Southeastern's PMHNP clinical hours, course by course
Southeastern Louisiana University's 2026-27 catalog counts 750 clinical hours in the MSN Psychiatric Mental Health NP concentration: 200 in NURS 6910, then 275 each in NURS 6920 and NURS 6930. NURS 6900 comes first with 60 observation hours that sit outside that total. The majors page says 600, and the post-master's certificate prints 510 against courses that add to 595, so every figure below sits beside its source.
Plan all four psychiatric courses
Tell us your Southeastern PMHNP track, your next psychiatric course and where in Louisiana you live. A placement advisor replies with preceptor options that fit that course.
The four psychiatric practicum courses in order
The MSN plan spreads practicum work across semesters three to six. The hours below come from each course description in the 2026-27 catalog, and the term is the tag the catalog prints beside the course in the PMHNP plan.
| Course | Credits | Hours per semester | Plan semester and tag | Focus named in the catalog |
|---|---|---|---|---|
NURS 6900 Psychotherapy for Advanced Practice Psychiatric Nursing | 3 | 60 observation | 3, fall only | Psychotherapy; observation outside the 750 |
NURS 6910 Psychiatric/Mental Health I | 5 | 200 | 4, spring only | Initial diagnostic assessment, basic psychotherapy, common disorders |
NURS 6920 Psychiatric/Mental Health II | 5 | 275 | 5, fall only | Common and complex disorders, emphasis on children and adolescents |
NURS 6930 Psychiatric/Mental Health III | 5 | 275 | 6, spring only | Lifespan, family and community, emphasis on the older adult |
| Catalog total | 48 (51 with thesis) | 750 clinical | Six semesters | Our sum with observation: 810 |
The chain is strict. NURS 6910 lists NURS 6900 among its prerequisites, NURS 6920 requires NURS 6910, and NURS 6930 requires NURS 6920, so a course that slips a term pushes every later one back. For PMHNP students, NURS 6810 (business, leadership and health policy) also waits on NURS 6910. Each of the three clinical courses carries a laboratory fee, and the catalog leaves the amount out.
Where the 60 observation hours fit
NURS 6900 pairs three didactic hours with 60 practicum hours of observation each semester. The program total already reaches 750 through the three clinical courses, so the observation time rides on top of it. Add it in and a PMHNP student logs 810 hours of psychiatric practicum time; that figure is our sum, and Southeastern does not print it.
Observation still needs a host: a setting where psychotherapy happens and a clinician willing to have you in the room, arranged before the course opens. NURS 6900 also needs NURS 6080, the diagnostic considerations and psychopharmacology course, taken earlier or in the same term. The consortium's faculty handbook adds a line that matters here: a behavioral health professional serving as preceptor must hold an independent license and cannot be practicing under supervision. Ask your course faculty who may host observation before you commit to anyone.
The 600-hour figure on the majors page
Southeastern's majors page for the psychiatric concentration lists total clinical or clock hours of 600. The catalog lists 750, and the three clinical course descriptions reach 750 on their own. The FNP majors page shows the same 600 beside a catalog 750, and Southeastern has published no note explaining either gap.
Build your plan around 750. The catalog total and the course-by-course hours agree with each other, and each course asks for its own 200 or 275. The gap matters most when you ask preceptors to commit: planning around 600 would leave you 150 hours short across the three courses, by our count. If you want the figure confirmed for your cohort, the graduate coordinator's office is the place to ask, and the clinical hours planner sets the PMHNP beside Southeastern's other programs.
The post-master's certificate: 510 or 595
Nurse practitioners adding the psychiatric population through Southeastern's post-master's PMHNP certificate follow a four-semester ladder. They share NURS 6900, NURS 6910 and NURS 6920 with the MSN, then finish with NURS 6970, a four-credit certificate version of the third psychiatric course with 120 practicum hours.
| Catalog term | Courses | Practicum hours |
|---|---|---|
| Fall, semester I | NURS 6080 and NURS 6900 | 60 observation in NURS 6900 |
| Spring, semester I | NURS 6910 | 200 |
| Fall, semester II | NURS 6920 | 275 |
| Spring, semester II | NURS 6970 | 120 |
| Total | 20 credits | 510 printed; 595 by course (our sum) |
The catalog's certificate entry totals 510 clinical hours, and the majors page repeats 510 beside 20 credits. The course descriptions add to 595, or 655 with observation; both sums are ours. The certificate's own program page gives a third version: 120 to 240 clinical hours in each practicum course and an 18-credit curriculum, where the catalog says 20.
Arrange preceptor time for the course figures of 200, 275 and 120. Planning to the larger total keeps you from coming up short inside any single course, and your course faculty can tell you whether your cohort is held to less. The certificate guide covers admission and the onsite orientation.
Which term each course runs
The MSN plan tags each psychiatric course with one term: NURS 6900 and NURS 6920 fall only, NURS 6910 and NURS 6930 spring only. Read literally, the four practicum courses run in four back-to-back fall and spring semesters, with no summer clinical course between them.
Other Southeastern documents place them differently. The BSN to DNP PMHNP plan has NURS 6900 in summer, NURS 6910 in fall, NURS 6920 in spring and NURS 6930 in fall. The NURS 6900 description lists fall and spring offerings, and the three clinical course descriptions name no term at all. The post-master's DNP with the PMHNP certificate schedules NURS 6970 in summer, while that course's description lists fall and spring.
Before you ask a preceptor to set aside a semester, confirm the term of your next course with your advisor. The academic calendar guide has the 2026-27 semester dates.
Weekly load and the rules every hour must meet
Our arithmetic from the 2026-27 calendar: fall and spring semesters each hold about 15 weeks of classes, so 200 hours comes to roughly 13 or 14 hours a week and 275 to about 18. Your real schedule is whatever you and your preceptor agree on and post in the clinical tracking system.
Before an hour counts toward the 750
- It takes place in Louisiana, with a preceptor holding an active, unencumbered Louisiana RN or APRN license. The Louisiana-only guide covers the detail.
- It is time you are not paid for. Your own employer can host you, but only outside your paid hours; see clinicals where you work.
- Your preceptor is approved first: course faculty approve, the graduate coordinator reviews, and the facility has a current contract or letter of agreement with the university.
- It is recorded in the clinical tracking system your home school designates, which the consortium's 2022 evaluation plan names as Typhon.
- You already have a year of RN practice in an area suited to psychiatric nursing, which the catalog requires before any clinical course.
How we cover the whole PMHNP ladder
Your placement advisor plans all four courses together instead of one semester at a time. We map NURS 6900 through NURS 6930, or NURS 6970 on the certificate, against your term plan and look for Louisiana psychiatric clinicians who fit each one: a psychotherapy setting for observation, a practice with steady new-patient assessments for Psych/MH I, a child and adolescent practice for Psych/MH II and older-adult psychiatric care for Psych/MH III.
For every match we confirm the preceptor's Louisiana license and psychiatric-mental health certification, check whether the facility already has a contract with Southeastern, and gather what your course faculty need, so approval starts from a complete file. If a preceptor withdraws mid-course, we reopen the search for a replacement. Send the request form or read how it works.
Questions Southeastern students ask
Can I take two Southeastern psychiatric clinical courses in the same semester?
Not under the 2026-27 catalog's prerequisites. Each clinical course names the one before it: NURS 6920 needs NURS 6910, and NURS 6930 needs NURS 6920. Combined with the single-term tags in the MSN plan, that sets a pace of one psychiatric clinical course per semester. Check with your advisor before building any plan that assumes otherwise.
Do Southeastern PMHNP clinical hours count toward Louisiana prescriptive authority?
They can help. Louisiana's prescriptive authority rule asks new APRNs for 500 hours of clinical practice in the role and population within two years before applying, and it says graduate program clinical practice that prepared you for the role may be accepted. The Louisiana State Board of Nursing decides. Louisiana NP practice explains the collaborative practice side.
Is 750 hours enough to sit for PMHNP board certification?
Southeastern's MSN page says its programs prepare students for applicable national certification exams, and it also cautions that some certification exams ask for clinical experience beyond what the master's includes. Check the current eligibility rules of the board you plan to use before your last clinical course; the certification guide walks through the options.
What happens if I finish a psychiatric course short of its hours?
Southeastern requires a B in every graduate nursing course, and the consortium handbook says an unsatisfactory final evaluation by a preceptor or faculty member means an F in a clinical course. An Incomplete is given only for circumstances beyond your control and must be cleared by the end of the next semester. Read behind on clinical hours early.
Does the BSN to DNP PMHNP track add clinical hours beyond the MSN?
The same four psychiatric courses and 750 clinical hours sit inside it, and the doctorate adds residency on top: 90, 180 and 180 hours across Residency I to III, which the catalog totals as 540. The DNP residency guide explains that gap and the 1,000-hour target.
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 2026-27 catalog: MSN, Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse Practitioner
- Southeastern 2026-27 catalog: PMHNP post-master's certificate
- Southeastern 2026-27 catalog: NURS 6900 course description
- Southeastern majors page: MSN PMHNP concentration
- Southeastern: Nurse Practitioner to PMHNP certificate
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
Program, city and start date is all we need to begin.