FNP and PMHNP preceptors in Lafayette and the Acadiana parishes
Acadiana is one of three Louisiana regions that grew after 2020, and two systems run most of its hospitals: Ochsner Lafayette General, which takes graduate nursing requests only from schools, and FMOL Health's Our Lady of Lourdes, which publishes no student process. Every parish carries a primary care shortage designation, so for a Southeastern Louisiana University student the health centers, rural clinics and independent practices count for as much as any hospital.
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A growing region built around Lafayette
Region 4 on the state health department's map, the Lafayette Area, covers Acadia, Evangeline, Iberia, Lafayette, St. Landry, St. Martin and Vermilion. Census estimates put the seven at 603,349 residents in 2025, 1.7% above the 2020 base, which leaves Acadiana, the Northshore and the Baton Rouge area as the only regions that grew.
The Lafayette metro (Acadia, Lafayette, St. Martin and Vermilion) counted 423,758, with Lafayette Parish alone at 257,949. Iberia (the New Iberia micropolitan area) and St. Landry (Opelousas) are nonmetro, and Evangeline, home to Ville Platte and Mamou, sits outside any metro or micropolitan area. Lafayette is roughly 103 miles from Hammond.
UL Lafayette is a consortium school and Southeastern's DNP partner, but Southeastern's steps govern your clinicals: you bring a preceptor to course faculty, faculty approve with graduate coordinator review, and Southeastern signs the facility agreement (choosing your preceptor).
Ochsner Lafayette General: seven hospitals, one school-entered request
Ochsner lists seven hospitals here. In Lafayette are the medical center, its orthopedic hospital campus, the surgical hospital and Ochsner University Hospital and Clinics; outside the city are Ochsner Acadia General in Crowley and two critical access hospitals, Ochsner Abrom Kaplan Memorial in Kaplan and Ochsner St. Martin in Breaux Bridge.
Ochsner's clinical education page applies one process to every Gulf South site. Only an affiliated school can enter a graduate nursing request, through InPlace Network, which students never see, and each term has a posted cutoff. Graduate students also need a current RN license valid where the rotation happens (a compact license works), the program needs state board approval, and placements depend on capacity. No Acadiana hospital is on Ochsner's list of sites requiring a separate agreement.
Ochsner's page asks students to route every contact through their school, not to approach its providers, clinicians or staff. Know an Ochsner Lafayette General nurse practitioner who might precept you? Give the name to your course faculty.
Lourdes and the parish hospitals: landmarks with no student page
FMOL Health's Our Lady of Lourdes runs three Lafayette hospitals: the Regional Medical Center, the Heart Hospital and Women's & Children's. Louisiana's children's hospitals sit in only four cities, and Women's & Children's is the one in Lafayette. FMOL's site map lists education pages for medical and pharmacy residents, a psychology internship and continuing education, but none for NP students.
Opelousas General Health System, a public hospital service district with main and south campuses, shows only a 2022 post welcoming third-year medical students, and Iberia Medical Center in New Iberia has no student page in its site map. Treat these as landmarks: if a preceptor there fits your course, ask your course faculty whether Southeastern has a contract with the facility (clinical contracts).
Shortage designations and the region's health centers
HRSA's September 2026 records give every parish a whole-parish primary care designation for its low-income population, and every parish a mental health designation, four of them high-needs geographic.
| Parish | 2025 population | Primary care | Mental health |
|---|---|---|---|
| Acadia | 57,032 | Low-income population, 15 | High-needs geographic, 19 |
| Evangeline | 31,980 | Low-income population, 13 | High-needs geographic, 20 |
| Iberia | 66,846 | Low-income population, 15 | High-needs geographic, 20 |
| Lafayette | 257,949 | Low-income population, 10 | Low-income population, 14 |
| St. Landry | 80,765 | Low-income population, 13 | High-needs geographic, 17 |
| St. Martin | 51,106 | Low-income population, 18 | Geographic, whole parish, 18 |
| Vermilion | 57,671 | Low-income population, 16 | Low-income population, 19 |
- Iberia Comprehensive Community Health Center: 10 sites in Lafayette, Youngsville, New Iberia, St. Martinville and Abbeville, including 2 mobile vans.
- Southwest Louisiana Primary Health Care Center: 9 sites, mostly in St. Landry (Opelousas, Arnaudville, Sunset), plus Lafayette and Ville Platte.
- Acadiana CARES in Lafayette, SWLA Center for Health Services in Lafayette and Crowley, and HAART's school-based site in Eunice.
Matching Acadiana to Southeastern's courses
Louisiana requires a preceptor licensed in the state for every hour, and an APRN certified for your population for most of them; paid work time never counts (clinicals where you work).
For NURS 6820 (200 hours, pediatrics and child-bearing women), Lourdes Women's & Children's publishes no NP route, so the hours usually come from pediatricians, OB-GYN offices, family practices and school-based sites such as HAART's in Eunice.
NURS 6830 and NURS 6840 ask for 275 hours apiece, first with adults, then with adults and older adults: Iberia Comprehensive's sites in four parishes, the rural clinics of St. Landry, Vermilion and Evangeline, and Ochsner clinics by way of your school's request all fit.
The psychiatric sequence shifts its age focus: NURS 6910 covers 200 hours of assessment and psychotherapy basics, then NURS 6920 leans toward children and adolescents and NURS 6930 toward older adults, 275 hours each, so you may need a new practice each semester. For the DNP residency, a clinic in a high-needs mental health parish gives a project a sharp problem to measure.
One psychiatric pipeline has a name: the Board of Regents' Health Works Commission 2024 report describes a state-funded online post-master's PMHNP certificate at UL Lafayette, with Ochsner Lafayette General and Oceans Healthcare supplying preceptors for it in kind. That is UL Lafayette's program, not a Southeastern route, but it shows where psychiatric NP teaching already happens in Lafayette (PMHNP program).
Why Acadiana students choose us
Your placement advisor covers the whole region, from Lafayette to the rural clinics of Evangeline and Vermilion, and fits each preceptor to your Southeastern course and the Louisiana license rule before your course faculty review anything. We plan around Ochsner's posted dates, confirm whether Southeastern's contract with each facility is current, and stand by to replace a preceptor who drops mid-term. Request a search a semester ahead.
Questions Southeastern students ask
Can I use the preceptors behind UL Lafayette's PMHNP certificate as a Southeastern student?
The Regents report ties Ochsner Lafayette General's and Oceans Healthcare's in-kind preceptors to UL Lafayette's own certificate. For Southeastern's psychiatric courses, any Ochsner request still goes through your school and every preceptor needs course faculty approval, so treat those organizations as places to look, not an open door.
Does Our Lady of Lourdes Women's & Children's Hospital take FNP students for pediatrics?
FMOL Health's website shows no NP student process for any of its hospitals, Lourdes included, so there is nothing public to apply through. If you know a pediatric APRN there who fits NURS 6820, bring that name to your course faculty and find out whether the university has an agreement with Lourdes.
How early does an Ochsner Lafayette General request need to be in for spring?
Ochsner's clinical education page sets November 15 as the spring request date, with placement notices from December 1 and compliance items due December 15. Fall requests close June 15 and summer requests March 15. Because your school files the request, settle the preceptor and the faculty conversation weeks before those dates.
Are there rural clinics near Opelousas or Ville Platte for adult hours?
Yes. Southwest Louisiana Primary Health Care Center has sites in Opelousas and Ville Platte, and HRSA lists six rural health clinics with shortage designations in St. Landry and four in Evangeline. Such clinics can suit NURS 6830 or NURS 6840 when a Louisiana-licensed family APRN precepts and your course faculty approve.
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
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