NSU's BSN to DNP, FNP concentration: the sequence, the 1,455 hours and your preceptors

What the FNP concentration looks like

The BSN to DNP is NSU's integrated route for a nurse with a bachelor's degree who wants to become a family nurse practitioner and finish with a practice doctorate. Master's-level APRN courses and 7000-level doctoral courses are interleaved from the first semester, the family practice clinicals come in the middle, and the program closes with four DNP project courses.

Coursework is online. The FNP concentration adds three on-campus intensives, and every DNP project course includes one to two Virtual Intensive days. NSU admits to the program in fall and winter, with an August 1 deadline for fall and December 1 for winter on the program page. Admission follows the MSN's GPA and practice-experience rules and adds a writing sample in APA 7th edition style and an interview; the 2026-27 catalog also asks for a current, unencumbered US RN license and official documentation of all supervised postbaccalaureate practice hours.

How the 1,455 hours break down

The 2026-27 catalog states 1,455 clinical and practicum hours for each BSN to DNP concentration. For FNP, the clinical side is 190 + 190 + 95 + 95 + 285 = 855 hours, the same as NSU's master's FNP track, at 95 hours per credit. The project side is 150 hours in each of NSG 7431, NSG 7444, NSG 7445 and NSG 7451, which is 600; NSU's program page describes the rate as 2 practicum credits for 150 practicum hours.

Two other figures circulate. The BSN to DNP web page states more than 500 clinical hours each in the MSN and DNP portions, more than 1,000 in all, which is consistent with 1,455 but less precise. The 2025-26 catalog described an older 75-credit plan with 1,365 hours that included NSG 5571 Behavioral Health for Advanced Practice Nurses. If your acceptance letter or plan of study was issued under the older catalog, ask your program director which one you follow.

The project hours call for a practice site that can host your DNP project, and our DNP project practicum guide explains how those 600 hours work.

When to line up clinical preceptors and the project site

The handbook's placement rule applies to each APRN clinical course: tell the clinical coordinator about an identified preceptor and site two semesters before the course starts, or the coordinator places you within 150 miles of your residential ZIP code, and that placement is not negotiable. Counting back two program semesters from each clinical gives this pattern. The two-semester deadline page covers the exact term math.

So the search for your first family practice preceptor belongs in Semester I, while you are still in NSG 7300 and pathophysiology.

The project site runs on a different clock. The two-semester rule is written for APRN clinical courses, and NSU publishes no separate notice date for the practice setting that hosts your DNP project, nor who supervises those hours. Ask your DNP faculty during the capstone semester what they expect for NSG 7431, because Project I starts the very next term.

Why BSN to DNP students choose us

A BSN to DNP student needs five FNP clinical placements in four semesters and then a practice setting for 600 project hours, all while carrying doctoral coursework. We plan the whole run at once. Your placement advisor maps each clinical to NSU's sequence, finds preceptors near your home for adult primary care, pediatrics, women's health and the capstone, and has each one named ahead of its notice point.

For every preceptor we assemble what the clinical coordinator checks: license, credentials, site details and the specialty fit. We keep your CastleBranch items and site requirements moving, we stay on call if a preceptor drops, and when the clinicals are done we help you find a practice site for the project hours. NSU's clinical coordinator gives the final approval of each preceptor and site, and what we send them is complete and fits NSU's rules. See how it works or use the form below.