Harborview Medical Center, Seattle. (Photo by Joe Mabel)
Clinical Rotations
SPU’s graduate nursing program is intensively hands-on. The number of clinical hours required depends on your degree pathway and the amount of time it takes you to gain the skills and experience needed to be fully competent in your role. For DNP students in training, at least 1,000 clinical hours are required.
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As a graduate nursing student, you are assigned a clinical preceptor. Your preceptor will enhance your access to patients and settings, clinical skill development, role acquisition, socialization, and professional transition into the world of advanced practice. Unlike many online programs, SPU faculty will personally match you with a preceptor and place you at clinical sites. You do not have to find these resources on your own.
Clinical rotations are varied and provide you with a wide array of experiences. Located just minutes from downtown Seattle, SPU maintains valuable partnerships to facilitate your learning within hospitals, schools, clinics, community agencies, and professional organizations throughout the city. In fact, we have working relationships with more than 150 practice partners. Some of these partners are located in smaller communities outside of the Seattle area. In order to get the best experience, you may have to commute up to 100 miles to certain clinical locations.
If you are pursuing a DNP degree, you will need a minimum of 1,000 practice hours. Of the 1,000 hours, a minimum of 500 faculty supervised clinical hours focused on direct care of individuals and families within the APRN specialty are required for board certification and state licensure. If you have current board certification or licensure in your selected APRN specialty pathway, you may apply up to 500 hours of previously documented clinical practicum hours toward the required 1,000 hours.
If you are a Nurse Practitioner student, you will likely intern in smaller clinics, such as family practice offices. Clinical Nurse Specialist students often intern in larger health care organizations.
In addition to your direct care hours, other mentored learning experiences assist you in achieving DNP competencies as outlined in the AACN DNP Essentials and are a part of the 1,000 practice hour requirement and completed as an immersion experience. For these mentored learning experiences, you might complete simulation experiences, participate in agency committees to assess and evaluate practice protocols, evaluate programs and improve processes within a practice unit, or collaborate with a team to implement a health initiative at the state level.