NUR 880 and the 1,000-hour DNP requirement

01What SAU publishes about DNP hours

Two sources feed the table: SAU's live DNP page and its 2023-24 Graduate Catalog, the newest graduate catalog open to outside readers. The live page does not say whether NUR 880 still runs, so look for it in your Brightspace course list or put the question to your advisor.

02Do you take NUR 880?

On the 2023-24 wording, one number decides it: whether your earlier program gave you at least 500 practicum hours. Below that line, you take the three NUR 880 courses to bring your post-baccalaureate total toward 1,000. The catalog does not describe any other route.

SAU's own master's tracks show how wide that range can be. Its NP tracks list 500 to 625 clinical hours, while its Nurse Educator and MSN/MBA tracks list 125, so a graduate of those two would fall well below 500 on the published numbers. The same logic applies to master's degrees from other schools.

SAU does not publish how it verifies earlier hours. Ask admissions what proof it accepts, and request records from your earlier school early, since an old program office can be slow to answer. The clinical hours page lists SAU's master's-level totals if you finished one of its tracks.

03What a faculty-led clinical immersion leaves unsaid

Beyond calling NUR 880 a faculty-led clinical immersion, the 2023-24 catalog says nothing about how it works. The live DNP page lists practicum work and says nothing about who arranges practicum sites. Nothing published says whether you need an outside preceptor or mentor, a site agreement, or a particular kind of setting.

Questions to put to SAU

• Does NUR 880 still run as three 1-credit courses, and when do they fall in the 20 months?
• Do you need an outside host, such as a nurse executive or clinical leader, or does faculty arrange the immersion?
• If a host is needed, does SAU need an agreement with that organization, and how far ahead?
• How should NUR 880 hours be recorded, and do they connect to the DNP Project courses NUR 810, 820, 830 and 840?

The natural first contact is the SAU role titled Director of DNP and MSN-EDU/MSN-MBA Programs. The who to ask page sets out the other roles.

04Compliance and state rules for DNP practicum work

If you take NUR 880, expect the same clearance the catalog asks of every practicum student: a license where you practice, liability insurance covering your whole enrollment, a background check and drug test repeated each year, and the usual CPR, TB, immunization and HIPAA items, all at your own cost. Clearance is checked before the practicum begins, so start it while you are still in your first DNP courses. The compliance page covers each item.

State rules are a separate question. SAU's DNP page carries its own list of excluded states, and on Mississippi it no longer matches the university's main authorization page. If you plan practicum hours in a state on either list, read the state authorization page and get SAU's answer in writing before you approach a host.

05Fitting practicum hours into 20 months

SAU describes the DNP as a 20-month program. If you owe NUR 880, its three courses share that span with the four DNP Project courses, so ask where each one falls in your plan and how many hours each expects. Work back from those dates if an outside host turns out to be needed.

Recording the hours is the other open question. The catalog's definition of a clinical practice hour, written for the MSN, is time spent with patients, which fits a leadership immersion awkwardly. Ask faculty how they want immersion time documented, keep a running record from the first day rather than rebuilding it at the end of term, and see the hour logs page for SAU's general approach.

06Why SAU's DNP students choose us for a host search

If SAU confirms that your NUR 880 immersion needs an outside host, the search looks different from an NP rotation: you may be looking for a nurse executive, a quality or operations leader, or a health system willing to host a doctoral student. A placement advisor looks for such hosts in your area and prepares what faculty request. If faculty arrange the immersion themselves, we tell you so and point our effort at whatever else your plan needs. Either way, the earlier you have SAU's answer, the more room there is to plan a host search around your DNP Project work.

SAU's faculty approve every site and host, and the host file we help prepare gives them what they need to decide. The DNP program page covers the doctorate as a whole. To ask about a host search, contact the placement desk.