GW's post-MSN DNP in Nursing Practice: 36 credits and 500 practice hours in the program

Who the post-MSN DNP is for

This doctorate is GW's route for master's-prepared nurses, including nurse practitioners who want the DNP without repeating NP training. GW has no separate APRN post-master's DNP; Nursing Practice fills that role.

The Bulletin 2026-27 sets the entry bar. You need a BSN plus a master's in nursing or "a relevant field such as an MBA, MPA or MPH," a 3.0 GPA, a graduate course in inferential statistics taken within the past five years, and an active, unencumbered U.S. RN license. If your statistics course is older, GW offers NURS 6208 Biostatistics for Health Care Research in spring and summer.

Two limits apply. GW's FAQ says graduates of direct-entry MSN or CNL programs are ineligible for the post-master's DNP, and GW's State Authorizations page excludes Arizona from all of its DNP options. The Nursing Practice DNP admits in the fall. See state authorizations for the full list of state rules.

1,000 hours, 500 carried in

The Bulletin 2026-27 puts the rule this way: every DNP student completes at least 1,000 post-baccalaureate practice hours, and "Most advanced practice RN students will already have completed 500 hours in their master of science in nursing (MSN) program and the remaining 500 hours are included in the curriculum requirements for the DNP." GW's program page says the same in fewer words: 500 pre-DNP hours required, the other 500 delivered through coursework.

Note the word "most." If your master's was in leadership, education or a field such as an MBA or MPH, your earlier hours may not map neatly to the 500 GW expects. GW does not publish how it counts them, so raise it before you apply; the named contact on the Nursing Practice page is the Associate Dean for Graduate Clinical Programs.

How the 500 in-program hours divide across the project courses is not published either. The DNP practice hours page compares this rule with the post-BSN tracks.

Executive Leadership and Health Policy: not admitting

GW's pages for both sister DNPs say "Not Accepting Applications for Fall 2026." In the Bulletin, both share the Nursing Practice hour standard: 1,000 in all, with 500 carried from the MSN.

• DNP Executive Leadership: 43 credits over a posted part-time plan of 8 semesters, with courses such as Executive Presence I and II, HC Finance for Nurse Leaders and Entrepreneurship for Nurse Leaders.
• DNP Health Policy: 39 credits, described in the Bulletin as distance-based, with full-time (5 semesters) and part-time (8 semesters) plans. It adds a Health Policy Practicum of 75 hours, "collaborating with a policy expert in a professional organization, government agency, advocacy group or other." GW's page gives no course number for it.

GW's Center for Health Policy and Media Engagement also lists the Health Policy DNP among its past programs. If you are enrolled in either option, your program director remains the contact for practicum and project questions.

How we help post-MSN doctoral students

A strong DNP project rests on the right setting. Your placement advisor finds practice settings and experienced contacts that match your project topic, whether that is quality improvement in a primary care network, a population health initiative or a policy question, and prepares the details your faculty will ask for.

For Health Policy students already in the program, we identify policy experts in professional organizations, agencies and advocacy groups who fit the 75-hour practicum. Your GW faculty guide the project and make the calls; we make sure what you bring them is complete and ready the first time. If your setting changes partway through, your advisor looks for a replacement that keeps the project moving. Tell us your project focus in the form below.