FIU DNP Nurse Anesthesia: assigned residencies and 3,280 clinical hours
Florida International University (FIU) assigns its DNP Nurse Anesthesia (DNP-NA) students to affiliated clinical sites, so your anesthesia residencies come from the program, not from your own search. The DNP-NA is nine continuous full-time semesters, 110 credits and 3,280 stated clinical hours across seven hospital residencies, simulation and DNP project work. Outside help fits around that: the DNP project, and planning what comes after.
Get your placement plan
Tell us your FIU program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with the preceptor and site options that fit your FIU course.
FIU assigns your anesthesia clinical sites
In the DNP-NA, placement belongs to FIU. The program's Policy and Procedure Manual (Class of 2024, dated 1-12-2022, the version linked from FIU's current Handbooks & Manuals page) says affiliated clinical sites are assigned to each student by the program's clinical coordinator together with faculty. It commits to no particular location and no maximum travel distance.
Each affiliate has a site clinical coordinator, a CRNA or an anesthesiologist, and the Program Chair leads the program, which the manual calls the Department of Nurse Anesthetist Practice. The manual adds that specific affiliations carry no charges to students.
Put plainly: your residency sites come from FIU, and a DNP-NA student has no preceptor search to run for them. That is one search fewer on your plate. Your job is to be ready for wherever the assignment lands, and the rest of this page is about exactly that.
Seven hospital residencies, in order
| Course | Semester | Credits | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
NGR 6431L Clinical Residency I | 3, Fall | 1 | 125 |
NGR 6432L Clinical Residency II | 4, Spring | 2 | 125 |
NGR 6433L Clinical Residency III | 5, Summer | 2 | 375 |
NGR 6434L Clinical Residency IV | 6, Fall | 3 | 375 |
NGR 6435L Clinical Residency V | 7, Spring | 3 | 375 |
NGR 6436L Clinical Residency VI | 8, Summer | 3 | 375 |
NGR 6437L Clinical Residency VII | 9, Fall | 3 | 375 |
The curriculum page states 3,280 total clinical hours. The per-semester clinical-hour totals printed on the same page (125, 125, 415, 545, 535, 535 and 375) add up to 2,655, and FIU does not explain the gap. Ask the program's clinical coordinator how the 3,280 is built and which of your hours count toward it, and keep your own running tally from the first residency.
Simulation, policy practicum and DNP projects
Hospital residencies are not the only courses with clinical hours. Simulation begins in the third semester at the S.T.A.R. Center, through the Simulation Practica NGR 6941L, NGR 6441L and NGR 6442L across semesters 3 to 5. NGR 7892L, the Health Policy Practicum, carries 40 hours.
The DNP project runs through NGR 7940C (170 hours), NGR 7941C (160) and NGR 7942C (160). Those figures differ from the 165-hour numbers the online post-MSN DNP plan gives the same two later course numbers, so count from the DNP-NA curriculum, not from the nurse practitioner plans, when you track your own hours.
The workload is heavy by design. FIU says the program expects about 60 hours a week and that working as a nurse anesthetist while enrolled is prohibited. Year 1 starts in a Spring term, and the nine semesters run back to back, summers included.
Where residencies happen, and what it costs you
FIU describes the geography two ways. The DNP-NA overview says rotations take place at five major medical centers throughout Greater Miami. The DNP-NA Clinical Education page, by contrast, says a site could sit beyond the South Florida Tri-County area, even in another state. FIU does not reconcile the two, so plan as if an assignment away from Miami is possible.
The 2022 manual leaves the cost of housing, transportation and meals on rotation to you. That matters most for a rotation outside the Tri-County area, and it is worth setting money aside from the first year rather than when an assignment is announced.
Licensure is the other out-of-state question. FIU's licensure page lists the DNP-NA among programs that meet Florida's requirements, with every other state not determined, which matters if an out-of-state rotation turns into a job offer there. Our page on FIU's licensure disclosure explains the wording.
Clearance, accreditation and certification
The DNP-NA Clinical Education page names FIU Express for clinical clearance, while FIU's handbooks describe Complio with American DataBank; the clinical clearance page sets out the items and the naming conflict. DNP-NA admissions also warn that an applicant with a criminal history might be unable to complete the required clinical hours by any other route, which could leave them ineligible for a Florida license. Raise any history with the program before you apply.
The program is accredited by the COA and by CCNE. The COA finished its review in October 2022, and FIU reports continued accreditation for ten years, to Fall 2033; see nursing accreditation. Graduates sit for the National Certification Examination and can apply for Florida's ARNP credential as a nurse anesthetist.
One Florida note for future CRNAs: a 2026 bill that would have allowed autonomous CRNA practice, HB 375, did not pass in the 2026 session.
Your DNP project: where outside help fits
Your residencies are assigned; your DNP project is where your own initiative counts. FIU's graduate handbook asks DNP students to find an organizational mentor, preferably someone with a doctorate and real expertise in the area, to have Clinical Education confirm the site's contract through its mentor approval process, and to list the whole team on the project team approval form.
The DNP-NA runs under its own Policy and Procedure Manual, so ask your DNP Project Advisor which of those steps apply to anesthesia projects before you approach anyone. If they do, the mentor search looks a lot like a preceptor search: a qualified person, a willing organization such as a surgical center, a pain service or a perioperative quality team, and a contract FIU is prepared to hold.
Our guide to the DNP organizational mentor covers who qualifies, and the DNP residency and projects page explains the project courses across FIU's DNP programs.
How we help DNP-NA students
We are clear about what FIU owns: every anesthesia residency is an FIU assignment, and the affiliates host you under FIU's agreements. What we offer DNP-NA students sits around that, and we do it thoroughly.
- Finding an organizational mentor and a willing organization for your DNP project, with the mentor's credentials and the site's details ready for FIU's approval process
- Checking early whether that organization already holds an FIU contract, since the graduate handbook warns a brand-new agreement can take six to eight weeks
- Staying on call through the project semesters if a mentor changes roles or an organization changes its plans
FIU approves every mentor and site; we hand you a mentor file with nothing missing when FIU reviews it. Tell us about your project and your semester through the contact form.
Questions FIU students ask
Does FIU place nurse anesthesia students in clinical sites?
Yes. Under FIU's DNP-NA Policy and Procedure Manual, residency sites are assigned: the program's clinical coordinator and the faculty decide where each student goes, without committing to a location or a travel limit. Specific affiliations carry no charges to students, but housing, transportation and meals during rotations are yours to cover.
How many clinical hours are in FIU's DNP Nurse Anesthesia program?
FIU's curriculum page states 3,280 total clinical hours. The per-semester clinical-hour totals on the same page add up to 2,655, and FIU does not explain the difference. The program's clinical coordinator can tell you how your residency, simulation and project hours are counted toward the stated total.
Can FIU nurse anesthesia rotations be outside Miami?
It is possible. The DNP-NA Clinical Education page allows for sites beyond the Tri-County area and in other states, although the program overview speaks of five major medical centers throughout Greater Miami. Plan and budget as though an assignment away from home is possible.
Can I work during FIU's DNP-NA program?
FIU expects about 60 hours a week of program work across nine continuous full-time semesters, and says working as a nurse anesthetist while enrolled is prohibited. Any other employment is a question for the Program Chair. With that workload, settle your finances, including rotation housing and travel, before you start.
Is FIU's nurse anesthesia program accredited?
Yes. FIU says the DNP-NA is accredited by the COA and by CCNE, and the COA's latest review closed in October 2022 with a ten-year renewal running to Fall 2033. The Florida Board of Nursing approves every FIU nursing program, according to FIU.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-26
We check these pages against FIU's own graduate handbook, preceptor manual, plans of study, catalog and licensure pages. Your plan of study, your course faculty, your clinical faculty and FIU's Office of Clinical Education have the final word.
FIU asks you to identify your clinical site. We make that the easy part.
Tell us your FIU track, where you live and which semester your next practicum starts. We find preceptors whose patients fit the course, check early whether the site already holds an FIU contract, and prepare everything the Preceptor Request Form asks for.
- Preceptors matched to the course: adult and older-adult primary care for
NGR 6201L, pediatric primary care forNGR 6301L, an organizational mentor forNGR 7940C - Preceptor, facility, license and schedule details ready for the Preceptor Request Form, weeks ahead of the contract clock
- Across Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach and Monroe, or beyond them where FIU approves your site
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