Indirect and Direct Care Hours

DNP Project Immersion and Clinical Experience Hours

DNP programs require a minimum of 1000 hours of indirect and direct practice post-baccalaureate as part of a supervised academic program. Programs that prepare students for nurse practitioner certification provide a minimum of 500 direct patient care clinical hours. Requirements for direct patient care clinical hours will increase to a minimum of 750 hours for students who begin the DNP program in the Fall of 2024 or after.

Project Immersion Hours

The DNP Scholarly Project Immersion (NURS 633) allows DNP students to focus on developing, implementing, and evaluating the DNP Scholarly Project. During iterative project immersion experiences, students will acquire advanced-level competency in EBP, QI, and leadership, facilitating their meeting of the DNP program's student learning outcomes. In collaboration with the student, the faculty chair will approve student learning objectives for the project immersion experience, determine appropriate project community member oversight, and assume accountability for evaluating the student learning and achievement of the DNP Scholarly Project outcomes. Students will review an approved list of activities for project immersion.

Students who began the DNP program before Fall 2024 will complete 420 indirect patient care hours (7 credit hours) of NURS 633 DNP Scholarly Project Immersion. Students who begin the DNP program in Fall 2024 or after will complete 240 indirect patient care hours (4 credit hours) of NURS 633 DNP Scholarly Project Immersion.

*Note nurse anesthesia students begin their program of study during the summer semester.

The project immersion allows DNP students to focus on developing, implementing, and evaluating the DNP Scholarly Project. DNP students will work towards proficiency based on individual assessment of Level 2 sub-competencies (AACN, 2021) and DNP program student learning outcomes during iterative project immersion experiences.

Students will log all project immersion and clinical experience hours in Typhon's online tracking system. Before being granted access to Typhon, students will receive instructions and mandatory training. Students must confirm that the credit hours they've registered for are correct for project immersion and clinical hours based on the number of clock hours completed (1 credit hour = 60 hours). Students are responsible for ensuring the accuracy of the credit hour-to-clock hour ratio by checking their Typhon accounts to meet DNP degree requirements.

Post-master’s DNP students (Post-Master's-DNP) Post-Master's DNP students must meet these additional concentration specific requirements:

1) complete the Verification of Clinical Practice Hours form (https://utk/instructure.com/courses/64137/files/3862892) to document clinical practice hours completed in their MSN program and

2) complete 300 hours (5 credit hours) of enhanced professional practice immersion experiences (NURS 632).

BSN-DNP

Clinical Experience Hours

BSN-DNP students who began the program before Fall 2024 must complete a minimum number of clinical hours in their concentration as follows:

• Family Nurse Practitioner: 600 hours or 10 credit hours

• Nurse Anesthesia: 2000 hours or 34 credit hours

• Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner: 600 hours or 10 credit hours

• Pediatric Nurse Practitioner – Primary Care: 600 hours or 10 credit hours

• Pediatric Nurse Practitioner – Dual Track: 900 hours or 15 credit hours

BSN-DNP students who begin the program in Fall 2024 or after must complete a minimum number of clinical hours in their concentration as follows:

* Family Nurse Practitioner: 840 direct patient care hours / 180 simulation hours or 17 credit hours

* Nurse Anesthesia:

* Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner: 840 direct patient care hours / 180 simulation hours or 14 credit hours

* Pediatric Nurse Practitioner - Primary Care: 840 direct patient care hours / 180 simulation hours or 17 credit hours

* Pediatric Nurse Practitioner - Dual Track: 1380 direct patient care hours / 180 simulation hours or 26 credit hours

Project Immersion/NURS 633 Guidelines

Students should register for one credit hour of NURS 633 for each 60 clock hours anticipated; the number of clock hours logged for a semester should match the number of credit hours for which the student is registered. An incomplete will not be given if the student has not completed the necessary clock hours. All DNP Scholarly Project hours must be logged against NURS 633 in Typhon.

The following activities may be logged in Typhon for project immersion hours:

Organizational or project site assessment
Meeting with the project site team
DNP Scholarly Project implementation (educational intervention, data collection, data analysis, etc.)
Advising appointments with Chair regarding DNP Scholarly Project
Consulting with the statistician
Poster presentation about the DNP Scholarly Project
Podium presentation about the DNP Scholarly Project
Final defense executive summary and presentation preparation.
Create and submit the abstract and poster to the TRACE repository
Consulting with IT or other key personnel at the project site
Attending workshops, conferences, webinars, etc., that pertain to the development, implementation, or evaluation of the DNP Scholarly Project (must be pre-approved by the Committee Chair or NURS 633 faculty of record)
Completing a scholarly writing or publication course
Presenting or participating in a colloquium activity beyond the expected course requirements for attendance.
Visiting legislators, attending legislative days (state or federal)
Development of project-related items [i.e., Data collection form, project flyer, educational materials, executive summary]
CITI training
Preparation and submission for IRB determination
Other opportunities for DNP Scholarly Project dissemination as approved by the chair (presentation to project stakeholders, hospital or community grand rounds or committees, etc.)
Proposal and Manuscript preparation and revisions separate from a graded course assignment (i.e., NURS 630)

The following activities cannot be counted as project immersion hours

Any graded course assignment(s)
Activities not approved by the faculty project chair
Travel time
Activities specific to course work assignments

For any project immersion activities not listed above, please discuss and seek approval from the DNP Scholarly Project Chair.

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