UL Lafayette's NP hour figures, and which one to plan for
Plan for 750. The current UL Lafayette catalog, 2026-27, puts the floor at 750 precepted clinical hours for both the FNP and the PMHNP concentration, even though a nursing site requirements page still shows 600, as did several earlier catalogs. The PMHNP Post-Master's Certificate adds up on its own terms: 510 direct patient care hours over three courses, after 60 observational hours in NURS 590.
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Tell us your UL Lafayette program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with the preceptor and site options that fit your UL Lafayette course.
Where each NP figure appears
UL Lafayette states nurse practitioner clinical hours in three current places, and they do not all match. The table lines them up by source so you can see which number comes from where, and which is most recent. The catalog is the 2026-27 edition; the nursing site pages are archived copies from 2025 and 2026.
| Source | FNP | PMHNP | PMHNP certificate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 catalog | Minimum 750 precepted clinical hours | Minimum 750 precepted clinical hours | 510 total clinical hours; 120 to 210 in each clinical course |
| UL Lafayette Online program pages | 750, completed in Louisiana | 750 precepted, direct patient care hours in Louisiana | At least 510 direct patient care hours in Louisiana; 60 observational in NURS 590 |
| Nursing site requirements pages | 600 (archived October 2025) | 600 direct patient care (archived February 2026) | No separate figure |
FNP: 750 replaced 600
For the Family Nurse Practitioner concentration, the gap is a change over time. The 2022-23, 2023-24 and 2025-26 catalogs, and the program page from 2021, set the minimum at 600 precepted clinical hours. The 2026-27 catalog and the online program page now set it at 750. The nursing site's FNP requirements page, in its October 2025 capture, still shows the older 600.
If you started the FNP under an earlier catalog, UL Lafayette does not publish which total binds you. Put the question to the graduate coordinator by email and save the answer. If you are starting under the current catalog, build your plan around 750 hours across NURS 582, NURS 583 and NURS 584; the FNP practicums page covers the population each course centers on.
PMHNP: 750 against 600, a live conflict
The PMHNP figures disagree in current material, not only across years. The current catalog's floor is 750 precepted clinical hours, and the online program page describes 750 precepted, direct patient care clinical hours in Louisiana. The nursing site's PMHNP requirements page, archived in February 2026, says 600 precepted direct patient care hours and 48 credits, where the catalog shows 48 to 51.
A current catalog outranks an archived web page, so plan for 750 unless your course faculty or the graduate coordinator tell you otherwise. Planning to the higher figure leaves room if the lower one turns out to apply; planning to the lower one can leave you short in NURS 593, the final semester, with no time to recover. The three psychiatric practicums are laid out on PMHNP practicums.
Per-course hours: unpublished, and not the lab field
UL Lafayette prints no clock-hour target for any single MSN practicum. NURS 582 through NURS 584 and NURS 591 through NURS 593 share one program minimum between them. The catalog's course entries do carry a field called Lab Contact Hours, 13 for the first course in each track and 18 for each of the later two, and it is tempting to read it as a clinical total.
It is not one. The three values add up to 49, nowhere near 750, which tells you the field measures something other than the precepted hours you log. Splitting 750 into three equal parts is a guess too. Ask course faculty for each course's expectation before the semester opens, then fix weekly clinic days with your preceptor that reach it with some margin. For the NP totals next to Nursing Education and the DNP, open the clinical hours overview.
The certificate's 510, plus 60 observational hours
The PMHNP Post-Master's Certificate is the NP route with a published split. The online program page lists 60 observational hours in NURS 590, the psychotherapy course, and then direct patient care: 180 hours in NURS 591, 210 in NURS 592 and 120 in NURS 597. Add the last three and you reach the catalog's 510, so the observational hours stand apart from that total.
The catalog words the same structure as 120 to 210 hours in each clinical course, which fits the online page. One difference matters when you compare notes with MSN classmates: the certificate finishes in NURS 597, a 4-credit course with an older-adult emphasis, while the MSN finishes in the 5-credit NURS 593. The certificate practicums page follows the full sequence.
After graduation: Louisiana's 500-hour rule
Your program hours come back into play once you hold a Louisiana APRN license. An APRN seeking prescriptive authority in Louisiana must show 500 hours of clinical practice inside a two-year window, completed as a licensed APRN or as an APRN applicant, in the same role and population. Under LAC 46:XLVII.4513, clinical hours from a graduate program that met your certification eligibility may count toward those 500.
That gives an accurate, complete practicum log value long after the grade is posted. Louisiana also expects any APRN whose work includes medical diagnosis and management to sign a collaborative practice agreement, with a collaborating physician or dentist. Louisiana NP practice explains how those rules shape who precepts in the state.
How we plan NP hours with you
We start from 750 and your plan of study, then look for Louisiana preceptors certified in your population focus whose clinic days can carry that load across three semesters. Whatever role UL Lafayette plays in your placement, the preceptor and site we bring you are chosen against its rules, and the preceptor's license, certification and CV arrive with the site's details early, so faculty review starts from a complete file.
Students who are already mid-sequence and short on hours should read behind on clinical hours. Everyone else can name a program and a start term in the form below; your placement advisor then sketches the hours semester by semester.
Questions UL Lafayette students ask
Is the UL Lafayette FNP 600 or 750 clinical hours?
The 2026-27 catalog says a minimum of 750 precepted clinical hours, and UL Lafayette's online program page agrees. The 600 figure comes from the 2022-23, 2023-24 and 2025-26 catalogs and from a nursing site requirements page. Students entering under the current catalog should plan for 750, and anyone who started earlier should ask the graduate coordinator which total applies.
Does UL Lafayette list hours for NURS 582, 583 and 584 separately?
UL Lafayette publishes no per-course target for NURS 582, NURS 583 or NURS 584, only the program minimum of 750. The catalog's lab contact hour numbers for those courses are not clinical totals. Your course faculty can confirm what each course expects, so ask before the semester starts and set your preceptor days to reach it.
What is the difference between NURS 593 and NURS 597?
Both are the third psychiatric mental health course, but they belong to different programs. NURS 593 is the 5-credit final practicum of the MSN PMHNP. NURS 597 is the 4-credit final practicum of the Post-Master's Certificate, with an older-adult emphasis and 120 clinical hours on the online program page.
Will my UL Lafayette practicum hours help with prescriptive authority later?
They may. Louisiana's rule at LAC 46:XLVII.4513 asks for 500 hours of clinical practice, within a two-year span and as a licensed APRN or APRN applicant, before it grants prescriptive authority. Clinical hours from a graduate program that met certification eligibility may count toward them. Keep your practicum records complete so you can document them later.
Are UL Lafayette PMHNP hours direct patient care?
Yes. The online program page describes the PMHNP's 750 hours as precepted, direct patient care clinical hours in Louisiana, and the older requirements page used the same direct care wording with 600. The certificate's 510 are direct care too. See what counts as clinical hours for how observation and direct care differ.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-27
We check these pages against UL Lafayette's 2026-27 catalog, its online program and state authorization pages, the ICMSN student handbook and Louisiana's nursing rules. Your course faculty and your plan of study have the final word.
- UL Lafayette 2026-27 catalog: MSN, Family Nurse Practitioner Concentration
- UL Lafayette 2026-27 catalog: MSN, Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Concentration
- UL Lafayette Online: Nursing, M.S.
- UL Lafayette Online: Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Post-MSN Certificate
- Louisiana Administrative Code, LAC 46:XLVII.4513 (APRN prescriptive authority)
Whether UL Lafayette helps or you start alone, we find the preceptor.
Tell us your UL Lafayette program, the practicum coming up and the Louisiana town you train near. We look for preceptors and sites that fit the course and gather the license, CV and agency details that must be on file before your first clinical day.
- Preceptors who meet Louisiana's rules: an active Louisiana license, most hours with an APRN in your population focus
- The preceptor's CV, the agency details and your letter of agreement items gathered early
- Across Acadiana and the rest of Louisiana, plus DNP residencies in your home state
Start your placement plan
Your program, your town and your next clinical semester is all we need to begin.