NURS 840 to 843: Liberty's DNP practicums

The four DNP practicums

The same four courses appear in every 2026-27 DNP plan. The plans footnote them as synchronous distance courses that require practicum hours, while the course list tags them "Offered: Residential," a mismatch worth knowing about if registration looks odd.

The scholarly project runs alongside in NURS 947 to NURS 950, 1 credit each, from project planning through the final defense. The catalog lists no practicum hours for those four project courses.

Hours: 300 or 560, never split by course

The FNP, Post-BSN PMHNP and Post-MSN PMHNP plans each assign 300 DNP practicum hours to NURS 840–843, on top of 750 NP hours. The post-master's DNP asks for at least 560, possibly more: its catalog footnote cites CCNE's minimum of 1,000 practicum hours after the BSN, and your MSN hours are credited through the DNP Practicum Hour Verification Form.

None of the current plans says how many hours belong in each course. An earlier plan did, setting each DNP practicum, NURS 840 through NURS 844, at 112 hours. That plan had five DNP practicums and a larger overall total, so its per-course figure does not carry over to today's four.

For the post-master's arithmetic, including how Liberty counts your earlier MSN hours, see DNP hour verification.

Repeating NURS 843 to finish hours

NURS 843 is the course Liberty lets you repeat while hours are still outstanding, but its sources give different limits. The course list allows up to three attempts to complete the required hours. The post-master's DNP plan says no more than three enrollments, and the Post-BSN PMHNP plan says no more than four.

Each repeat means another term and another registration, and it needs your site and site contact to stay available for that extra term. Ask your advisor early which limit applies to your plan, and ask your course faculty how many hours they expect you to log in each attempt.

If you are already behind, the behind on hours page walks through the options before a repeat becomes the only route.

Prerequisites and the DNP Gate

NURS 840 requires NURS 828, the School of Nursing DNP Practicum Gate, along with NURS 832, 834 and 836, and the comprehensive exam: NURS 820, or the PMHNP version NURS 821 where your plan includes it. NURS 820 is taken after every course except the project and practicum courses in the FNP plan.

There is a catch for FNP students. NURS 828 appears in the post-master's DNP plan and both PMHNP plans, but not in the 2026-27 FNP plan, even though the course list names it as a prerequisite for NURS 840. If you are in the FNP track, ask your advisor how the DNP Gate is handled for you, well before the term you expect to start NURS 840.

The Gate is where practicum requirements are submitted. The Gate course guide covers what the Gate courses collect.

Who finds the site, and who guides you

No Liberty source says who finds the site or mentor for NURS 840–843. The course descriptions speak of faculty guidance and faculty approval of every planned activity. For the post-master's DNP, Liberty's state pages describe School of Nursing support for a practicum, mentorship or shadow placement in any approved state.

The description of the retired NURS 844 is the clearest older statement: students carried out the practicum at a pre-approved site, guided by a preceptor and faculty, with a weekly synchronous meeting. Whether the current four courses follow that pattern is a question for your course faculty.

Telehealth is also unsettled here. Liberty's telehealth rule speaks of PMHNP and FNP students and does not single out DNP practicum hours, so ask before you log any DNP work done remotely.

Clearance and state rules

The DNP practicums sit under the same compliance rules as the rest of the doctorate: current AHA BLS (the Healthcare Providers course with AED), the background check and drug screen, a completed Immunization/Physical Exam Form, OSHA and HIPAA training, and whatever the site adds. Fast Track post-master's students must also keep their compliance current in CastleBranch; see CastleBranch at Liberty.

State lists differ by program. The FNP and PMHNP program codes exclude California, New York, Washington, DC and the territories. The post-master's DNP excludes only Washington, DC and the territories, and allows California and New York with that state's RN license. In every case, your RN license must be valid where the practicum takes place. If you move mid-program, file Liberty's State Change Notification form; changing your address in myLU does not count as an official change.

Sites for systems-level DNP work

DNP hours depend on an organization willing to host systems-level work and a leader there who will support it. We look for sites and leaders near you that suit the micro, meso and macro focus of the four courses, and we help you prepare what the DNP Gate and your faculty ask for. Post-master's students who owe more than 560 hours can ask us to look for a site able to host the extra time. If a site contact steps away before NURS 843 ends, we keep searching.

Liberty's faculty approve your activities and Liberty approves sites, and we make sure both have a clear picture of the work the site can host. Tell us your DNP track and term and we will talk through what a fit looks like.