Clarkson College MSN in Psychiatric-Mental Health NP: the clinical side
Clarkson College's online MSN in Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner is 51 credits with 750 clinical hours across five courses, taken one at a time, and a single campus visit, the Graduate Weekend in NRS 830. Each clinical course needs a preceptor and site that you arrange and Clarkson approves before you can register, which makes the preceptor plan the part of the program that sets your pace.
Plan your PMHNP clinicals
Tell us your state and start term. We map preceptors for all five courses.
The program in brief
The 2026-27 catalog builds the PMHNP option from 19 credits of core courses shared by every MSN option and 32 credits of PMHNP courses, 51 in all, and Clarkson's Fall 2025 degree plan for the track gives the same total. The PMHNP block is two credits larger than the FNP or AGACNP block, which is why this track runs 51 credits where those run 49.
PMHNP is the newest MSN option: it first appears as an MSN track in the 2023-24 catalog, having run before that as a post-graduate certificate and a BSN to DNP track. Coursework is online. Clarkson's MSN page puts the program at 7 to 9 semesters for full-time students; part-time plans run 12 to 14 semesters, sometimes longer.
To get in, you need a BSN from a program accredited by ACEN or CCNE (NLN CNEA also qualifies under Clarkson's admissions policy), a GPA of 3.0, a pair of professional recommendations, and an RN license, unencumbered and valid in the state where you work or plan your clinicals.
Five clinical courses and 750 hours
Every PMHNP clinical hour sits in five courses. The first is shared with the FNP and AGACNP tracks; the other four are psychiatric. The hours come from the 2026-27 catalog course pages, which print an MSN figure and a BSN to DNP figure for each.
| Course | MSN and certificate hours | BSN to DNP hours | Preceptor |
|---|---|---|---|
| NRS 830 Advanced Physical Assessment | 100 | 125 | Family practice MD, DO or NP; PA allowed |
| NRS 856 Introduction to Psychiatric-Mental Health Concepts | 150 | 200 | Psychiatrist or PMHNP, plus 50 hours with a licensed therapist |
| NRS 857 Application of Psychiatric-Mental Health Concepts | 160 | 200 | Psychiatrist or PMHNP |
| NRS 858 Complex Psychiatric-Mental Health Concepts | 160 | 200 | Psychiatrist or PMHNP |
| NRS 859 Advanced Psychiatric-Mental Health Concepts | 180 | 250 | Psychiatrist or PMHNP |
| Total | 750 | 975 |
Clarkson describes each NP track as "designed for singular progression through the clinical courses": one clinical course per term, each the prerequisite for the next. Five terms of clinicals is therefore the shortest path once NRS 830 begins. The course guides take each one in turn, starting with NRS 856 and ending with NRS 859.
The Graduate Weekend opens the clinical sequence
NRS 830 carries the program's one campus visit. The 2026-27 calendar has three Graduate Weekends: Sept. 19-20 in 2026, then Feb. 6-7 and Jun. 5-6 in 2027. The 2027-28 calendar repeats the pattern with Sept. 18-19, 2027, then Feb. 5-6 and Jun. 3-4, 2028.
Under Clarkson's 2021-22 graduate handbook, NRS 830 clinical hours began only after you passed the physical assessment check-off that weekend; skipping any portion of the weekend meant failing the course, as did failing the check-off a second time. For PMHNP students, NRS 830 is also the one course where a family practice preceptor fits and telehealth is off the table. The Graduate Weekend guide has the details.
You find the preceptor; Clarkson approves it
Clarkson's model is consistent across its documents. The 2021-22 graduate handbook gave each student, rather than the College or the Graduate Nursing program, the job of identifying suitable preceptors and sites. The 2026-27 catalog marks every PMHNP clinical course as needing preceptor and site approval before registration.
In the process Clarkson documented from 2021 to 2024, you submit a Clinical/Practicum Site & Preceptor Agreement Form through DocuSign, a fresh one per preceptor, per course and per semester. The Graduate Nursing advisor verifies the course and term, Compliance either finds an existing affiliation agreement or opens a new one (Clarkson allowed up to two months for that), and final approval from Graduate Nursing and a sign-off from course faculty come before any hour counts. The filing deadlines in those documents: spring courses by Nov. 1, summer by Mar. 1, fall by Jun. 1. The placement process page follows each step.
What PMHNP preceptors must bring
Clarkson's November 2023 PMHNP clinical sheet is the newest public statement of the track's preceptor rules; your course faculty hold the current version.
- A psychiatrist or a PMHNP for NRS 856 through NRS 859; physician assistants qualify only in NRS 830
- Even in NRS 830, no PA preceptors in Florida, Oklahoma, Arizona or Maryland
- Fifty NRS 856 hours with a licensed master's-prepared therapist
- Telehealth optional and capped at 300 hours, counted only while you are alongside the provider
- Minimum hours with adults 18 to 59 (100), patients under 18 (50) and adults 60 and over (50)
- Licensure in your clinical state, two-plus years of practice, a related specialty, no relatives, and a cap of two preceptors per course unless faculty approve more in writing
The PMHNP clinical sites guide explains each rule and the settings that satisfy it.
Where you can live and train
PMHNP clinicals happen near home, in any state where Clarkson's AY 2026-27 state workbook says Graduate Nursing meets requirements: 38 states. Twelve are marked Does Not Meet, and California, Colorado and North Dakota carry footnotes worth reading.
Two licenses must line up with that state: your RN license and your preceptor's. A move matters too, since Clarkson cautions that relocating to a state outside its authorization can end aid eligibility or even your ability to complete the program; speak with the program director first. The state authorization guide covers the footnotes and recent changes.
The certificate and BSN to DNP routes
The same five clinical courses sit inside two other Clarkson programs. The post-graduate certificate in PMHNP is 35 credits for nurses who already hold an MSN, and its hours follow the MSN figures, since the course pages print only MSN and DNP numbers. The BSN to DNP in PMHNP is at least 73 credits (the catalog table prints 69 because it leaves out the electives) and uses the doctoral hours, 975 in all.
For BSN to DNP students whose plan began in Spring 2024 or after, Clarkson's addendum to its DNP hours guide adds 125 DNP hours to the 975 for a total of 1,100, while the credit hour policy still prints a 350-hour DNP figure; your advisor can say which applies to your plan. The preceptor rules and the one-course-at-a-time pacing are the same on every route.
Why PMHNP students plan with us
We plan the whole PMHNP sequence at the start rather than one term at a time: a family practice preceptor for NRS 830, psychiatric preceptors for NRS 856 through NRS 859, a therapist for the 50 hours, and settings chosen so the age-group minimums and the telehealth ceiling work out by the final course.
Each preceptor is checked against Clarkson's rules before you see a name. We gather the details the DocuSign form needs, flag sites that will need an affiliation agreement, time every search to Clarkson's agreement deadline for the term, and stay on call to replace a preceptor who drops. Approval stays with Clarkson's advisors, Compliance office and faculty; our job is to hand them a file with nothing missing. Start with the form below.
Questions Clarkson students ask
How long does Clarkson's MSN PMHNP take?
Plan on 7 to 9 semesters if you study full-time, by the estimate on Clarkson's MSN page, or 12 to 14 and beyond part-time. The clinical portion alone takes at least five terms, because the five clinicals go in sequence, one per term. A term without an approved preceptor adds a term at the end, so preceptor planning matters as much as course load.
Is Clarkson's PMHNP program fully online?
The coursework is online. NP students travel to the Omaha campus a single time, for the Graduate Weekend in NRS 830, and complete their clinical hours at approved sites near home. Clarkson's post-graduate certificate page likewise describes its NP tracks as having minimal on-campus visits.
Does Clarkson assign PMHNP preceptors?
Clarkson's graduate documents place the search with the student and the approval with Clarkson's offices and faculty. A few health systems run request routes that students start themselves, and each system decides its own requests. We handle the search and gather the paperwork details, so what reaches Clarkson is complete.
Can I keep working while in the PMHNP track?
You are expected to. Holding an RN job the whole way through was a requirement in Clarkson's 2021-22 graduate handbook. Clinical hours are kept apart from your job: at your own employer they must happen in a department other than yours, with work and clinical hours documented separately.
Can I do PMHNP clinicals in my home state?
Yes, if Clarkson's state workbook marks your state Meets for Graduate Nursing, your RN license is effective there and your preceptor is licensed there. Thirty-eight states cleared that bar in the AY 2026-27 workbook. Check your state's row before applying and again before any move.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-27
We check these pages against Clarkson College's own catalog, program pages and published nursing documents. Your course faculty and Graduate Nursing advisor have the final word.
- Clarkson College 2026-27 catalog: Master of Science in Nursing
- Clarkson College: Master of Science in Nursing
- Clarkson College Fall 2025 degree plan: MSN PMHNP
- Clarkson College PMHNP Clinical Rotation Information, revised Nov. 2023 (archived)
- Clarkson College: State authorization and licensure information
Clarkson asks you to find your preceptor. We make the search the easy part.
Tell us your Clarkson track, your city and your next clinical course. We line up preceptors who fit the NRS course and Clarkson's rules, gather the details the site and preceptor agreement asks for, and flag early whether the site needs a new affiliation agreement.
- Preceptors matched to the course: all-ages primary care for FNP, acute care units for AGACNP, psychiatric providers for PMHNP
- License, experience and site details checked against Clarkson's rules before the agreement is filed
- Every clinical course planned in sequence, close to home in a state where Clarkson's graduate nursing meets requirements
Start your placement plan
Track, city and next clinical course is all we need to begin.