DNP students at University of Southern Maine can use our independent search support for project mentors, clinical preceptors, and practicum sites. We work from the student's confirmed course rules, while the school keeps final authority over every candidate and site.

Treat this as an identity and accreditation snapshot, not as a statement of school policy. The official school website and the student's current course documents remain the sources for pathways, deadlines, hours, and placement rules.
The CCNE identified an accredited DNP program at University of Southern Maine when this directory was verified on July 21, 2026. That evidence supports inclusion here, but it does not establish a specific pathway, specialty, placement policy, or deadline. Confirm those details in your current handbook or with the field placement office before anyone begins outreach.
Begin with the course number, term dates, required practice setting, mentor or preceptor credentials, location limits, and every form your program expects. If the course includes both a scholarly project and direct-care practice, separate those needs so each proposed person and site can be evaluated for the work they will actually supervise.
Project-site fit begins with the approved practice problem. A student needs a setting that can support the proposed intervention, provide appropriate access, and permit evaluation of the result. Depending on the question, that may be a health system, clinic, public agency, long-term care organization, or community service rather than a traditional clinical rotation site.
Mentor selection follows the project, then the program's current qualification rules. Relevant experience may sit with a DNP-prepared nurse, physician, executive, quality professional, or another practice expert, yet no credential should be assumed acceptable at University of Southern Maine. We document the proposed mentor's role and let the program make that determination.
At least 1,000 supervised post-baccalaureate practice hours are part of AACN's DNP framework, but that is not a school-specific course total. Prior qualifying master's hours and the hours assigned to the DNP pathway vary. Ask University of Southern Maine to confirm the student's remaining requirement and build the placement request from that answer.
For a direct-care pathway, the plan may require a board-certified nurse practitioner or physician in the student's population focus. Systems and leadership hours may call for a different practice expert and setting. The DNP clinical hours guide explains the cumulative post-baccalaureate framework without assigning a school-specific total that the evidence does not support.
A local search can start in Portland and extend to eligible sites elsewhere in Maine when the program and state authorization rules allow it. Geography is only one filter. The proposed site must also support the course objectives, the mentor must meet current credential and conflict rules, and both parties must be willing to complete the school's approval documents.
Use our DNP placement guide for Maine alongside this school page when planning geography. It identifies common site categories, while the student's program still decides what is eligible.
We organize the candidate's setting, role, credentials, availability, and relationship to the project before submission. That gives University of Southern Maine a complete proposal to evaluate. It does not replace an affiliation agreement, compliance review, background requirement, state authorization check, or any other step the school requires.
A prior term's instructions may no longer control the next placement cycle. Confirm the checklist with the current handbook or placement office, save the applicable forms, and send that version with the request. We do not fill gaps by borrowing policies from a different school.
Once the current requirements are clear, a search request should include the course, dates, approved location, setting, population focus, project topic, and school forms. The placement process uses those facts to screen candidates before the program performs its own review.
PreceptorDNP is not affiliated with or endorsed by University of Southern Maine, and nothing on this page is issued on the school's behalf. We independently search for candidates and cannot promise that a person or site will be found or approved. When the confirmed requirements are available, request a match to begin the search.
University of Southern Maine makes its own approval decisions. We identify and document a candidate around the current requirements you provide, then the program reviews the person, site, and paperwork.
AACN sets a floor of at least 1,000 supervised post-baccalaureate practice hours, but the total and treatment of prior qualifying hours varies by program. Confirm your current University of Southern Maine degree audit and handbook rather than relying on a generic number.
Yes, when the current course requirements call for both roles. We screen each candidate for the work that person will supervise and submit the match for program approval.
No. PreceptorDNP is an independent placement service. We do not represent University of Southern Maine, and we cannot guarantee that the school will approve a proposed mentor, preceptor, or site.
Sources · last updated July 2026
University of Southern Maine website · CCNE DNP program directory · AACN Doctor of Nursing Practice education
No cost to request, and nothing is billed until a match is confirmed and your school signs off. We'll reply within one business day.
We do not guarantee placement. Final approval rests with your program.