Document Type
Article
Abstract
Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) programs must ensure graduates complete a minimum of 1,000 post-baccalaureate clinical/practice hours aligned with the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) Essentials. As programs transition to accelerated and online formats, achieving these hours has become increasingly challenging, particularly for students entering without prior supervised clinical experience. Traditional models relying on terminal practicum courses often create feasibility limitations and variability in the quality of practice experiences. This article describes an innovative curricular model that embeds Clinical Application Assignments (CAAs) across didactic coursework to support longitudinal acquisition of clinical hours. This approach provides a feasible and scalable strategy for achieving required clinical hours while ensuring competency-based, doctoral-level learning.
Disciplines
Educational Methods | Higher Education and Teaching | Teacher Education and Professional Development | University Extension
Publication Date
Spring 5-21-2026
Language
English
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Plonien, Cynthia, "Embedding Clinical Application Assignments in DNP Education: A Model for Practice Hour Acquisition" (2026). Nursing Faculty Publications & Presentations. 1.
https://mavmatrix.uta.edu/nursing_facpubs2/1
Included in
Educational Methods Commons, Higher Education and Teaching Commons, University Extension Commons