticum at your workplaceCan an NAU NP student do clinicals at their own job? Yes, with an affiliation agreement, a qualified preceptor, hours kept apart from shifts and NAU's approval.AgreementsAffiliation agreementsWhy every NAU clinical site needs an affiliation agreement, your own employer included, how long a new one can take, and who at the site signs it.ProgressionProgression rulesWhat keeps you on track in NAU's graduate nursing programs: the 84% passing line, repeating a C, dismissal triggers, time limits and gaps in enrollment.

Last checked 2026-09-27

We check these pages against Northern Arizona University's own catalog, program pages and published nursing documents. Your program coordinator and course faculty have the final word.

NAU welcomes a preceptor you arrange. We arrange one close to home.

Tell us your NAU track, your town and your next practicum. We line up preceptors who fit the course and Arizona's preceptor rule, confirm the site's approval, and gather the CV, license and certification the Green Form needs, well before NAU's cutoff.

Preceptors matched to the course: all-ages family primary care for FNP, psychiatric settings for PMHNP
License, experience and certification checked against the rule NAU applies, before the Green Form goes in
All three FNP practicums planned together, near home instead of a long drive away

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