Behind on clinical hours partway through a Liberty practicum

The number you are working toward

Liberty's 2026-27 catalog sets hours by program, not by course. That makes the total easy to find and the per-course target harder.

The full breakdown, including older plans some students are still on, is on Liberty clinical hours.

Find the real gap in InPlace

InPlace replaced Typhon for Liberty's practicum logs and evaluations from 2022, and Liberty's 2023 orientation for DNP and APRN preceptors points them to InPlace for student evaluations. Your log there is the record faculty will look at, so work from it rather than from memory or a personal spreadsheet.

Because the current catalog doesn't split the 750 NP hours across the three NP practicum courses, or the 300 DNP hours across NURS 840 to NURS 843, ask your course faculty for the target in your current course. An earlier 2024-25 FNP plan listed NURS 838 at 280 hours and each DNP practicum at 112, but treat those as the old plan unless faculty confirm them. With the target in hand, subtract what is logged and approved, then divide by the weeks left in the term. Our InPlace page covers how the system works.

Hours that may not count

Before adding shifts, make sure the extra time will actually be credited. Each trap below comes from a Liberty rule.

• Hours logged before the course term starts or after it ends. The 2022-23 MSN handbook counts hours only within term dates.
• Hours with someone who isn't your approved preceptor, or at a site Liberty hasn't approved.
• Telehealth hours on the FNP track, or PMHNP telehealth beyond 50% of practicum hours.
• For PMHNP, too few hours with a prescriber. The older Liberty FAQ puts half of each practicum with a psychiatrist or PMHNP.
• MSN hours worked in your paid job. The 2022-23 handbook allows a workplace practicum only if the hours are unpaid and in a different unit.
• Shadowing or volunteering outside a Liberty-scheduled practicum, which the same handbook says Liberty's malpractice cover does not reach.

Catch-up routes that fit Liberty's rules

1. Talk to your course faculty firstShow them the gap and your plan well before the last weeks of term. They can tell you what your course will accept.
2. Add days with your current preceptorThe simplest fix if their schedule allows. Log each extra shift in InPlace the same day.
3. Add a second approved preceptor or siteAny new preceptor or site needs Liberty's approval before hours begin, so start that paperwork straight away.
4. Use telehealth where it is allowedPMHNP students may take up to half of practicum hours by telehealth. See telehealth hours.
5. Use the DNP repeat option if neededThe catalog lets NURS 843 be repeated a limited number of times to finish DNP practicum hours; your plan sets the limit.
6. MSN: look at your workplaceA different unit at your employer can work if the hours are unpaid and an agreement is in place. See using your workplace.

When one term won't close the gap

Practicum courses are chained by prerequisites, so a shortfall rarely stays inside one course. NURS 772 requires NURS 771, NURS 770 requires NURS 769, and each MSN trio runs in order, with NURS 672 requiring NURS 671, for example. A course you can't finish on time can hold up the next one.

If the hours can't be finished this term, raise it early rather than on the last day. Liberty doesn't publish a rule on incomplete grades for practicum courses, so the answer has to come from your faculty and advisor. Our page on delayed graduation explains how a late course can move the rest of the plan. Tell the practicum team as well, since a preceptor for the following term may need to be arranged now.

Why students behind on hours call us

When the fix is a second preceptor or a new site, the problem becomes a search, and searching is our specialty. We work alongside Liberty's practicum team to find a preceptor and site that match your track and the hours still owed, in person near you as the main route and by telehealth where Liberty allows it.

Each option is checked against Liberty's published rules before you hear about it, and we prepare the preceptor's CV, license details and site information so the file is complete when it reaches Liberty's review. Liberty gives the final approval. If a preceptor withdraws later, we search again. A placement advisor sizes the search to your area and track and tells you plainly how it is going at each stage. Tell us the size of your gap through the contact page.