Southeastern's BSN to DNP, Nurse Executive Leadership: field studies, internship and residency
The Nurse Executive Leadership concentration is the one BSN to DNP option at Southeastern Louisiana University without a nurse practitioner role. Instead of NP clinicals, you complete two leadership field studies and an internship under faculty-supervised preceptors, then NURS 8090 and Residency I to III for your DNP project. The catalog states 70 credits, though its course list adds up differently. We find nurse leaders in Louisiana who fit each practicum and prepare what your faculty need to approve them.
Find your leadership preceptors
Tell us your cohort start and where you work, and your placement advisor will plan the field studies, internship and residency sites.
The concentration in brief
Southeastern delivers the Doctor of Nursing Practice as an academic partnership with UL Lafayette, and this concentration is written for a BSN-prepared nurse aiming at executive leadership rather than a nurse practitioner role. The catalog says students are admitted as a cohort. Southeastern's DNP admissions page is more specific: summer and fall intake only, with no spring start, and deadlines of April 15 for summer and July 15 for fall.
Like the other DNP tracks, the courses are delivered at a distance with two required stops on campus, orientation before you begin and the defense of your DNP project at the end. The catalog plan spans nine semesters, summer to spring.
One admission detail stands out: the license wording differs from the other two concentrations, which matters for where your hours can happen. The last section below sets it out.
The catalog plan, with credits
| Semester | Courses (credits) | Precepted time |
|---|---|---|
| 1, summer | NURS 6050 (3), NURS 6480 (3) | None |
| 2, fall | NURS 8010 (3), NURS 8300 (3), NURS 6540 Field Study I (2) | 5 hours a week |
| 3, spring | NURS 6490 (3), NURS 6580 (4), NURS 6020 (3) | None |
| 4, summer | NURS 6240 Independent Study (1 to 3), NURS 6550 Field Study II (2) | 5 hours a week |
| 5, fall | NURS 8040 (3), NURS 8310 (4), NURS 6590 Internship (3) | 10 hours a week |
| 6, spring | NURS 8030 (3), NURS 8090 (3), NURS 6810 (3) | 135 residency hours in NURS 8090 |
| 7, summer | NURS 8210 Residency I (2), NURS 8080 (4) | 90 |
| 8, fall | NURS 8220 Residency II (4), NURS 8070 (4) | 180 |
| 9, spring | NURS 8230 Residency III (4), NURS 8060 (3) | 180 |
The leadership coursework, NURS 6480 Nurse Leadership/Management in Health Care Organizations, NURS 6490 Health Care Workforce Management and NURS 6580 Fiscal and Economic Principles for Nurse Leaders, falls in the first three semesters, around Field Study I. The DNP core and the residency sequence are shared with the other concentrations.
Seventy credits on paper, 67 to 69 in the list
Add up the catalog's own plan and you get 67 credits with a one-credit independent study or 69 with a three-credit one, not the 70 the catalog states. Southeastern's majors page shows yet another figure, 39 semester hours. Ask the DNP program coordinator to confirm your individual plan in writing at admission.
The practicum courses carry smaller puzzles. The plan places Field Study I in fall, Field Study II in summer and the internship in fall, while the course descriptions list Field Study I for spring, Field Study II for fall and the internship for spring. Field Study I's prerequisites name NURS 6000 and NURS 6460, and neither course appears in this plan.
None of this blocks you, but each point changes when you need a preceptor. Settle the term for every practicum before you approach anyone, and check your registration in Workday each semester.
Field Study I, Field Study II and the internship
NURS 6540 and NURS 6550 each pair a one-hour class with 5 practicum hours a week, and NURS 6590 Nurse Leadership and Administration Internship asks for 10 practicum hours a week. The catalog describes all three the same way: developing the nurse leader role in a practicum experience under preceptors whom faculty supervise. Each carries a laboratory fee, amount not printed in the catalog.
Southeastern publishes no hour total for this concentration. Our arithmetic gives a sense of scale: at 10 hours a week across a full 15-week fall or spring term, the internship alone would come to about 150 hours. Treat that as an estimate and log what your course faculty actually require.
Southeastern does not publish separate criteria for executive preceptors. Louisiana's rule for preceptors in nursing education programs calls for an active Louisiana RN or APRN license and leaves selection and guidance of every learning experience with nursing faculty. A nurse leader whose role matches the course objectives, such as a director of nursing or a chief nursing officer, is the natural candidate; confirm fit with course faculty before you ask a leader from outside nursing.
Residency, NURS 8090 and the 1,000-hour goal
This plan is the only BSN to DNP plan that schedules NURS 8090 Advanced Directed Studies as a regular course, in semester six, with 135 residency hours. Its description says it serves students who need more hours toward the DNP's 1,000 hours including post-baccalaureate work. Residency I, II and III then add 90, 180 and 180 hours.
Residency hours and NURS 8090 can only be taken at your home institution. The 2018-19 DNP handbook, the newest Southeastern posts, has you choose a residency mentor from outside the university with faculty input: someone with at least a master's, or someone placed to open access to the population, data, agency or system your project needs. It also asks you to file a facility agreement request for every project site, even one you believe is already covered. IRB approval is expected during Residency I.
Keep a running count of every practicum and residency hour and check it with DNP faculty each term. DNP residency hours explains the 540 versus 450 conflict in the other concentrations' catalog totals.
U.S. license or Louisiana license, and where hours can happen
The Nurse Executive catalog entry is the one place Southeastern accepts a U.S. RN license for a BSN to DNP applicant; the FNP and PMHNP entries and the web admissions page ask for a Louisiana license. RN license requirements lays out every variation of that wording.
Southeastern's DNP pages also say nothing about whether practicum or residency hours must be completed in Louisiana, while the MSN and PMHNP certificate pages say so outright. Louisiana's preceptor license rule applies to nursing programs the state board approves. If you live near the state line or plan a site in another state, ask the Graduate Nursing Office before you commit to it. Louisiana-only clinicals covers the reasoning.
Many nurse leaders plan practicum work at their own employer. The DNP handbook's letter of agreement bars practicum activity while you are being paid for work, so leadership hours at your hospital must be separate, unpaid time. Clinicals where you work shows how to set that up cleanly.
How we help Southeastern nurse executive students
- Confirm your planWe start from the plan and terms Southeastern confirms for your cohort, then date the field study, internship and residency searches a semester ahead.
- Find leaders who fit the courseWe look for Louisiana nurse leaders whose scope matches the objectives in each practicum syllabus, from the first field study through the internship.
- Line up the residencyWe help you identify a project site and a mentor with the access your DNP project needs, and gather the facility details the agreement request asks for.
- Build the faculty fileYou get each preceptor's current CV, license details and a proposed weekly schedule, ready for your course faculty to review.
- Stay close all termIf a preceptor changes roles or leaves, your placement advisor starts a replacement search right away.
Starting with a summer or fall cohort? Send your details through the request form and we will begin with Field Study I.
Questions Southeastern students ask
Can an MBA or MHA shorten Southeastern's Nurse Executive DNP?
Possibly. The catalog marks four didactic courses, statistics and three leadership courses, as open to substitution for students who hold a non-nursing master's such as an MBA, MHA or MPH with similar graduate coursework. The field studies and internship may also be substituted if that master's included a supervised practicum in health care, and you must document every practicum hour completed.
Who approves a preceptor for a Southeastern leadership field study?
Course faculty. The catalog frames each field study and the internship as work under faculty-supervised preceptors, and Louisiana's board rule keeps the selection and guidance of every student learning experience with nursing faculty, with preceptors giving input. Bring faculty a candidate and a complete file rather than a finished arrangement.
Is there a lab fee on the Nurse Executive practicum courses?
Yes. The catalog entries for NURS 6540, NURS 6550 and NURS 6590 each say a laboratory fee is required. The amount is not printed there, so check your fee statement in Workday. Background checks and compliance screening are also paid by the student.
Do Nurse Executive DNP students have to come to Hammond?
Yes, for DNP orientation before the program and for the project defense at the end. The 2018-19 DNP handbook places the oral presentation at the School of Nursing on the Hammond campus. Your practicum and residency hours happen at the sites you and your faculty agree on.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-27
We check these pages against Southeastern's own catalog, program pages and consortium handbook, and Louisiana rules. Your course faculty, the graduate coordinator and your advisor have the final word.
Southeastern asks you to choose your preceptor. We find one near you.
Tell us your Southeastern track, where in Louisiana you live and when your next clinical course starts. We find Louisiana-licensed preceptors who fit the course, confirm whether the facility is already under contract with the university, and hand you what your course faculty need to approve it before the semester.
- Pediatric and women's health preceptors for
NURS 6820, adult and older-adult primary care forNURS 6830andNURS 6840 - Psychiatric preceptors for
NURS 6910toNURS 6930, with the child and older-adult focus each course sets - Across Louisiana, from the Northshore to Shreveport
Start your placement plan
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