Samford's MSN to DNP for FNP and PMHNP: 750 clinical hours and a DNP project
Samford offers two post-master's DNPs that add a nurse practitioner population to an MSN: Family NP (56 credits, May start) and Psychiatric-Mental Health NP (47 credits, August start). Both require 750 clinical hours plus the DNP Project in NURG 760 and NURG 761, but the clinicals land at opposite ends of the two plans.
Plan your DNP clinical years
Tell us your track and entry term. Your placement advisor times each preceptor search to your plan of study.
Two post-master's DNPs, two different calendars
The two tracks share a degree and a clinical-hour total, and almost nothing else about their timing. Read the column for your track before you plan anything.
| FNP MSN to DNP | PMHNP MSN to DNP | |
|---|---|---|
| Length on the program page | 2.5 to 3 years | 8 semesters |
| Entry and deadline | May; March 1 | August; June 1 |
| GPA for admission | 3.5 | 3.5 |
| Credits (plan and catalog) | 56 | 47 |
| On-campus visits | 2 or 3 required intensives | 1 to 2 required on-campus/telehealth intensives |
| Clinical courses | NURG 723 (150), NURG 724 (300), NURG 730 (300) | NURG 767 (75), NURG 788 (150), NURG 789 (225), NURG 790 (300) |
| First clinical term | Year 3 summer | Year 1 fall |
| DNP Project | NURG 760 and NURG 761, year 3 | NURG 760 and NURG 761, year 3 |
The PMHNP track runs a gap analysis of your transcripts and may add NURG 533, NURG 610 and NURG 633 if your MSN did not include them. Any added course changes your plan, so wait for the final version before booking preceptors against it.
FNP MSN to DNP: two years of coursework, then the clinical year
The FNP plan front-loads the APRN core and the family primary care courses. Years one and two cover NURG 533, NURG 731, NURG 610 (with a campus visit), NURG 633, COHS 500, NURG 706, NURG 732, NURG 707, NURG 708, NURG 733 and NURG 734, with no clinical hours at all.
Year three carries everything clinical. NURG 723 (adult patients, 150 hours) arrives in the third summer alongside a second campus visit, NURG 724 (patients across the lifespan, 300 hours) runs in the fall beside NURG 760 DNP Project I, and NURG 730 NP Practicum (300 hours) shares the final spring with NURG 761 DNP Project II. That is 750 clinical hours and a doctoral project packed into three consecutive terms.
By our count, a May 2027 entrant would start NURG 723 in summer 2029. Two full years sounds like plenty of lead time, and it is, if the preceptor search starts in year two rather than in the spring before. The course guides for NURG 723 and NURG 730 set out what each stage needs from a preceptor.
PMHNP MSN to DNP: clinicals first, project last
The PMHNP plan does the opposite. NURG 767 Psychotherapeutic Frameworks and Modalities, with 75 therapy hours, sits in the very first fall next to NURG 766 and NURG 769. NURG 788 follows in the first summer, NURG 789 in the second fall and NURG 790 in the second spring, so all 750 clinical hours are finished by the end of year two.
Year three then turns to the doctorate: NURG 732 in the second summer, NURG 733 with NURG 760 in the third fall, and NURG 734 with NURG 761 in the third spring.
The practical consequence is urgent. An August entrant needs a Samford-approved therapy preceptor within weeks of starting, which means the search belongs in the months between admission and the first day of class. If you entered in August 2026, you are in NURG 767 now, and the next preceptor on your list is the one for summer 2027. The PMHNP clinicals guide covers each course.
How the 1,000-hour DNP rule fits with 750 clinical hours
The 2026-2027 Graduate Nursing Student Handbook cites CCNE's requirement of a minimum of 1,000 post-baccalaureate hours of supervised advanced clinical practice for the DNP. Up to 500 of those may come from an MSN or a post-graduate certificate, and the Academic Advisor approves practicum hours applied toward the degree.
The handbook adds the part that matters for NP students: you must still complete every direct clinical hour in your plan of study, however many hours transfer in from an earlier degree. Prior hours can help the doctoral total; they do not shorten NURG 723 or NURG 788. The DNP hours page walks through the arithmetic and where to ask.
Hours from your MSN may count toward the DNP's 1,000, but they never replace the 750 direct clinical hours in your NP plan of study.
Conflicts to settle before you apply
- Who the PMHNP DNP is for: Samford's NP department page describes post-master's PMHNP study for "certified primary care nurse practitioners," while the PMHNP DNP page speaks to "registered nurses holding a master's degree in nursing." Ask Graduate Student Services which describes you.
- Old FNP page, old rules: a legacy FNP MSN to DNP page is still online with an April 15 deadline and "3 required on-campus sessions." The current page says March 1 and 2 or 3 intensives; go by the current page.
- Campus visits: the PMHNP DNP page lists 1 to 2 on-campus or telehealth intensives, but its plan of study marks no campus visit in any term, so confirm dates with the program.
NURG 767hours: the plan says 75 and the catalog says a minimum of 60.
Where we fit in a Samford DNP
If you are working while you design a doctoral project and log patient hours, the preceptor search is the task most likely to slip. Samford's program pages say connections are essential for placements close to home, and we bring those connections, sized to whichever calendar your track follows.
- PMHNP: a therapy preceptor lined up for
NURG 767before your first fall, then psychiatric preceptors forNURG 788,NURG 789andNURG 790, planned as one sequence. - FNP: an adult primary care preceptor for the third summer and a lifespan practice for the fall and the practicum, arranged while you are still in coursework.
- Preceptor and site details prepared to match each course, so your clinical rotation request is ready for Samford's review, plus the site information for any new affiliation agreement request.
- Onboarding pushed along with each site, and an advisor on call to replace a preceptor who drops mid-term.
Samford approves every preceptor and site. Tell us your track and we build the preceptor plan around your project year, not against it.
Questions Samford students ask
Is Samford's MSN to DNP for nurses who are already nurse practitioners?
The FNP MSN to DNP is written for MSN-prepared registered nurses who are not yet NPs, and it adds the full FNP clinical sequence. For the PMHNP DNP, Samford's pages disagree about the audience. A certified NP who only wants to add a population may find the post-graduate certificate the shorter path; Graduate Student Services can compare them.
What is the DNP Project in Samford's MSN to DNP?
It runs across NURG 760 DNP Project I and NURG 761 DNP Project II, two credits each, in the final fall and spring. The handbook says the proposal is written in NURG 760 and completed in NURG 761. The catalog lists both as pass or fail, repeatable up to a maximum of eight credits.
Do I have to travel to Birmingham for the MSN to DNP?
FNP students attend 2 or 3 on-campus intensives, and the plan marks campus visits with NURG 610 in the first fall and NURG 723 in the third summer. The PMHNP track lists 1 to 2 intensives that may be on campus or by telehealth. The intensives guide covers planning around them.
What GPA do I need for Samford's MSN to DNP?
Both post-master's DNP tracks list a 3.5 GPA, higher than the 3.0 Samford asks of BSN and ADN applicants. The FNP track admits in May with a March 1 deadline, and the PMHNP track admits in August with a June 1 deadline. Applicants living in, or licensed only in, the 16 states Samford excludes cannot apply to either.
Can I complete MSN to DNP clinicals in another state?
Samford's NP pages say clinicals can take place in your own community across the country, provided you hold an unencumbered RN license in every state where a rotation happens. The handbook warns that rotation requests may be denied on state rules, so check clinicals outside Alabama early.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-25
We check these pages against Samford's own program pages, plans of study, the 2026-27 Graduate Nursing Student Handbook and Alabama rules. Your course, your program coordinator and Graduate Student Services have the final word.
Samford says connections are essential. We are the connection.
Tell us your Samford track, where you live and when your next clinical course starts. We find preceptors near you who fit the course and prepare the details Samford needs to approve the rotation, including a new affiliation agreement where one is needed.
- Preceptors matched to the course: adult primary care for
NURG 723, family practice across the lifespan forNURG 724, psychiatric care forNURG 788 - Preceptor, license and site details ready for your clinical rotation request
- In your own community, anywhere Samford accepts you and your RN license is valid
Start your placement plan
Program, city and start date is all we need to begin.