Telehealth practicum hours at Liberty: PMHNP up to 50%, FNP none
Liberty lets PMHNP students use telehealth sites for up to 50% of their practicum hours and does not allow telehealth sites in the FNP program. No public rule covers the DNP practicums, the MSN tracks or the RN-to-BSN. The rule is one sentence long, so the questions it leaves open matter as much as the rule.
Weighing a telehealth preceptor?
Tell us your track, your term and how many of your hours you hope to do by telehealth.
The rule, track by track
Liberty states its telehealth rule in the practicum placement text on its FNP, PMHNP and DNP program pages. Here is where each track stands, including the tracks with nothing published:
| Track and courses | Telehealth rule | Where Liberty says it |
|---|---|---|
DNP – FNP (NURS 771, 772, 838) | Telehealth sites not allowed | FNP program page |
DNP – PMHNP, Post-BSN (NURS 768–770) | Up to 50% of practicum hours | Post-BSN PMHNP program page |
DNP – PMHNP, Post-MSN (NURS 768–770) | Up to 50% of practicum hours | Post-MSN PMHNP program page |
PMHNP certificate (NURS 754, 755 in the catalog) | Up to 50% of PMHNP hours | Certificate program page |
DNP practicums (NURS 840–843) | No specific rule found | Not published |
| MSN concentrations and RN-to-BSN | No rule found | Not published |
Liberty's wording is "telehealth sites" and it does not define the term further. A hybrid clinic that sees some patients by video is therefore a question for the practicum team, not something to settle on your own.
PMHNP: what up to 50% leaves open
The PMHNP rule gives one number and leaves several questions. Liberty does not say whether the 50% is measured per practicum course or across all PMHNP hours. It does not say whether the base is the 750 NP hours or all 1,050 practicum hours in the doctorate. And it does not say how telehealth hours sit alongside the older FAQ's requirement that half of each practicum's hours be spent with a prescriber.
Until you have answers in writing, a cautious plan keeps every course at or below half telehealth and treats the 750 NP hours as the base. Under that plan, no reading of the rule leaves you short at hour review. The PMHNP practicum page and the certificate practicum page cover the courses themselves.
Telehealth never replaces the in-person half. Line up an in-person preceptor for each PMHNP course before you accept a telehealth offer.
FNP: every hour in person
For FNP students the answer is simple: Liberty's FNP page says telehealth sites are not allowed. That covers NURS 771, NURS 772 and NURS 838, the three courses holding the 750 NP hours. If an in-person preceptor also runs video visits, ask the practicum team whether you may take part and how that time is logged, before you log it.
The rule also shapes the search. With no virtual fallback, your practical radius is how far you can travel, and Liberty warns that limited preceptor availability may mean longer distances. Turn down a site Liberty provides because it is too far, and finding a replacement falls to you. See site distance for how that plays out.
The FNP course descriptions center on history taking, physical exams, diagnostics and prescribing under a preceptor, so plan every one of those hours at a physical site.
DNP practicums and MSN tracks: no published rule
Liberty's telehealth sentence names PMHNP and FNP students. It says nothing about the DNP practicums, NURS 840–843, which focus on systems leadership, or about the post-master's DNP. The course descriptions say every planned DNP activity needs faculty approval, so remote DNP work is a faculty decision.
The MSN concentrations have no telehealth rule either. Informatics comes closest to flexible wording by counting "practice experience hours and/or project hours," but Liberty does not say remote hours qualify. Educator, Administration, Community Health and Health Policy students work under a contract with a site, and the online MSN page describes hours completed in your own community.
The RN-to-BSN's 16 community hours in NURS 440 are an observation at an approved location near you, with no telehealth option mentioned.
State and license questions telehealth raises
Liberty's state rules assume a physical practicum state. You need an RN license that is valid in the practicum state, and PMHNP practicums cannot be placed in California, New York, Washington, DC or the territories. With telehealth, you, the preceptor and the patient may each be in a different state.
Liberty's pages do not say which state counts as the practicum state for a telehealth site. Before you accept one, ask the practicum team at APRN.DNPPracticum@liberty.edu which state they will treat as the practicum state, whether your license covers it, and whether a state board notice applies. Alabama, for example, needs School of Nursing notice at least 15 days before APRN clinicals.
Some states on Liberty's FNP pages name only their own RN license, with no multistate option, which matters if a telehealth site sits in one of them. The RN license page covers the practicum-state license rule in more depth.
Clearance still applies to a telehealth site
A telehealth site is still a practicum site. Liberty requires every placement step finished and full compliance before practicum begins, and the site and preceptor still go through Liberty's approval. The site may add onboarding of its own.
For PMHNP students, the clearance list does not shrink because the site is virtual: AHA BLS for Healthcare Providers with AED, a background check and drug screen, the Immunization/Physical Exam Form, and OSHA and HIPAA training. Liberty's malpractice cover, per the dated 2022-23 handbook, applies only to Liberty-scheduled practicums, so hours outside an approved placement fall outside that cover. If a telehealth company asks for proof of coverage, Liberty's Risk Management office issues Certificates of Insurance for student off-campus placements, with requests due 3 business days ahead.
Telehealth and in-person, planned together
For PMHNP students, we look for telehealth psychiatric preceptors whose sites fit Liberty's rules, paired with in-person preceptors near you so the telehealth share stays within 50%. For FNP students, we search in person only. If a telehealth site is based in another state, we raise the practicum-state question with you before any paperwork goes to Liberty. In both cases we help you prepare the preceptor and site documents the Gate course asks for, and we stay on call if a preceptor withdraws.
Liberty approves every site and preceptor, telehealth or not, and each one we suggest has been measured against Liberty's telehealth rules first. For a wider look at virtual options, see virtual clinical options, or contact us with your track and term.
Questions Liberty students ask
Does Liberty allow telehealth clinical hours for FNP students?
No. Liberty's FNP program page says telehealth sites are not allowed in the FNP program, and that applies to the NP practicum courses, NURS 771, 772 and 838. Liberty has not published a separate rule for the DNP practicum hours in NURS 840–843, so ask your faculty before logging any remote DNP work.
How many PMHNP hours can be telehealth at Liberty?
Up to 50% of practicum hours, per Liberty's PMHNP program pages. Liberty does not publish the base for that percentage or whether the limit runs per course. Using the 750 NP hours as the base and staying at half or less in each course keeps you within the most cautious reading of the rule.
Can my telehealth preceptor be in a different state from me?
Liberty's pages do not answer this directly. Every track requires an RN license valid in the practicum state, and PMHNP practicums are closed in California, New York, Washington, DC and the territories. Ask the practicum team which state they treat as the practicum state for a given telehealth site before you accept it.
Do MSN students have a telehealth limit?
Liberty has published no telehealth rule for any MSN concentration. The MSN catalog ties hours to a contracted site and an approved preceptor, and the online MSN page says hours can be done in your own community. Ask your course faculty in writing before counting remote time toward the 300 hours.
Do telehealth hours count toward the PMHNP prescriber half?
Liberty's older PMHNP FAQ says a psychiatrist or PMHNP who prescribes must supervise half the hours in each practicum. It says nothing about telehealth. Whether hours with a telehealth prescriber count toward that half is not stated anywhere public, so only the practicum team can confirm how the two rules combine for your term.
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.
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