Gonzaga's MSN Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner track

Q: When does the first psychiatric practicum start in Gonzaga's PMHNP?

Usually at the beginning of year three. Before NURS 661M, you need a C or better in psychopharmacology (NURS 670) and in health assessment, and those courses fall in year two. Your health assessment hours come first, in primary care, so you need two different kinds of preceptor over the program: a primary care one for NURS 601 and psychiatric ones afterward.

Q: Does NURS 601 need a psychiatric preceptor for PMHNP students?

No. NURS 601 is a 60-hour primary care practicum shared with the FNP track. The catalog calls for a nurse practitioner or physician, and the program page adds physician assistants. It pairs with NURS 600 Advanced Health Assessment and its two Spokane immersions, and together the two courses count as a full-time load for that semester.

Updated September 25, 2026 · Reviewed by the Gonzaga Preceptor placement team

Gonzaga's PMHNP track pairs 47 online credits with 660 clinical hours: 60 in a primary care health assessment practicum, then 600 across three psychiatric practicums and an optional extension. Five 2-day immersions bring you to Spokane, and every practicum site sits in the western state where you are licensed. Below is how the plan unfolds and which preceptors fit each stage.

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47credits in the MSN PMHNP

660clinical hours, 60 of them in NURS 601

5two-day immersions in Spokane

The PMHNP track at a glance

Two things set the PMHNP plan apart from the family track. NURS 670 Psychopharmacology is required before any psychiatric practicum, and the specialty sequence starts later, at the beginning of year three rather than year two. That later start is useful: it gives you extra months to secure a psychiatric preceptor, who is often harder to find than a primary care one.

Gonzaga MSN PMHNP program facts (2026-27 catalog, program page, PMHNP preceptor packet)
Item	What Gonzaga publishes
Credits	47: the MSN core, NURS 523, NURS 524, NURS 670 Psychopharmacology, health assessment and three specialty pairs
Length and format	9 semesters, online and asynchronous, no cohort, five-year completion limit
Clinical hours	660 on the program page and preceptor packet; the catalog lists 600 practicum hours (10 credits) plus NURS 601
Immersions	5, each two days
Practicum course fees	NURS 661M, 662M, 663M and 683M each carry a course fee listed in ZagWeb
Admission	Active, unrestricted RN license; a bachelor's degree; residence in one of ten western states
Next posted start	Summer 2027, apply by Feb 1, 2027

The psychiatric practicum sequence

Your first 60 hours are not psychiatric at all. NURS 601 runs with NURS 600 Advanced Health Assessment in a primary care setting, supervised by a nurse practitioner or physician, and the program page adds physician assistants. NURS 661M opens only once you hold a C or better in NURS 670, NURS 600 and NURS 601.

PMHNP practicums by course (preceptor packet ranges; the 2026 web page where it differs)
Practicum	Taken with	Focus	Hours
NURS 601	NURS 600	Primary care health assessment	60
NURS 661M	NURS 652M	Psychiatric assessment and diagnosis	60-180
NURS 662M	NURS 653M	Adults: medication management, individual and group psychotherapy	60-240 (web: 120-240)
NURS 663M	NURS 654M	Children and adolescents, and older adults	60-240
NURS 683M	After the sequence, if needed	Extension; may be repeated	60-180

The preceptor packet spreads the 600 psychiatric hours across at least three semesters, and the extension course picks up whatever is left. For objectives and typical settings in each course, open the PMHNP practicum courses guide.

Who can precept psychiatric hours

The PMHNP track accepts a wider circle of preceptors than the family track. Gonzaga counts qualified mental health professionals: psychiatrists and advanced practice nurses, and beyond them psychologists, licensed therapists and social workers. Countable time covers assessment, differential diagnosis, care planning, psychopharmacology and psychotherapy, along with presenting and documenting patients.

The extension course is where the sources narrow. The catalog names a psychiatric nurse practitioner or psychiatrist for NURS 683M, while the program page allows an NP, physician or PA unless your state requires a physician or NP. Ask course faculty which reading applies before you book extension hours.

Observation can fill no more than 15 percent of your clinical time, so a shadowing-heavy arrangement will not carry a term. PMHNP hours also cannot be logged in the setting where you work as an RN. A different service within that employer is acceptable once faculty sign off. The preceptor requirements page lists the credentials every preceptor documents.

Site visits and the five immersions

Clinical faculty visit at least once in each of the three specialty practicums, more often when needed, and NURS 683M has no visit. Per the PMHNP packet, it can happen at your site or over a telehealth link while you see patients. Gonzaga's program page also carries the four-state pattern: outside Washington, Idaho, Oregon and Montana, plan an extra day on campus beside an immersion in each practicum course.

The visit sits inside the three points of contact that Gonzaga ties to Washington's WAC 246-840-533, and coordinating all three falls to you. The three points of contact guide walks through the beginning, middle and end conversations.

The immersions are five 2-day stays in Spokane: two tied to NURS 600, then one each with NURS 652M, NURS 653M and NURS 654M. OSCEs run through all of them. The Spokane immersions guide covers timing and travel planning.

Why psychiatric preceptors are harder to secure

Mental health care is short-staffed across the Northwest. HRSA's quarterly summary for June 2026 shows Washington's designated mental health shortage areas meeting about 21 percent of need, the lowest among Washington, Idaho, Oregon, Montana and Alaska. With fewer psychiatric prescribers, each one can field requests from several programs, including other Washington NP programs such as WSU in Spokane.

Individual systems layer on extra steps. Kootenai Health, based in Coeur d'Alene, requires Idaho Health and Welfare fingerprinting for students on its behavioral health units, and VA Spokane trains students only under an academic affiliation with the VA. On this track, an early start and a clear picture of each system's route pay off. The PMHNP preceptors in the West guide maps the settings worth approaching.

How we place Gonzaga PMHNP students

Psychiatric placements reward a patient, organized search, and that is where we do our best work. Your placement advisor looks in your own state for mental health preceptors who fit the population each course covers, confirms their license and certification, and lines up the details Gonzaga's site request asks for well before the term.

What a PMHNP student gets

Preceptors matched to the course: diagnosis in NURS 661M, adult medication management and therapy in NURS 662M, child, adolescent and older adult care in NURS 663M
A plan that stays within two preceptors per semester and keeps observation under the cap
Sites outside your own RN practice setting, ready for faculty review
Backup options on call if a psychiatric preceptor's schedule changes

Every preceptor and site passes through course faculty for final approval, and the Clinical Placement Team completes the placement. We make sure the request they receive is thorough and ready to approve. Tell us your state through the form below.

Questions Gonzaga students ask

Can a licensed therapist supervise my Gonzaga PMHNP clinical hours?

Yes, in most practicums. Gonzaga's PMHNP guidance treats licensed therapists, psychologists and social workers as qualified mental health professionals, next to psychiatrists and advanced practice nurses. Faculty still approve each one, and the extension course NURS 683M has narrower catalog wording that names a psychiatric NP or psychiatrist. A mix that includes prescribers helps you meet the psychopharmacology side of the course objectives.

When does the first psychiatric practicum start in Gonzaga's PMHNP?

Usually at the beginning of year three. Before NURS 661M, you need a C or better in psychopharmacology (NURS 670) and in health assessment, and those courses fall in year two. Your health assessment hours come first, in primary care, so you need two different kinds of preceptor over the program: a primary care one for NURS 601 and psychiatric ones afterward.

Does NURS 601 need a psychiatric preceptor for PMHNP students?

No. NURS 601 is a 60-hour primary care practicum shared with the FNP track. The catalog calls for a nurse practitioner or physician, and the program page adds physician assistants. It pairs with NURS 600 Advanced Health Assessment and its two Spokane immersions, and together the two courses count as a full-time load for that semester.

Can PMHNP site visits be done by telehealth?

Yes. The PMHNP packet permits a virtual visit, where clinical faculty watch you work with patients over telehealth instead of traveling to your site. Each of the three specialty practicums gets at least one visit, and the extension course has none. The program page also asks students living outside Washington, Idaho, Oregon and Montana to add a campus day in each practicum course.

Is Gonzaga's PMHNP program 600 or 660 hours?

It is 660 when you count everything. The catalog and the course objectives page name 600 practicum hours across the psychiatric courses, worth 10 credits, while the program page and preceptor packet fold in NURS 601, a 60-hour primary care practicum. Course faculty and your syllabus confirm the hours each practicum expects from you.

PMHNPPMHNP practicum coursesGonzaga's PMHNP practicums, NURS 661M to 663M and the NURS 683M extension: populations by course, who can precept, hour ranges and the observation cap.PMHNPPMHNP preceptors in the WestFinding psychiatric preceptors for Gonzaga PMHNP practicums across the ten western states: shortage figures, who qualifies, and settings that fit each course.NURS 601NURS 600 and 601: health assessmentHow Gonzaga's NURS 600 and NURS 601 work: 60 precepted primary care hours, two Spokane immersions, who can supervise, and how to plan the load.ImmersionsSpokane immersionsGonzaga's on-campus nursing immersions in Spokane: six for FNP, five for PMHNP, OSCEs, when they start, and how to plan travel around your practicums.Second MSNSecond MSN: Psychiatric-Mental Health NPGonzaga's Second MSN in Psychiatric-Mental Health NP: the full psychiatric practicum sequence without the MSN core, 32-35 credits and five Spokane immersions.HoursWhat counts as a clinical hourWhat Gonzaga counts as an FNP or PMHNP clinical hour: patient time, documentation, preceptor consults, the 15% PMHNP observation cap and the schedule rule.

Last checked 2026-09-25

We check these pages against Gonzaga's catalog, FAQs, preceptor packets and Department of Nursing pages. Your course, the Graduate Nursing Student Handbook and Gonzaga's Clinical Placement Team have the final word.

Gonzaga asks you to find local preceptors first. Let us run that search.

Tell us your Gonzaga program, your practicum course and where you live and can travel. We find preceptors who fit the course and prepare the license, certification and site details your Practicum Site Placement Request needs, early in the semester before.

Preceptors matched to the course: primary care across the lifespan for NURS 661P to NURS 664P, psychiatric care for NURS 661M to NURS 663M, an agency liaison for the DNP
Credentials, license, board certification and site contact ready for your site request
In Spokane, across Washington or wherever in the ten western states you are licensed

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