Loyola New Orleans MSN FNP: four practicums, 800 hours, one plan
Loyola University New Orleans runs its MSN Family Nurse Practitioner as a 48-credit online program with asynchronous classes, and its clinical core is four Family Primary Care Management practicums of 200 hours each. The first one arrives in term 4 of the posted plan, and for every one of them you bring Loyola a preceptor and a site. This page shows when each search should start and what each site has to fit.
Get your placement plan
Tell us your Loyola program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with the preceptor and site options that fit your Loyola course.
The MSN FNP at a glance
Coursework is online with no set class times, and no campus visits are listed for this track. The practicums are the in-person part: you complete them at clinical sites near home, and the program page ties them to states in which your nursing license is valid.
The 2026-27 graduate bulletin, the program page and the posted plan all list 48 credits, while the FNP Orientation and Practicum Guide says 51. When two Loyola documents disagree like this, your plan of study and the FNP Program Director decide, so check your own plan before you count what is left.
| Item | What Loyola lists |
|---|---|
| Credits | 48 in the bulletin, program page and plan; 51 in the FNP guide |
| Delivery | Online, asynchronous; practicum hours in person |
| Start terms | Fall, Spring and Summer, with applications year-round |
| Posted plan | Eight terms, Fall I through Spring III (the 3-year plan) |
| Practicum hours | 800 across four FPCM practicums |
| Certification | FNP exam through ANCC or AANP |
| License | RN in any US state to apply; Louisiana or multistate before the second semester |
The four practicums, term by term
The posted plan is labeled Fall Start and puts the first practicum in Fall II, term 4. After that, each practicum carries 3 credits and 200 hours, and the four of them land in Fall II, Spring II, Fall III and Spring III.
| Term | Course | Hours | Patient focus |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fall II (term 4) | NURS G823 FPCM I Practicum | 200 | Outpatient primary care; NP, MD, DO or PA preceptor |
| Spring II | NURS G827 FPCM II Practicum | 200 | Outpatient primary care; NP, MD, DO or PA preceptor |
| Fall III | NURS G829 FPCM III Practicum | 200 | 150 pediatric plus 50 obstetric hours |
| Spring III | NURS G833 FPCM IV Practicum | 200 | Final primary care hours; a specialty site needs FNP Director approval |
Summer II has no practicum in the posted plan, which gives you a whole term to secure the pediatric and obstetric coverage FPCM III needs. Each course has its own page with preceptor and setting detail: FPCM I, FPCM II, FPCM III and FPCM IV.
When each preceptor search should start
Begin at least three months before every practicum term, because Loyola's FNP guide says the placement process itself can take that long. With practicums in four of your last five terms, you are nearly always lining up the next site while logging hours at the current one. The three-month plan builds the backward schedule in detail.
- Spring I, before Summer I beginsLoyola's fall semester opens in mid-August (August 17 in 2026), so a Fall II practicum needs its request moving by mid-May. Buy both Exxat subscriptions, clear your compliance items and start the FPCM I search.
- Early Fall IIThe spring semester starts in mid-January (on January 19 in 2027), which puts the three-month mark for FPCM II in mid-October, while you are still logging FPCM I hours.
- Spring II into Summer IISecure the FPCM III site. If one practice cannot supply both the 150 pediatric and the 50 obstetric hours, you need a second site with its own paperwork, so give this search the most time.
- Fall IIIConfirm the FPCM IV site by mid-October. A specialty practice counts only after the FNP Director approves it, so raise any specialty idea at the start of the term.
Rules every FNP site has to meet
The four FNP practicums belong in outpatient primary care. Time in urgent care, an inpatient ward, an emergency room, a nursing home or a specialty practice counts only after the Graduate Program Director signs off. Preceptors must be licensed without encumbrance where the site sits, board certified, and past their first year of practice; the full list sits on the preceptor requirements page.
Before a single hour counts, the whole Exxat request must show Placement Approved and the site's affiliation agreement must carry every signature. A practice with no Loyola agreement usually signs the Standard Loyola Affiliation Agreement; one that rewrites it or brings its own contract may stall for months, and the affiliation agreements page covers why.
Students who began before Fall 2024 have a practicum letter listing 180-hour courses under older numbers, while current documents list 200. The 800-hour page sets the two side by side, and your plan of study and program director settle which applies to you.
Until the last signature lands on the affiliation agreement, practicum time does not count: Loyola treats those hours as forfeited and can make you retake the course.
Four searches, four complete packages
Each practicum is its own placement request. For every site, the Exxat Wishlist asks for the agency and its address, who to contact, who can legally sign, and who will precept you; after that, the preceptor's CV, the license (for NPs, a Nursys PDF) and a signed Preceptor Agreement go up as attachments.
The FNP guide points students to their workplace network, classmates, AANP and state NP organizations, and community contacts. It also suggests stopping by practices in person, bringing a resume plus a cover letter spelling out the course and hours, following up, and pursuing several sites at once instead of waiting on a single preceptor.
Exxat Prism's Explore Clinical Locations map shows organizations that already hold an active Loyola agreement, and Loyola processes those sites quickly. Be ready to drive beyond your own city, too; the practicum letter warns that any semester may call for it.
Why MSN FNP students choose us
We plan all four placements around your plan of study from day one, so the next search is already running before the current practicum ends. Every preceptor we bring you fits the course: outpatient family primary care for NURS G823 and NURS G827, pediatric and obstetric patients for NURS G829, and a final primary care or director-approved specialty site for NURS G833.
For each site you receive a complete Wishlist file: the signer's name, the preceptor's CV and Nursys-verified license, and the agreement they sign for Loyola. We tell you up front whether the practice already has a Loyola agreement or will need one, keep your three-month windows on the calendar, and stay on call to replace a preceptor who drops. Loyola's placement office and faculty make the approval decision, and your request reaches them ready to review.
Send your program, city and next practicum term through the form below, and we start with your nearest term.
Questions Loyola students ask
Is Loyola New Orleans' MSN FNP fully online?
The classes are. The MSN FNP is online and asynchronous with no campus intensives listed, so you study on your own schedule. The 800 practicum hours are in person, at clinics in the area where you live, and each practicum has to sit in a state that has licensed you as a nurse. Plan for some travel, since any semester may take you outside your city.
Does Loyola assign MSN FNP clinical sites?
Loyola's FNP practicum letter says getting ready for a practicum includes choosing your preceptor and your site. Once you do, the Clinical Practicum Coordinator tracks your placement, obtains the affiliation agreement, tracks compliance and helps with Exxat uploads. Loyola also keeps hundreds of organizations under agreement, searchable in Exxat Prism, which is a sensible first stop.
Can I take Loyola's MSN FNP part time?
The plan on Loyola's graduate resources page is the eight-term 3-year plan. If you need a different pace, work it out with your program director and academic advisor, because any change moves your practicum terms and your three-month search windows. Whatever the pace, Loyola's completion clock for graduate nursing runs five years from your first course.
Can a physician assistant precept me in Loyola's FNP practicums?
For FPCM I and II, the 2025 FNP guide accepts a PA as well as an NP, MD or DO. In FPCM III, whoever supervises has to see the children and pregnant patients the course is built around, and FPCM IV sites need FNP Director approval. The older pre-Fall 2024 practicum letter allowed PAs in only one primary care course, so continuing students should confirm with the FNP Program Director.
What license do I need before my first MSN FNP practicum?
You can apply with an RN license from any US state, but you need a Louisiana or multistate license before your second semester, and every state that hosts your practicum hours must have issued you an active RN license. Loyola monitors student licenses through Nursys e-Notify, and an encumbered license blocks practicum enrollment unless the School of Nursing Director permits it.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-25
We check these pages against Loyola's own bulletin, program pages, practicum guides, forms and licensure disclosures. Your plan of study, your practicum guide, your program director and the Clinical Practicum Coordinator have the final word.
Loyola asks you to select your own preceptor and site. We make that the easy part.
Tell us your Loyola program, where you live and which term your next practicum starts. We find preceptors whose patients fit the course, check whether the site already has a Loyola affiliation agreement, and prepare everything your Exxat Wishlist needs.
- Preceptors matched to the course: outpatient primary care for
NURS G823, pediatrics and obstetrics forNURS G829, acute care forNURS G902, psychiatric care forNURS G856 - Preceptor CV, license and Nursys PDF, the Preceptor Agreement and the site's signer details ready for the Wishlist
- In your own community, in Louisiana or any state where Loyola approves your practicum
Start your placement plan
Program, city and term is all we need to begin.