Bradley BSN-to-DNP AGPCNP: primary care practicums and the doctoral project
Bradley University's primary care doctorate for adult-gerontology NPs, entered with a BSN, runs 68 credits and states 1,000 clinical hours: 750 in the specialty practicums and the rest in the DNP Project courses. One catalog sentence places those 750 hours in acute care settings, which clashes with every other primary care page Bradley publishes. We line up primary care preceptors for each practicum and plan the project hours around them.
Plan your DNP AGPCNP clinicals
Your start term, city and next course are all we need to begin.
Which courses come first
The primary care DNP is a BSN-entry doctorate of 68 credits, which the online page expects to take ten semesters, or 3.3 years. The catalog does not print a semester-by-semester plan; Bradley keeps the recommended sequence in MyOnline. What the catalog does publish is each course's prerequisites, and those show when your preceptor and mentor searches have to be finished.
| Course | Hours | Must come first |
|---|---|---|
| NUR 655 Diagnostic Reasoning | 50 | No prerequisite listed |
| NUR 666 Management of Adolescents, Adults, and Geriatrics I | 200 | BIO 526, NUR 600, NUR 651 |
| NUR 667 Management of Adolescents, Adults and Geriatrics II | 200 | NUR 666 |
| NUR 668 Management of Adolescents, Adults, & Geriatrics III | 300 | NUR 667 and the skills bootcamp |
| NUR 841 to NUR 844 DNP Project I to IV | 50, 50, 125, 75 | NUR 705, NUR 720 and NUR 735 before NUR 841; then each in turn |
The remaining credits are ECO 605, seven doctoral core courses numbered in the 700s, and the NUR 690 role course, with a minimum grade of B in every NUR course.
The catalog's acute care slip
The 2026-27 catalog page for this DNP says its 750 clinical hours fall "in a variety of acute care settings". Every other primary care source Bradley publishes points the other way: the MSN and certificate pages place the hours in primary care or outpatient settings, and the course descriptions for NUR 666 to NUR 668 say primary care. It reads like a line carried over from the acute care DNP page.
The same page also drops a line found on the other AG pages about applicants with deficiencies being evaluated individually. Neither slip changes the courses you take. Before you accept an inpatient placement on the strength of that one sentence, get written confirmation from your academic advisor or course faculty that it will count toward a primary care course.
Plan AGPCNP practicums in primary care or outpatient settings; clear any hospital-based site with faculty first.
1,000 hours on paper, 1,050 in the courses
The catalog says 1,000 clinical hours, with the hours beyond the 750 specialty practicum hours completed in the doctoral project courses. Those four courses carry 300 hours between them, so the course descriptions add to 1,050. Bradley's online page repeats 1,000 but still shows the primary care courses at 200 hours each, the pre-2026 figure.
Practically, the gap means you may finish with more logged hours than the headline requires, which is the safer side to be on. The risk runs the other way if you plan to the 600-hour online figure. Our DNP project hours page compares every NP doctorate, and the reasons for the jump are on the 750-hour change page.
Primary care practicums inside a doctorate
DNP students complete the same primary care sequence as master's students, including the bootcamp before NUR 668, so the course detail lives on the MSN AGPCNP page. Two things differ. First, the practicums sit in a plan that also holds seven doctoral courses, so a practicum term may share your week with doctoral reading and writing; ask your advisor which terms overlap and set clinic days with that in mind.
Second, the gap between admission and the first practicum is longer. The mentors you named when you applied are a starting point, and a clinic that agreed then may have new staffing by the time its packet deadline arrives in the middle of the preceding semester. Reconfirm each name a full semester ahead.
Where the DNP Project fits
The project runs through NUR 841 to NUR 844 under a practice mentor, with the DNP Project Practice Mentor Packet as its paperwork. NUR 842 includes IRB approval, NUR 843 carries the largest block of project hours for implementation and evaluation, and NUR 844 ends with a final paper and oral presentation. Completing the final project proposal serves as the comprehensive assessment for Bradley DNP students.
A primary care clinic can be a natural home for a population-level project, but Bradley sets no rule that the project must sit at your practicum site. Choose the setting where your project question lives, and confirm the mentor with your DNP project faculty before the NUR 841 term.
States where the primary care DNP can be completed
Bradley's online licensure table does not separate the MSN, DNP and certificate, but its footnotes mention DNP projects, so the "GERIATRIC - PRIMARY" column appears to cover the doctorate too. That column reads yes for 46 states and no for four: California, Maryland, New Hampshire and Tennessee.
Students living in New York or the District of Columbia are barred by Bradley's footnotes from rotations or DNP projects in their home jurisdiction, which touches both halves of this degree. Ohio residents who complete an out-of-state APRN program face an added Ohio continuing education course. Details sit on the state disclosures page.
Since rotations are tied to the approved state you entered from or reside in, moving during a ten-semester doctorate needs your advisor's sign-off before the next semester. Our relocation page covers what changes.
How we help Bradley DNP AGPCNP students
Doctoral students work with us because a ten-semester plan needs someone watching every deadline at once. Your placement advisor maps each practicum and project term, then fills them in order, and flags early when a clinic hosting your practicum could also suit your project.
- Primary care and outpatient preceptors for
NUR 666,NUR 667andNUR 668, close to home - Practice mentor candidates matched to your project question
- Packet paperwork from every preceptor, from license and CV to malpractice proof and the clinic address, ready before each deadline
- Schedules that leave room for doctoral coursework and the bootcamp
- Immediate replacement searches when a preceptor or mentor changes jobs
Bradley approves each preceptor, site and mentor, and we make sure every request is complete. Start your DNP AGPCNP plan.
Questions Bradley students ask
Does the DNP AGPCNP require the on-site skills bootcamp?
Yes. The primary care doctorate shares the single on-site bootcamp that the 2026-27 catalog attaches to every AG route, and NUR 668 requires it to be complete. No AG dates or venue have been posted, so bring it up with your advisor during NUR 666.
What happened to NUR 840 in the adult-gerontology DNP?
The 2025-26 catalog listed the AG doctorates at 69 to 72 credits with NUR 840 DNP Clinical Practice as a variable-credit course. The 2026-27 catalog removed it from the AG and PMHNP doctorates, leaving the AGPCNP DNP at 68 credits. NUR 840 remains part of the DNP Nursing Leadership.
Which certification exams can DNP AGPCNP graduates take?
The catalog names the adult-gerontology primary care exams from ANCC or AANP, and the online page lists ANCC or AANPCB. Your state board of nursing decides licensure, so compare the primary care column of Bradley's state table with the state where you plan to practice.
Do DNP project hours count toward the 1,000 clinical hours?
Yes, in the catalog's accounting. The AGPCNP doctorate reaches its 1,000-hour total by adding project-course hours to the 750 practicum hours. Project hours are guided by your practice mentor rather than a clinical preceptor, and they follow the project rules for semester breaks and In Progress grades.
Can I earn DNP project hours between semesters?
Sometimes. Break-time project hours are allowed when three things line up: you passed the last project course, you are registered for the next, and your mentor signs off. An open IP grade limits credit to the hours that course still needs. Specialty practicum hours in NUR 666 to NUR 668 stay inside the semester.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-25
We check these pages against Bradley's own catalog, online program pages and Graduate Student Handbook. Your clinical packet, course faculty and academic advisor have the final word.
Bradley lets you choose your preceptors. We find the ones worth choosing.
Tell us your Bradley track, your city and your next practicum course. We line up preceptors who fit the NUR course and gather the license, CV and malpractice details the DocuSign packet asks for, well before the midterm of the semester before you start.
- Preceptors matched to the course: primary care for FNP and AGPCNP, acute care teams for AGACNP, mental health settings for PMHNP
- Preceptor license, CV, malpractice coverage and the site address ready for the packet
- Every practicum in your sequence planned together, close to home in your approved state
Start your placement plan
Track, city and next practicum is all we need to begin.