PMHNP clinicals at NKU: MSN 664L to MSN 669L

The numbering jumps from MSN 665L to MSN 667L. No NKU source lists an MSN 666L, so a plan of study showing five PMHNP clinicals is complete.

All five are 1-credit courses, each taking a full 7-week session, and each requires the one before it. A delay in any one of them moves every later rotation, which is why the preceptor plan matters as much as the course plan.

NKU's program page sets 750 hours across the five clinicals, and the 2024-25 catalog gives a single per-course number, 125 direct-care hours for MSN 669L. The remaining four entries state no hours, and MSN 664L is listed as "1 classroom + 0 lab/studio."

Five equal courses would be 150 hours each, so 125 in the final course suggests the earlier ones carry more. NKU does not explain publicly how the pieces reach 750. Plan each rotation from its syllabus, and ask your Clinical Instructor if the numbers do not reconcile. The clinical hours guide sets the PMHNP beside NKU's other tracks.

Every PMHNP clinical is described as "with patients across the lifespan." NKU's FAQ recommends 170 hours with a pediatric population, 165 with adult patients and 165 with older adults. Those figures add to 500, the program's older total, and NKU labels them recommendations rather than requirements.

NKU adds that ANCC certification calls for hours in every age area. With 750 hours now required, keeping roughly a third of your time in each age band is a sensible reading, though your syllabus and Clinical Instructor have the final say.

Pediatric time takes the most planning, since many adult psychiatric practices see few minors. Look for a preceptor or site with a child and adolescent caseload for at least one rotation.

NKU's FAQ limits PMHNP preceptors to a PMHNP or a psychiatrist. Settings include psychiatric and mental health facilities, outpatient clinics and treatment facilities, and inpatient hospital units.

Time spent in psychotherapy or counseling under a psychologist, LICSW or LPCC is capped at 80 hours for the whole program. The cap spans all five courses, so keep a running total. The setting rules guide covers how the cap is applied, and the preceptor requirements guide lists the rules every preceptor must meet.

NKU's sequence for Fall 2024 admits places all five clinicals at the end. MSN 671 to MSN 674 run one per session, MSN 675 pairs with MSN 664L, then MSN 665L, MSN 667L and MSN 668L each take a session alone, and the MSN 676 PMHNP Capstone pairs with MSN 669L. A Spring 1 2025 starter finishes in Fall 1 2027 after 17 sessions.

Each rotation needs its own Medatrax self-placement request. Up to four preceptors are permitted across the MSN, so a psychiatric preceptor who can stay for two or three consecutive sessions shortens both your search and your paperwork.

Telepsychiatry is common in psychiatric practice, but NKU has no published rule on counting telehealth hours. Ask your Clinical Instructor before planning a rotation around it; the telehealth options page covers what to ask.

Both PMHNP certificates, the post-master's version and the NP-to-PMHNP version, run on these same five courses and 750 hours. NP-to-PMHNP students begin with MSN 671 to MSN 675 and must hold a valid NP license and national certification; the NP-to-PMHNP guide covers that path. NKU's 2023-24 catalog listed four PMHNP clinicals, and program pages from that period gave 500 hours, so earlier admits should check their own plan.

We look for PMHNP and psychiatrist preceptors whose caseloads cover the ages you still need, and we plan all five rotations so pediatric, adult and geriatric time is spread from the start. Where counseling experience helps, we keep it inside NKU's 80-hour cap.

Each preceptor file reaches your Clinical and Concentration Coordinators with the paperwork complete. The PMHNP program guide covers the rest of the track, and the form below begins your placement plan.