Liberty's DNP-PMHNP: preceptors, sites and the 50% telehealth rule
Whether you enter Liberty's PMHNP doctorate with a BSN or an MSN, you finish with the same 1,050 practicum hours: 750 psychiatric nurse practitioner hours in NURS 768, 769 and 770, plus 300 DNP hours. Up to half your practicum hours may be telehealth. The rest need an in-person psychiatric preceptor that Liberty approves.
Plan your PMHNP practicum
Share your state, your entry point (post-BSN or post-MSN) and your first practicum term. A placement advisor will reply with a realistic in-person and telehealth mix.
NURS 770
Post-BSN or post-MSN: what changes
Liberty runs two PMHNP doctorates, and they differ more in the classroom than in the clinic. Both catalog plans run eight semesters over three years, both must be finished within five years, and both list the next starts as October 26, 2026, January 18, 2027 and March 22, 2027.
- Post-BSN: 66 credits in the 2026-27 catalog, 65 on the program page. It is online with one required intensive, which the program page describes as virtual. You take the NP core,
NURS 711,712and713, inside the plan. - Post-MSN: 55 credits in the catalog, 54 on the program page, taught in 8-week online courses with no intensive mentioned. NP-level pharmacology, pathophysiology and health assessment must be done before any PMHNP didactic or clinical course.
- Both: the PMHNP comprehensive exam,
NURS 821, which can't be replaced by the DNP exam,NURS 820, and 1,050 practicum hours (750 NP and 300 DNP). The post-BSN web page rounds this to over 1,000.
Admission adds two rules that bite at practicum time. You need an RN license held in the state where your practicum will occur, and the catalog wants a year of professional nursing experience behind you before NURS 768 or 769, which Liberty checks with employers.
The practicum sequence
Paperwork runs through zero-credit Gate courses before and alongside the practicums. Post-BSN students take Gates NURS 756 and 757; post-MSN students take NURS 745 and 746; both then take NURS 758 and the DNP Practicum Gate, NURS 828. In the post-BSN plan, Gate 1 sits in semester 5 and Practicum I arrives in semester 6.
| Course | Focus | Credits | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
NURS 768 PMHNP Practicum I | Interviewing, screening, diagnostics and episodic, acute and chronic care across the lifespan | 3 | Part of the 750; split not published |
NURS 769 PMHNP Practicum II | Same lifespan scope, building on 768 | 3 | Part of the 750; split not published |
NURS 770 PMHNP Practicum III | Supervised placements across diverse settings, toward certification eligibility | 4 | Completes the 750 direct care hours |
NURS 840 to 843 DNP Practicum I to IV | Faculty-guided leadership work at micro, meso and macro levels | 2 each | 300 DNP hours in total |
The post-BSN plan caps NURS 843 at four enrollments if hours run short. An earlier 2023-24 plan asked for 1,064 hours and split the courses by population, with NURS 768 as Adult/Gero and NURS 769 as Pediatrics/Family, so older students should check which plan they are on.
Who can precept you
Liberty's current PMHNP preceptor rules aren't public. The most specific Liberty source is an older PMHNP FAQ, which names PMHNPs and psychiatrists as the approved preceptors and asks that half of each practicum's hours be spent with a prescriber. The same FAQ says the School of Nursing reserves the right to approve all sites and preceptors before placement.
Treat those as a working guide, not settled policy, and put any other clinician, such as a psychologist or counselor, to the practicum team before you log a minute. Settings matter too: NURS 770 expects placements across diverse settings, so a single outpatient office for every term may not satisfy the course. Our preceptor requirements page keeps the current and dated rules side by side.
The older FAQ also warns that placements can involve long commutes at your own expense and that specific days of the week can't always be secured.
Telehealth: up to half, never all
PMHNP students are the only Liberty NP students who may use telehealth sites, and only for up to 50% of their practicum hours. FNP students get none. That makes a telehealth psychiatric preceptor a real option for part of your hours, not a workaround for all of them.
It also means at least half your hours still need an in-person site. Liberty doesn't say publicly whether the cap is counted per course or across the whole practicum, so ask the practicum team before any one term leans heavily on telehealth. The telehealth page covers how the cap works, and virtual clinical options explains what to ask a telehealth practice before you propose it.
Liberty's cap is up to 50% of practicum hours. A plan built only on virtual preceptors won't meet it, however many hours it logs, so line up in-person hours from the start.
Working with the practicum team
Liberty describes PMHNP placement as a collaborative partnership with its dedicated practicum team, which aims to match each student with a preceptor and site. The post-BSN page puts it plainly: practicum coordinators can help you gain placement. Students are also encouraged to find placements, and the older FAQ suggests contacting organizations in your area and networking with colleagues.
The matching comes with conditions. The term you're assigned may not be the one you wanted, travel may be longer than you'd like, and a student who turns down a provided site because of distance is asked to find a new one. Read the distance rule before you say no to anything. Questions go to APRN.DNPPracticum@liberty.edu, and fees a site or preceptor charges are yours to negotiate with the site.
States and licenses
Liberty will not place PMHNP students in practicum in California, New York, Washington or the District of Columbia. Students living in a U.S. territory do their practicum in one of the 50 states. Liberty's licensure pages still say it meets education requirements in those places, so the practical route is a practicum in an approved state with an RN license valid there.
Arizona needs extra attention. Liberty's Arizona page says PMHNP students completing practicum there must hold an Arizona APRN license and an Arizona RN license, or a multistate RN license. Read that page in full before you settle on an Arizona site, and ask the practicum team if the wording doesn't fit your situation.
Several approved states also have board steps that Liberty handles, such as Alabama's 15-day notice before APRN clinicals. The state restrictions page covers each exclusion by program.
Why PMHNP students choose us
We search for psychiatric preceptors near you, in person first, and look at telehealth options only inside Liberty's 50% limit. We keep the older prescriber guidance in mind when we suggest who to approach, and we flag it when a lead needs the practicum team's view first. Our search adds to the team's matching, and every lead we find goes to Liberty for review in the usual way.
We put together the preceptor and site details the Gate courses collect, and stay on call if a preceptor withdraws partway through NURS 769 or 770. Liberty approves every site and preceptor, and a file that already answers the prescriber question is the strongest one to put in front of it. Use the form below with your entry point and state, and a placement advisor will reply.
Questions Liberty students ask
Do I need to be a nurse practitioner already for Liberty's post-MSN PMHNP DNP?
Liberty's sources disagree. The current post-MSN program page lists an RN license from one of the 50 states, BLS and one reference, with no NP license mentioned. An undated Liberty PMHNP FAQ says the program enrolls licensed or certified nurse practitioners. Ask admissions which applies to you before you apply, because the answer also affects which NP core courses you must show.
Can a psychologist or licensed counselor precept my Liberty PMHNP hours?
No current Liberty rule says so. The older PMHNP FAQ lists only PMHNPs and psychiatrists as approved preceptors and asks for half of each practicum's hours with a prescriber. A therapist might add value to a site, but hours with them may not count. Send their credentials to the practicum team and get a written answer first.
Is the PMHNP intensive virtual or on campus?
For the post-BSN route, the program page says one virtual intensive. Liberty's in-person components page still lists the post-BSN PMHNP among programs with on-campus intensives, so the two pages conflict. The post-MSN page mentions no intensive. Check the course registration tool or ask your advisor for the format that applies to your term.
How many hours does each Liberty PMHNP practicum course need?
The 2026-27 catalog gives the 750 NP hours as a total and doesn't split them across NURS 768, 769 and 770. The NURS 770 description says you keep accumulating toward the full 750 there. Your syllabus in Canvas is the place to confirm each course's target before you agree on a schedule with a preceptor.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-23
We check these pages against Liberty's own published sources. The practicum team and Liberty's current handbook have the final word.
More leads, sooner, for your practicum.
Tell us your Liberty program, your county and when your practicum starts. We look for a preceptor and site that fit Liberty's rules for your track, and help you get the Gate-course paperwork right.
- Matched to your track: FNP, PMHNP, DNP or MSN
- Paperwork ready for the Gate course and the site contract
- In person near you, or telehealth where your track allows it
Start your placement plan
A placement advisor replies with what a Liberty-ready preceptor and site look like for you.