Find a DNP preceptor, project mentor, and practicum site

Confirm your remaining post-baccalaureate practice hours and your scholarly project requirements with your program, then source a credentialed preceptor and project mentor whose license and setting match the work, and submit them for your school's approval. That is the whole loop. The friction is never the idea; it is the hours it takes to reach willing, qualified people and to get the affiliation paperwork through a clinical office on time. We run that loop for you, and nothing is billed until a match is confirmed and your program signs off.

A DNP placement is not one thing. The doctorate layers a scholarly project and a project mentor on top of supervised practice hours, and whether you also need a direct-care clinical preceptor depends on your track. Sorting those pieces before you start is what keeps a search from stalling. Our placement process walks the exact sequence.

Before you look for a person, know which people you need. Most doctoral students are placing some combination of the three roles below, and each is approved on its own terms.

• Clinical preceptor, a board-certified NP or physician who supervises direct patient-care hours on an APRN track. Population focus and certification scope have to match yours.
• Project mentor, a qualified practice expert, often a DNP-prepared nurse, executive, or quality leader, who guides the scholarly project inside a real practice setting.
• Practicum or project site, the health system, clinic, public-health program, or community organization where the hours and the project actually happen, cleared through an affiliation agreement.

AACN sets the framework the whole thing is built around: a minimum of 1,000 supervised practice hours post-baccalaureate, with at least 500 in a supervised academic setting. Programs land across roughly 945 to 1,140 hours depending on entry point and specialty. The DNP clinical hours guide shows how that total is built for BSN-to-DNP versus post-master's students.

The honesty line matters more here than anywhere on the site, so it is worth stating plainly. We source and place approvable preceptors and mentors, and we prepare the paperwork. We do not sell, rent, guarantee, or pay for clinical hours, and we never present a match as approved before your school reviews it. Final approval always rests with your program.

If a proposed match is declined, a real service re-sources or releases you rather than keeping a fee. That is the standard to hold any provider to, including us; the how to choose a service page lays out the full checklist.

This hub feeds a set of focused guides. Jump to the one that describes where you actually are:

• Starting from scratch and want the method: how to find a DNP preceptor.
• Want to know what an independent service does versus your school's own support: DNP preceptor matching service.
• Searching by geography: DNP preceptor near me and the state-by-state directory.
• Already hit dead ends: can't find a DNP preceptor.
• Running out of runway: need a DNP preceptor fast.
• Lost a preceptor mid-term: preceptor dropped, find a replacement.
• Falling behind on hours: behind on DNP clinical hours.
• Weighing whether to pay: free vs paid and the cost of a delayed graduation.
• Placing remotely: virtual DNP preceptorship. Protecting yourself: student liability insurance.

Not sure which school makes you self-source? The DNP by school guide sorts programs by who finds the preceptor, and DNP specialties covers how FNP, PMHNP, and leadership tracks differ.

Start before your practicum term, not during it. A DNP preceptor search plus school review and site clearance regularly spans eight to twelve weeks, and a project that needs site access or IRB review cannot begin on short notice. Thin specialties like PMHNP and pediatrics take longer because the qualified pool is smaller. The single biggest lever you control is how early you begin relative to the term you need to start.

When your requirements are in hand, use the form on this page to open a search. There is no cost to ask, and nothing is billed until a match is confirmed and your program approves it.