Loyola PMHNP practicums: NURS G866 and G856 to G859
Loyola University New Orleans builds psychiatric-mental health NP training on five practicums: the 60-hour NURS G866 Advanced Psychiatric Assessment Practicum, then four Mental Health Management practicums, NURS G856 through NURS G859. The MSN adds them up to 750 supervised hours across five straight terms. The certificate plan prints different per-course figures, so settle your own targets before you ask a preceptor for time.
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Tell us your Loyola program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with the preceptor and site options that fit your Loyola course.
Five practicums, one every term
The MSN PMHNP runs seven semesters of continuous, year-round enrollment, from Fall I to Fall III on the posted plan. The first two terms are coursework. From term 3 on, every term carries a practicum, summers included.
| Term | Course | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Summer I (term 3) | NURS G866 Advanced Psychiatric Assessment Practicum, 1 credit | 60 |
| Fall II | NURS G856 Mental Health Management I Practicum | 180 |
| Spring II | NURS G857 Mental Health Management II Practicum | 180 |
| Summer II | NURS G858 Mental Health Management III Practicum | 180 |
| Fall III | NURS G859 Mental Health Management IV Practicum | 150 |
| Total | Five practicums | 750 |
Two things follow from that sequence. You need a preceptor who can take you in the summer twice, and you will be searching for the next term's site while you are still logging hours at the current one. The program prepares graduates for PMHNP certification through ANCC or AANPCB. Our clinical hours hub sets these figures beside every other Loyola program.
The certificate plan's hour conflict
Loyola's Post-Graduate PMHNP certificate uses the same five course numbers, but its published figures do not agree. The 2026-27 bulletin gives the certificate the same per-course hours as the MSN and a 750-hour minimum. The posted certificate plan of study lists 200 hours for each of the four management practicums, which with the 60-hour assessment practicum adds up to 860, even though that plan's own total line reads 750.
| Course | 2026-27 bulletin | Certificate plan |
|---|---|---|
NURS G866 | 60 | 60 |
NURS G856 | 180 | 200 |
NURS G857 | 180 | 200 |
NURS G858 | 180 | 200 |
NURS G859 | 150 | 200 |
| Total | 750 | 860 listed, 750 stated |
Neither figure is safe to assume. Put the question to the PMH Program Director, copy the Clinical Practicum Coordinator, and save the reply: whichever number they name is the one to give your preceptor. While you wait, tell a prospective preceptor the term may run to 200 hours, so a late answer does not leave you short. The MSN plan has its own oddity. Its Summer I column shows 6 credits of listed courses against a 9-credit total, and the bulletin's required 3-credit NURS G867 never appears on it. The PMHNP certificate page covers the gap analysis that sets certificate credits.
Where PMHNP students find preceptors
For certificate students, the bulletin ties practicum work to preceptors practicing in the student's own home region. MSN students should confirm with the PMH Program Director how placement works for their cohort. Whichever applies, the site goes through Loyola's Exxat process: the Wishlist, an affiliation agreement signed by all parties, and Placement Approved showing on the request before a single hour counts.
Who can supervise you is set by the School of Nursing's preceptor requirements, your syllabus and, for a Louisiana site, the state board's requirement that the bulk of your graduate clinical time happen under an APRN who holds licensure and certification in your population focus. Other clinicians, a psychiatrist for example, can add interprofessional experience under that rule; ask the PMH Program Director how much of that time your course accepts.
Around New Orleans, federal shortage data show where psychiatric need sits. HRSA lists seven FQHC facility mental health shortage designations in Orleans Parish, while the parish's low-income population designation is proposed for withdrawal. See New Orleans preceptors for the wider local picture.
Keeping five terms of placements moving
Loyola's lead time is three months or more per placement, and the PMHNP sequence has no empty term to absorb it. In practice, each search overlaps the practicum before it.
- By mid-February before Summer ISecure the
NURS G866site. Loyola's 2027 summer sessions open May 17, so three months back lands in mid-February. - During Summer IWhile you log assessment hours, line up the Fall II site for
NURS G856. If your assessment preceptor could continue with you, ask early. - During Fall IILine up
NURS G857for Spring II, which begins in mid-January (January 19 in 2027). - During Spring IILine up
NURS G858, your second summer practicum, and confirm your preceptor's summer schedule before you commit. - During Summer IILine up
NURS G859, the final 150-hour practicum in Fall III.
Each of those requests needs complete compliance items in Exxat, and a lapsed item puts a compliance hold on registration. Our three-month lead time page walks through the timing month by month.
Intensives, licenses and the rest of the plan
Loyola describes PMHNP campus time two ways. In the bulletin, PMHNP campus visits happen each semester; on the MSN and certificate web pages, the intensives are yearly. Ask the PMH Program Director for your cohort's dates before you schedule practicum shifts around them.
Any US state's RN license gets you admitted, yet by semester two you must hold a Louisiana license or a multistate compact license, so it is in place well before NURS G866. Each state where you log hours needs an active RN license on your record too (RN license rules). Admission to the MSN also expects a year of current full-time work.
The certificate typically runs 5 to 7 semesters or less, takes 28 to 37 credits after the gap analysis, and was first offered in Fall 2025. Its page calls it hybrid with campus intensives and also flexible and completable from any location, another point to confirm before you plan travel.
Why PMHNP students choose us
Five practicums in five straight terms is a lot of searching on top of coursework and a job. We take it off your plate: psychiatric-mental health preceptors in outpatient, community and inpatient settings near your home, lined up term by term with the three-month lead time Loyola asks for.
We aim for continuity where it helps, so a preceptor who knows you can carry more than one management practicum, and we confirm your hour target with you before we ask anyone for a commitment. We find out early if a site is already under a Loyola affiliation agreement, collect the Wishlist uploads (your preceptor's CV, a Nursys license PDF and the signed Preceptor Agreement), and stay on call if a preceptor has to step away mid-term.
Approval of each placement rests with Loyola's placement office and faculty, and our job is handing them a file that already meets Loyola's rules. Start with a short form.
Questions Loyola students ask
How many clinical hours is Loyola's PMHNP program?
Seven hundred fifty supervised hours for the MSN, split this way: NURS G866 carries 60, the first three management practicums (NURS G856, NURS G857, NURS G858) carry 180 apiece, and NURS G859 closes with 150. The Post-Graduate Certificate also states 750, while its plan of study gives every management practicum 200 hours, a sum of 860. Confirm the certificate figure with the PMH Program Director.
Does Loyola's PMHNP program have summer practicums?
Yes, two of them. On the posted MSN plan, NURS G866 falls in Summer I and NURS G858 falls in Summer II, because the program runs year-round with continuous enrollment. Loyola's 2027 summer sessions open May 17, so a summer practicum search should be underway by mid-February to respect the three-month lead time.
Can a psychiatrist precept a Loyola PMHNP student?
When the site is in Louisiana, the state board wants most of a graduate student's clinical time spent with an APRN in the same population focus, and it lets other clinicians add interprofessional experience on top. That leaves room for some psychiatrist time, but your course sets how much. Ask the PMH Program Director before you plan a term around a physician preceptor.
How often do Loyola PMHNP students come to campus?
Loyola's sources differ. The 2026-27 bulletin schedules a PMHNP campus intensive every semester. The MSN and certificate web pages instead call the intensives annual. Because a practicum runs every term from Summer I on, confirm your cohort's intensive dates early and build clinical shifts around them.
When does the first PMHNP practicum start?
On the posted MSN plan, which begins in Fall, the first practicum is NURS G866 in term 3, Summer I, after two terms of coursework. Your Louisiana or multistate RN license must be in place before the second semester, and your Exxat compliance items must be current before the placement request can reach Placement Approved.
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
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