Preceptorate
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Precept DNPstudents.

DNP programs usually require 1,000 practice hours after the bachelor’s degree, and a project built in a real practice. Doctorally prepared clinicians and leaders mentor both.

Apply to preceptAll specialties
DNPDoctor of Nursing Practice
  • Clinical practices and hospitals
  • Quality and patient safety teams
  • Nursing leadership
  • Population and public health programs

In person

Your student completes practice hours with you and builds their DNP project around a real need in your organization.

Virtually

Project mentoring and leadership hours often work virtually, where the student’s school accepts them.

The students

DNP students, from BSN-to-DNP to post-master’s, in every specialty.

What schools usually ask of you

  • A doctoral degree (DNP, PhD, MD or DO), or the degree the student’s school asks for
  • Experience in the student’s practice area
  • Time to review the student’s project

Each school sets its own rules. Our team tells you exactly what your student’s school needs.

The DNP’s 1,000 hours

What we handle

  • Matching you with the right student
  • The affiliation agreement and the school’s forms
  • Evaluations, and the mentorship sessions for virtual precepting
  • Your payments, per block of hours

How do you become a DNP preceptor or project mentor?

The short answer

DNP students are precepted and mentored by doctorally prepared clinicians and leaders (DNP, PhD, MD or DO, or the degree the school asks for) with experience in the student’s practice area. DNP programs count at least 1,000 post-baccalaureate practice hours, and many students build a DNP project in a real practice. Project mentoring and leadership hours often work virtually where the school accepts them.

  • 1,000post-baccalaureate practice hours across a DNP program
  • 1DNP project, often built in a real practice
  • 2paths: BSN-to-DNP and post-master’s DNP
  • 120precepting hours that complete ANCC’s preceptor category

What DNP students do with you

DNP students practice at the highest level of nursing, and their hours often combine clinical care with systems work:

  • Clinical hours in their population focus, for BSN-to-DNP NP students.
  • A DNP project: a quality improvement, implementation or evaluation project in a real setting.
  • Leadership and systems work, such as quality, safety and population health.
  • Translating evidence into practice changes.

Who precepts and mentors DNP students

Doctorally prepared clinicians and leaders precept and mentor DNP students in clinical practices and hospitals, quality and patient safety teams, nursing leadership and public health programs. For a project, the school usually asks for a mentor at the site who knows the setting and can support the project from start to finish.

How DNP hours are counted

DNP programs count a total of at least 1,000 post-baccalaureate practice hours across the program. For BSN-to-DNP students, NP clinical hours are part of that total. Post-master’s DNP students often bring supervised hours from their master’s program, so the hours they complete now may be project, leadership or systems work.

Precepting DNP students with Preceptorate

Precept or mentor in person, virtually where the school accepts it, or both. You see the hours and the pay before you accept, and our team prepares the agreement and the school’s forms.

Sources

  1. AACN: Doctor of Nursing Practice
  2. ANCC Certification Renewal Handbook (effective September 10, 2025)

Checked October 30, 2026. Schools build on these standards with their own guidelines, and our team tells you exactly what your student’s school asks.

DNP precepting questions

What preceptors ask us most. Anything else, our team answers.

Ask a questionAll questions
How many hours does a DNP student need?
At least 1,000 post-baccalaureate practice hours across the program, under AACN’s guidance.
Can DNP project mentoring be virtual?
Often, yes, where the student’s school accepts virtual hours for the project.
What degree do I need to mentor a DNP student?
Usually a doctoral degree (DNP, PhD, MD or DO), or the degree the student’s school asks for.
Does mentoring a DNP project count toward my renewal?
For ANCC-certified NPs, precepting students in a related academic program counts toward the 120-hour preceptor category; the program confirms your hours.

From the Preceptor Brief

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The 750-hour minimum for every NP track, what counts as direct patient care, why older handbooks say 500, how programs divide the hours across courses, and where the DNP’s 1,000 hours fit.

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What virtual precepting is, what the NP standards say about telehealth hours, which specialties suit it, the HIPAA basics for video visits, and how it works with Preceptorate in minutes a week.

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Precepting and recertification: every board’s rules

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Other specialties

All specialties
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