Gonzaga's DNP practicum courses, from site to defense
Gonzaga's Post-Master's DNP runs its practicum hours through NURS 700 to NURS 704, each paired with a project course from NURS 760 to NURS 763. You establish a practicum site in the first semester, write an individualized proposal and objectives for each practicum, and count toward 1,000 post-baccalaureate hours that include your MSN hours.
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Tell us your Gonzaga program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with the preceptor and site options that fit your Gonzaga course.
The sequence at a glance
In the 2026-27 catalog, each practicum shares a term with a project course, so the practice setting and the DNP project develop together. Credits below are the catalog's program figures; some individual course entries allow a range.
| Practicum | Paired course | Credits | What happens |
|---|---|---|---|
NURS 700 DNP Practicum Readiness | NURS 760 Project Readiness | 1 | Virtual immersions; identify a community practice gap and establish a practicum site |
NURS 701 DNP Practicum I | NURS 761 Project Seminar I | 2 | Work with mentors and agency liaisons; individualized proposal and objectives |
NURS 702 DNP Practicum II | NURS 762 Project Seminar II | 2 (entry: 1-3) | Project implementation in a practice setting |
NURS 703 DNP Practicum III | NURS 763 Project Seminar III | 1 (entry: 1-3) | Final practicum; project defense in person or by video |
NURS 704 DNP Practicum Extension | None | 1-3, repeatable | Extra practicum time to reach 1,000 hours |
Total credits differ by source: the catalog department page says at least 30, the catalog program page 28 to 31, and the DNP web page 28 to 34. Your plan of study is the figure that counts. A System Management concentration, listed at 33 credits, is set to begin in Fall 2027.
Establishing a practicum site in NURS 700
The DNP's first semester is where the practice setting is chosen. NURS 700 asks you to identify a practice gap in the community and establish a practicum site, and NURS 760 works the same ground from the project side. One of the course's virtual immersions is given over to DNP project and practicum planning.
Gonzaga's public pages do not spell out who recruits the setting and the liaison, but the design points to the student: you write the proposal, and the liaison at your setting completes Gonzaga's checklist. Establishing a site in practice means lining up three things together: an organization whose gap your project can address, an agency liaison there who meets Gonzaga's conditions, and a school-level agreement the organization accepts.
The agency liaison guide covers the second piece. For the third, health systems across the region expect an affiliation agreement with the school before any student starts, so raise it with the Clinical Placement Team early.
The proposal and objectives each term
For NURS 701, NURS 702 and NURS 703, the catalog requires an individualized practicum proposal with objectives for the practicum experience. Write each one to tie that term's hours to the project's current phase: planning early, implementation in NURS 702, and wrap-up leading to the final defense in NURS 763.
The proposal is also what your liaison works from. Gonzaga emails the liaison orientation material and course objectives, and the liaison expects at least three contacts in a semester plus an end-of-course evaluation, so objectives that are specific and checkable make every one of those conversations easier.
What a strong proposal covers
- The practice gap and the setting where your project addresses it
- Objectives for this term's practicum, tied to the project seminar
- Your agency liaison and how often you plan to meet
- An estimate of the hours the term adds toward your total
- How the work stays outside your paid role and your own area of the organization
Counting toward 1,000 hours
The target is 1,000 practicum hours after the bachelor's degree, and the clinical hours from your MSN go toward it. Gonzaga's DNP FAQ requires no fewer than 340 of them to be earned in the DNP itself, and the exact number each student needs is individualized; a verification form for prior hours is required at admission.
Gonzaga classes these as indirect care, earned through DNP project work rather than patient visits, so project work in the practice setting is what you record. The catalog assigns no hours to individual practicum courses. If you reach the end of NURS 703 short of your target, NURS 704, the repeatable Practicum Extension, adds the time you need. The clinical hours hub compares the DNP total with the NP tracks.
Grades, prerequisites and summer
The DNP practicums hold a higher bar than the minimum C coded for many MSN prerequisites. NURS 701 needs a B or better in NURS 760 and NURS 708 Inferential Statistics, and NURS 702 needs a B in NURS 701 and NURS 761. Graduate statistics has to be recent, within five years, and finished before NURS 701; otherwise NURS 708 fills the gap.
Plan around the calendar as well. The DNP runs courses in fall, spring and summer, but the project courses are not offered in summer, so every practicum-seminar pairing falls in a fall or spring term. For Post-Master's DNP students, Gonzaga's five-year limit runs from acceptance. See grades and progression for the full rules.
Workplace settings and states
Many DNP students want to tackle a problem inside their own employer. Gonzaga allows practicum hours at your current workplace, provided the work sits outside your own department, happens off the clock, and your liaison is not your direct supervisor. The workplace practicum rules compare this with the NP tracks.
The DNP pages show no residency limit like the NP tracks' ten-state rule, and Gonzaga's disclosure table lists Kansas and Tennessee as states where the Post-Master's DNP can admit students while the NP tracks cannot. Some states regulate out-of-state students in their clinical settings, so read Gonzaga's state authorization summary before settling on a setting outside the West. Gonzaga's catalog makes checking and following each state's mandates for students in clinical roles the student's own responsibility.
Why DNP students choose us
A DNP practicum works when the setting, the gap and the liaison fit together from the first semester. We help you find that combination: an organization near you with a real practice problem your project can address, and a liaison with the standing to open doors who meets Gonzaga's conditions.
We prepare the details Gonzaga and the organization need, including the liaison's role and contact, the organization's agreement contact and a schedule that works across fall and spring, so your NURS 700 work begins with a setting already taking shape. Gonzaga's faculty approve the practicum; we make sure the plan in front of them is complete and fits Gonzaga's rules. Tell us your project idea with the form below.
Questions Gonzaga students ask
How many practicum hours does Gonzaga's Post-Master's DNP require?
The total is 1,000 practicum hours beyond the bachelor's degree, including the clinical hours from your MSN, with at least 340 completed inside the DNP. The exact number is set for each student from the hours verification form submitted at admission, and NURS 704 adds time if you finish NURS 703 short.
Are Gonzaga DNP practicum hours direct patient care?
No. According to Gonzaga's DNP FAQ, the program's practice hours are indirect care, logged through work on your DNP project. That is why the practicum partner is an agency liaison in a practice setting rather than a clinical preceptor supervising patient visits, and why your logged time reflects project work.
Why do some Gonzaga pages list NURS 705 instead of NURS 700?
They show the earlier DNP curriculum, which opened with NURS 705 Introduction to the DNP Role and paired immersions with NURS 705 and NURS 760. The 2026-27 catalog moves practicum readiness and the virtual immersions into NURS 700. The plan of study for your admission year decides which set you follow.
What grade do I need to move through the DNP practicums?
A B or better. NURS 701 requires a B in NURS 760 and NURS 708, and NURS 702 requires a B in NURS 701 and NURS 761. Gonzaga expects a B or better across graduate study generally, and a program GPA under 3.00 brings a semester of probation.
Can I complete DNP practicum hours at my employer?
Yes, with limits. Gonzaga allows it at your current workplace, but not in the part of the organization where you work, not during paid hours, and not with a liaison who supervises you directly. A different department or site within the same system can meet those conditions.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-25
We check these pages against Gonzaga's catalog, FAQs, preceptor packets and Department of Nursing pages. Your course, the Graduate Nursing Student Handbook and Gonzaga's Clinical Placement Team have the final word.
Gonzaga asks you to find local preceptors first. Let us run that search.
Tell us your Gonzaga program, your practicum course and where you live and can travel. We find preceptors who fit the course and prepare the license, certification and site details your Practicum Site Placement Request needs, early in the semester before.
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NURS 661PtoNURS 664P, psychiatric care forNURS 661MtoNURS 663M, an agency liaison for the DNP - Credentials, license, board certification and site contact ready for your site request
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