GRN 8121 to GRN 8124: the Leadership concentration's experiential engagement courses

The four courses at a glance

These courses belong to the Leadership concentration, the 45-credit route carrying 1,000 practice experience hours. Advanced Practice students, who arrive as board-certified APRNs, bypass them and move from the DNP core into the three-course project sequence, GRN 9001 onward, which Leadership students complete as well.

Two other routes pick up the same four courses when a student follows the Leadership path: the combined leadership-certificate and DNP options (Legal Nurse Consultant, Nurse Educator, Nurse Executive, Public Health), at 60 credits and 1,000 hours on that path, and the DNP paired with an MBA in Healthcare Administration, at 66 credits and 1,000 hours.

Practicum content you define with DNP faculty

The GRN 8121 catalog entry hands the definition of the practicum content to you, working in consultation with DNP faculty. That is a statement about what the hours cover, and it puts real planning work on your side of the table before each course.

Arrive with a short outline: the leadership problem or setting you want to work in, what you expect to do during the 125 hours, and why it builds toward your doctoral work. A clear outline makes it easier for faculty to shape the content and for a prospective preceptor to see whether their organization can support it.

Most DNP Projects, WilmU notes, are carried out where the student already works. Whether your experiential hours should build toward that project topic, or deliberately take you somewhere new, is a good early question for DNP faculty and your DNP Project Advisor in GRN 8121.

Hours you already have, and the 1,000-hour total

WilmU's DNP curriculum page leaves room to credit practicum or clinical hours you logged in earlier graduate study toward the Leadership concentration. How that credit is documented, and whether it trims what you complete across the four experiential courses, is not spelled out, so ask before you plan four semesters around a full 500.

The totals deserve a second look as well. The four courses here supply 500 hours, and the three project courses are listed at approximately 145, 145 and 150. Put together that is about 940, some 60 short of the concentration's 1,000, and graduation calls for 1,000 practice hours earned after the baccalaureate. The DNP practice hours guide sets every DNP hour figure WilmU publishes side by side.

How we support Leadership DNP students

Whether WilmU faculty are part of your placement or you have already begun reaching out to organizations, we find doctorally prepared preceptors in the leadership settings your practicum content calls for. We can look for one preceptor able to stay with you across all four courses, or a fresh fit each semester if faculty want you to broaden your experience.

Each preceptor's doctoral credential, role and contact details are organized before the semester opens, ready for DNP faculty to review. Approval sits with WilmU faculty, and we send them a file that answers their questions in advance. If a preceptor steps back mid-semester, we are still on the case and bring in someone new. Start with the contact form and tell us which course is next.