Keiser's post-master's DNP: practice courses, mentors and the 1,000 hours

The DNP at a glance

The DNP is post-master's only and runs online in 8-week blocks, with one or two courses running at once. Keiser's catalog and its DNP program page describe the same program with different numbers in several places, so each row below names where the figure comes from. The 2026-27 Graduate Catalog is the one that governs.

How the DNP courses are sequenced

The first stretch is the doctoral core, seven 3-credit courses from NUR700 to NUR706: the introduction to the DNP project; advocacy, leadership and ethics; the science behind evidence-based practice; epidemiology and biostatistics; organizational management, quality and safety; information management; and economics and business planning. One elective follows, chosen from adult teaching and learning, acute and emergent health problems, or health care administration.

The practice phase pairs a 1-credit project course with a 2-credit clinical practice course: NUR801, the topic and literature review, with NUR801A, then NUR802, methodology and IRB submission, with NUR802A. ADP902, the applied doctoral project, comes next and is taken three times, and the residency must be finished before your first ADP902 term.

In the catalog, NUR801 lists NUR700 as its prerequisite, so by our reading the first practice course could begin in your second 8-week term; the graduate calendar guide lists the term starts. The program page's outline swaps the three ADP902 terms for DNP Project III and IV plus Clinical Practice III and IV. Follow the catalog, and see the DNP clinical practice courses guide for each course in depth.

Mentors, preceptors and practice settings

Keiser's DNP wording moves between mentor and preceptor. In the Graduate School FAQ, the project team has three members: you, a supervisor or mentor from your employer, and a faculty mentor from Keiser, with the Nursing Chair signing off on both topic and mentor. That FAQ also draws a line, saying preceptors belong to the FNP rather than the DNP, yet the catalog's descriptions of NUR801A and NUR802A both mention a preceptor.

The two practice courses also face different settings: NUR801A is set inside an organization and NUR802A out in the community, each at about 15 hours a week. The 2022 handbook adds that practice courses need on-site hours at instructor-approved sites, and it lists a nursing practice site among the admission items, which the 2026-27 catalog's admission list leaves out.

Keiser's documents stop short of saying who finds the practice-course preceptor. The safest plan is to treat the setting and mentor as yours to bring, and to confirm both with your faculty mentor well before the term. Every Keiser clinical site needs a signed affiliation agreement before hours start, and a DNP practice site is no exception.

Why DNP students choose us

A DNP project rests on its practice setting. When your employer cannot host the organizational or community work, or your project calls for a second setting, your placement advisor searches for a site and a qualified mentor that fit NUR801A and NUR802A, near where you live and early enough for approval.

Your advisor collects what the approval chain will look for: the mentor's CV or resume and credentials, license details, who at the site handles the affiliation agreement, and the days you plan to be on site. Your faculty mentor and the Nursing Chair then review one complete file. Keiser decides on the topic, the mentor and the site, and our part is making sure nothing in that file is missing or out of line with Keiser's rules. Read how it works, or send your project area through the form below.