Gonzaga's Second MSN with the Psychiatric-Mental Health NP option
For nurses who already hold a nursing master's, Gonzaga's Second MSN PMHNP delivers the complete psychiatric NP sequence minus the MSN core. Psychopharmacology, health assessment with its 60-hour practicum, three psychiatric practicums and five 2-day Spokane immersions all remain. What changes is the calendar: with no core year in front, your first psychiatric placement comes much sooner after admission.
Plan your psychiatric practicums
Tell us your state and your admission term.
What the Second MSN PMHNP keeps and what it drops
The Second MSN strips out the MSN core, the block of 8-week courses that fills most of the full degree's first year. The evidence-based practice course, NURS 563, stays on the list only if needed. Everything specific to psychiatric practice remains, and the catalog puts the total at 32 to 35 credits depending on your background.
| Course | Role in the plan |
|---|---|
| NURS 523 Advanced Pathophysiology and NURS 524 Advanced Pharmacology | Prerequisites for health assessment |
| NURS 563 Evidence-Based Practice for Quality and Safety | Only if needed |
| NURS 670 Psychopharmacology for PMHNP | Required before the first psychiatric practicum |
| NURS 600 Advanced Health Assessment with NURS 601 | Two immersions; 60 precepted hours in primary care |
| NURS 652M, 653M, 654M Psych-Mental Health Nurse Concepts I to III | One 2-day immersion each |
| NURS 661M, 662M, 663M, and 683M if needed | 10 practicum credits, 600 precepted hours |
The order your psychiatric work follows
- Foundation courses
NURS 523andNURS 524come first, withNURS 563if needed. No clinical hours yet. - Health assessment and psychopharmacology
NURS 600andNURS 601bring your first 60 hours, in primary care, plus two Spokane immersions.NURS 670must also be complete, becauseNURS 661Mrequires all three at C or better. - Practicum I with Concepts I
NURS 661Mruns alongsideNURS 652Mand centers on psychiatric assessment and diagnosis. - Practicum II with Concepts II
NURS 662Mpairs withNURS 653Mand moves to adults: medication management and individual and group psychotherapy. - Practicum III with Concepts III
NURS 663Mpairs withNURS 654Mand turns to children, adolescents and older adults. - Extension, if hours remain
NURS 683Mcovers 60 to 180 hours in a term without a specialty course and can be repeated.
Each practicum is a corequisite of its concepts course, so the preceptor for a practicum has to be ready in the same term you take the paired course. The PMHNP practicum courses page covers objectives and hour ranges for each one.
Planning preceptors across three populations
The three practicums ask for different patients, and one preceptor may not see all of them. An outpatient psychiatric NP with a mostly adult panel suits NURS 662M, while NURS 663M needs young people and older adults, which can mean a child and adolescent clinic or a geriatric setting. Mapping this at admission prevents a scramble in the final practicum.
Gonzaga accepts qualified mental health professionals as PMHNP preceptors, from advanced practice nurses and psychiatrists to psychologists, social workers and licensed therapists, subject to faculty approval. Two limits shape the plan: a ceiling of two approved preceptors each semester, and observation held to 15 percent of clinical time. The two-preceptor rule guide shows how to plan around the first, and psychiatric preceptors in the West covers where to look.
Remember NURS 601 as well. It takes place in primary care with a nurse practitioner or physician, in the catalog's wording, so it calls for a different preceptor from your psychiatric ones.
For NURS 683M, the catalog wants a psychiatrist or psychiatric NP, so confirm with course faculty before you lean on a therapist for extension hours.
If you already practice as an NP or RN
If you already hold a clinical job, precepting inside your own employer is possible, within limits. The PMHNP rule is stricter than the general one: the unit where you work as an RN is off limits for PMHNP hours, while other services in the same system can qualify with faculty approval.
The general conditions still apply on top. No direct supervisor may precept you, practicum time has to stay apart from paid work, and the placement belongs on a unit other than yours. If you work as an FNP today, a behavioral health service elsewhere in your system may fit, provided it meets those conditions. Tell faculty early where you work, since their decision turns on the unit, the supervisor and your schedule. The workplace practicum rules page covers the full set, including how faculty approval works.
Hours, fees and site visits
Clinical hours match the MSN PMHNP: 60 in NURS 601 and 600 across the psychiatric practicums. Gonzaga's Second MSN FAQ and its catalog describe the 600, while newer program pages give 660 by counting health assessment too. Every psychiatric practicum, the extension included, also carries a course fee, and Gonzaga points you to ZagWeb to confirm it.
Faculty visit at least once during each specialty practicum, and the PMHNP packet allows that visit in person or through telehealth. Outside Washington, Idaho, Oregon and Montana, Gonzaga's pages also ask for a campus day next to an immersion in each practicum course. The five 2-day immersions themselves fall with NURS 600 and the three concepts courses; the Spokane immersions guide has the detail.
Why Second MSN PMHNP students choose us
Psychiatric preceptors are among the hardest to find in the West, and the Second MSN leaves less runway to find them. Our placement advisors specialize in exactly this search. We look across your state for mental health preceptors who fit each population, from adult medication management to child, adolescent and geriatric care, and confirm their credentials against Gonzaga's criteria.
You get a three-practicum plan built at the start, within the two-per-semester limit and away from your own RN practice setting. We assemble the facts the site request asks for, so faculty review moves quickly, and we stay on call to line up a replacement if a preceptor's availability changes. Course faculty approve each preceptor, and the Clinical Placement Team handles the final placement steps. Start with the form below.
Questions Gonzaga students ask
Does Gonzaga's Second MSN PMHNP include psychopharmacology?
Yes. NURS 670 Psychopharmacology for PMHNP is on the required list, and NURS 661M, the first psychiatric practicum, cannot start until it is passed at C or better along with NURS 600 and NURS 601. Advanced Pharmacology, NURS 524, is required as well, so the plan carries two pharmacology courses even though the MSN core is gone.
Can a family nurse practitioner add PMHNP through Gonzaga's Second MSN?
The Second MSN is Gonzaga's route to an additional NP specialty for nurses who already hold a nursing master's from a regionally accredited program. An FNP living in one of the ten states on Gonzaga's NP admission list fits that description. You would still complete health assessment, psychopharmacology, three psychiatric practicums and five immersions, since the published plan includes every practicum credit.
How many preceptors will I need for the PMHNP practicums?
It depends on who your preceptors see. Gonzaga caps you at two approved preceptors per term, and the three practicums cover diagnosis, adults, and then children, adolescents and older adults. You may need a separate preceptor for the final population, plus a primary care preceptor for NURS 601. Planning all of them at admission keeps each term on schedule.
Where do Second MSN PMHNP practicums take place?
Wherever you hold your nursing license, which will be one of the ten western states on Gonzaga's NP admission list. Before an hour counts, each site needs faculty sign-off and a current affiliation agreement with Gonzaga. The unit where you work as an RN is excluded, while other services in the same system can still qualify.
What happens if I finish the concepts courses before my hours?
Gonzaga's extension course, NURS 683M, covers practicum hours in terms when you are not taking a specialty didactic course. It spans 60 to 180 hours and can be repeated. Your progression plan can also stretch within the five-year limit, giving you room to finish the hours.
Related pages
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 661PtoNURS 664P, psychiatric care forNURS 661MtoNURS 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
Start your placement plan
Your program, city and next practicum term is all we need to begin.