The USI DNP project practice partner: who you find and what the form asks
Every University of Southern Indiana DNP student is assigned a primary faculty mentor and identifies their own practice partner, the person at the project site who works with the mentor and the student. The partner is named on the DNP Project Practice Partner form, and the project's 500 practice hours run through NRSG 801, NRSG 803 and NRSG 805.
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Two roles: the mentor USI assigns, the partner you find
The handbook divides the work plainly: "each student will be assigned to a primary faculty mentor. The student will also identify practice partner(s) who will collaborate with the faculty mentor and student on the project." USI supplies the academic lead; you supply the practice side.
In practice that means an organization willing to host the project and at least one person there who will work with you and your mentor across the project courses. The "(s)" in the handbook allows more than one partner, which helps when a project spans departments or when your first contact changes roles midway.
The rule covers every DNP route at USI: the post-MSN Advanced Nursing Practice and Organizational and Systems Leadership concentrations, and all four BSN-to-DNP tracks. For BSN-to-DNP nurse practitioner students it is a separate search from the specialty preceptors described on the BSN-to-DNP page.
The DNP Project Practice Partner form
Each DNP student must complete the DNP Project Practice Partner form and comply with all terms of the agreement at the project location. The handbook says a copy is in Blackboard, and USI's website also hosts a version created in 2016.
That web version asks for the partner's academic credentials and their relationship to the student, among other details. USI publishes no minimum credential for practice partners, so the form is where your faculty mentor sees who your partner is and how you know them. If your partner is your manager or a colleague, record that plainly.
On timing, a 2016 USI schedule titled "DNP Practice Partner Collaboration" says the form must be submitted by the end of DNP Project I, which is now NRSG 801. That schedule predates the 2026-27 course numbers, so confirm the current due date in your NRSG 801 syllabus.
From proposal to finished project
The handbook sets the project's path from partner to publication. Each stage below comes from USI's DNP pages; your course syllabi add the dates.
- Identify your partner and siteBefore or early in
NRSG 801, find the organization and the practice partner who will collaborate with you and your faculty mentor. - File the Practice Partner formComplete the form from Blackboard, with the partner's credentials and relationship to you, by the date your syllabus sets.
- Pass proposal reviewThe DNP Project Proposal Review Committee approves the proposal. Submissions are due by 8 a.m. CST on Monday of Week 10, Week 12 or Week 15, with three submissions allowed.
- Meet IRB requirementsThe proposal must satisfy IRB requirements before you implement anything at the site.
- Present the proposalA poster presentation of the proposal takes place in
NRSG 803. - Implement and finishThe project must be completed by the end of
NRSG 805. - DisseminateSubmit an Executive Summary, plus either a podium presentation at a peer-reviewed conference or a manuscript submitted to a peer-reviewed journal.
Project hours and how they are logged
The three project courses carry 500 of your DNP practice hours on every route, and they are the same three courses for every student.
| Course | Credits | Grading | Practice hours |
|---|---|---|---|
NRSG 801 DNP Project I | 2 | Pass/No Pass | 125 |
NRSG 803 DNP Project II | 3 | Pass/No Pass | 200 |
NRSG 805 DNP Project III | 3 | Pass/No Pass | 175 |
| Total | 8 | 500 |
All three are offered in Fall and Spring. Every project hour goes on your log with the activity, the date, the course objectives, the program outcomes and the DNP Essentials it meets. Post-master's students who arrived with fewer than 240 MSN clinical hours complete extra practice hours inside these courses, so their partner and site host more time. The DNP practice hours page has the totals by route.
Choosing a practice partner and site
USI's DNP program pages say the project can be implemented at a health care site in your hometown, so the search starts close to home. Because USI sets no published credential for partners, the practical test is fit: can this person and organization support a project from proposal to dissemination?
Questions worth asking a prospective partner
- Can you stay involved from
NRSG 801throughNRSG 805, including the proposal review and implementation terms? - Does the organization have its own approval step for student projects or quality work, on top of USI's IRB requirement?
- Does the project address a problem the organization already wants solved, so staff will support it?
- Will the organization sign the Practice Partner form and meet its terms at the project location?
- Is there data or access the project will need, and who at the site controls it?
For BSN-to-DNP OSL students, NRSG 867 is a practicum in which you implement the culminating project proposal developed in NRSG 865. Ask your faculty mentor whether that practicum and your DNP project can share a site and a partner.
How a practice partner differs from a clinical preceptor
A clinical preceptor supervises patient care in an NP specialty course. USI requires an unencumbered license, certification in the specialty, at least a year as an advanced provider, one-to-one precepting with the preceptor physically present, and a Preceptor Packet plus a Clinical Education Agreement before any hours. The preceptor requirements page sets those rules out.
A practice partner collaborates on a project with you and your faculty mentor. The paperwork is the Practice Partner form, the approval runs through the proposal committee and IRB requirements, and the hours go on the DNP log rather than into Typhon. BSN-to-DNP nurse practitioner students need both relationships, possibly at different organizations, which is why planning them together pays off.
Why DNP students choose us for their project site
A DNP project needs a host that will stay with you for three semesters, and that is a different search from finding a preceptor. Our placement desk looks for health care organizations near you whose priorities match your project idea and for leaders there willing to act as practice partner, and we brief them on USI's form, the proposal review and the timeline before you make the formal ask.
For BSN-to-DNP nurse practitioner students we plan the project partner and the three specialty preceptors as one schedule, so neither search crowds out the other. If a partner changes roles midway, the search for a replacement host restarts at once, with your mentor's timeline kept in view. Tell us your route, your city and your project area using the form below.
Questions USI students ask
Does USI find my DNP practice partner?
USI assigns your primary faculty mentor, and the handbook says the student identifies the practice partner or partners. Your mentor collaborates with the partner once the project is under way, but the approach, the relationship and the completed Practice Partner form start with you. The proposal committee then reviews the project that partnership produces.
Can my practice partner be my manager at work?
USI publishes no rule against it, and the project may run at a health care site in your hometown. The Practice Partner form asks for the partner's relationship to you, so state it plainly and discuss it with your faculty mentor early. The ban on relatives and partners in USI's preceptor rules is written for clinical preceptors.
When is the DNP Project Practice Partner form due?
A 2016 USI schedule says it must be submitted by the end of DNP Project I, today's NRSG 801. That document predates the current course numbers, so treat the end of NRSG 801 as the latest point and check your syllabus for the current date. Earlier is better, since proposal review depends on a confirmed partner and site.
How many times can I submit my DNP proposal for review?
Three. USI's DNP page sets proposal submission deadlines on Monday of Week 10, Week 12 and Week 15, each by 8 a.m. CST, with three submissions allowed to the DNP Project Proposal Review Committee. Approval, plus meeting IRB requirements, comes before you implement anything at your partner's site.
Do I need IRB approval for a USI DNP project?
The handbook says the proposal must meet IRB requirements before the project is implemented. Your practice partner's organization may also have its own review step for projects involving its patients, staff or data, so ask about it when you first approach the site and build its timeline into your plan.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-25
We check these pages against USI's own bulletin, program pages and Graduate Nursing Handbook. Your handbook, course faculty and the Nursing Clinical Coordinator have the final word.
- University of Southern Indiana Graduate Nursing Handbook: BSN-DNP and Post MSN-DNP
- University of Southern Indiana DNP Project Practice Partner Form
- University of Southern Indiana DNP Practice Partner Collaboration schedule (2016)
- University of Southern Indiana: DNP, Advanced Nursing Practice program page
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