Troy's DNP Nurse Leader track: 540 leadership hours and the preceptors behind them
The Nurse Leader track of Troy University's DNP runs on the DNP manual's standing rule that students "contact prospective preceptors" themselves, backed by faculty who "can assist students by suggesting preceptors." On this track the preceptor is a nurse leader or administrator rather than a bedside clinician, across 540 leadership hours that begin in the spring of your first year. We find leaders who meet Troy's credential rule and have room to mentor you.
Find my leadership preceptor
Tell us your city and which practicum comes next.
The four Nurse Leader practicums
Nurse Leader students take the three leadership practicums that MSN HINL students take, then NSG 8880 Directed Professional Practicum. Together they total 540 leadership clinical hours, and the synthesis courses carry you the rest of the way to 1,000.
| Course | Title | Credits | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
NSG 6630 | Introduction to Nursing Leadership and Technology Practicum | 2 | 120 |
NSG 6636 | Advanced Nursing Practice Internship I | 3 | 180 |
NSG 6637 | Advanced Nursing Practice Internship II | 3 | 180 |
NSG 8880 | Directed Professional Practicum | Usually 1 | 60 |
According to the manual's progression plan for post-BSN students, the first leadership practicum starts in the spring of your first year, which means recruiting begins during your opening fall. The three 6000-level courses are described in more depth on HINL practicums.
Keep a record of each practicum's preceptor, organization and hours as you go. Later, your synthesis portfolio asks you to reflect on those logged hours, and the twice-only limit is easier to respect with a list in front of you.
Who qualifies as a Nurse Leader preceptor
The DNP manual gives two paths. A preceptor may hold an MSN or doctorate and be directly involved in nursing leadership or administration, or hold an MS in administration and be directly involved in active clinical practice. Graduate preparation is the expectation across the DNP, and other preceptors are considered individually.
That rule is narrower than the MSN HINL list, which also admits an MS in computer technology, a BSN holder with at least three years in the field, or a BS holder with five. Troy's MSN manual also says BSN-DNP students here need a leadership or administration preceptor, so an informatics specialist without a leadership role is a weaker fit. The two lists sit side by side on HINL and Nurse Leader preceptors.
A strong leader in your own department is still off limits: your own work area is excluded, and any one preceptor or site can serve you twice at most.
Where leadership hours can happen
Leadership practicums are not tied to an exam room. The MSN manual lets HINL students use any setting apart from their own work area, and because Nurse Leader students take the same NSG 6630, NSG 6636 and NSG 6637, ask your faculty advisor to confirm the same freedom applies to you. Hospitals, multi-site health systems, long-term care organizations, public health departments and schools of nursing all employ leaders who may meet the credential rule.
Plan for variety from the start. With four practicums and a twice-only limit on each preceptor and each site, you need at least two leaders and two organizations across the track.
One unusual option: the Alabama Board of Nursing describes itself as a clinical site for regulatory and public-health rotations for approved graduate nursing students, through a Clinical Site Authorization Request on its own website. If policy work interests you, raise it with faculty before you apply.
The extra 60 hours: settle this conflict early
Where the final 60 leadership hours come from depends on which page of the DNP manual you read. In one place they may be earned through any of NSG 8830, NSG 8840 and NSG 8880; in another, Nurse Leader students are scheduled into NSG 8880 during a summer. The practicum usually carries one credit, at 60 hours per credit.
The difference changes your preceptor plan. A summer NSG 8880 means a leadership preceptor lined up for a short summer window, while folding those hours into a synthesis course may tie them to your project agency instead. Ask your faculty advisor which version your planner follows, and read DNP synthesis courses for how the project sequence runs.
Past the 540 leadership hours, the documented hours in your synthesis courses close the gap to 1,000. The DNP 1,000-hour rule page shows the count.
Getting onto the track and getting cleared
Troy sends students whose master's is outside nursing into the post-BSN entry, and nurses whose MSN is non-clinical take on the Nurse Leader or FNP track, with as many as 12 hours credited. Troy's DNP page links two Nurse Leader degree maps, one for each of those groups. If an earlier master's included leadership coursework, ask the DNP Coordinator which courses it replaces, so you search only for practicums still on your planner.
Clearance works the same way as on the FNP track. ViewPoint Screening holds your clinical requirements, including the drug test and background check due before your first clinical course and each year after. Your RN license has to be unencumbered wherever the practicum takes place, and faculty clear you only once the School of Nursing has signed preceptor contracts, current documents and your schedule in hand. Leadership hours logged earlier than that are not counted.
Why Nurse Leader students choose us
Leadership preceptors call for a different search from clinical ones. The people who qualify, graduate-prepared nurse managers, directors and executives, carry full calendars and need a clear, short request. We are the most thorough way to reach them: we identify leaders near you whose credentials match the DNP manual's rule, explain what NSG 6630 or an internship will ask of them, and confirm their interest before your name goes forward.
For each practicum you receive the Preceptor Information Form details, the leader's biosketch and a license copy, prepared ahead of the last day to drop, plus an early read on whether the organization will need a new formal agreement with the School of Nursing. We track preceptors and sites across all four practicums so the twice-only limit is planned for from day one, and we stay on call if a leader changes roles mid-semester. Approval of every preceptor and setting belongs to Troy faculty; we hand them a complete, rule-ready file. See how it works.
Questions Troy students ask
Can an executive without a nursing background precept Troy's DNP Nurse Leader students?
Possibly. Alongside nurses with an MSN or doctorate in leadership or administration, the DNP manual accepts a preceptor holding an MS in administration who is directly involved in active clinical practice, and it considers other preceptors individually. Whether a particular executive fits is a faculty decision, so send the biosketch early and let your faculty advisor rule on it.
How many clinical hours are on Troy's DNP Nurse Leader track?
The leadership practicums add up to 540: 120 in NSG 6630, 180 in each of NSG 6636 and NSG 6637, and 60 in NSG 8880. Every Troy DNP student finishes with 1,000 clinical hours, so the remaining hours are documented across the synthesis courses from NSG 8810 through NSG 8840.
When should I start looking for a Nurse Leader preceptor?
During your first fall. Your first Nurse Leader practicum falls in the first spring, with forms due on that semester's final no-penalty drop date. A leader who agrees in October leaves time for faculty approval and any agreement the organization needs. Part-time plans can shift that timing.
Can I complete the Nurse Leader practicum at the hospital where I work?
Not inside the unit or setting that employs you; the DNP manual excludes those hours. If you work for a large system with many sites, ask faculty how they read your own setting before you approach a leader elsewhere in it. Troy's two-use cap on each preceptor and site also spans all four practicums.
How is the Nurse Leader track different from the MSN HINL?
The 6000-level practicums are shared: NSG 6630, NSG 6636 and NSG 6637 appear in both. The Nurse Leader track adds NSG 8880 and the DNP synthesis courses, finishes at 1,000 hours instead of the MSN HINL's 480, and follows the DNP manual's narrower preceptor rule centered on leadership and administration. The MSN route has its own guide.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-27
We check these pages against Troy's own 2026-27 MSN, DNP, AMSN and RN to BSN orientation manuals, program pages, degree maps and state authorization pages. Your faculty advisor, your course faculty and the School of Nursing have the final word.
Troy asks you to recruit your preceptor. We make that the easy part.
Tell us your Troy program, where you live and which semester your next clinical course starts. We find preceptors who meet Troy's rules for the course, check the setting against Troy's limits, and prepare everything the Preceptor Information Form and biosketch ask for, well ahead of the form deadline.
- Preceptors matched to the course: a graduate-prepared NP or physician for
NSG 6619, pediatrics and women's health forNSG 6666, adults and older adults forNSG 6668 - Preceptor Information Form details, a biosketch and a copy of the preceptor's license, ready for your faculty advisor
- In your own area, in Alabama or a state where Troy can offer clinicals, never in your own work setting
Start your placement plan
Program, city and semester is all we need to begin.