UL Lafayette's PMHNP Post-Master's Certificate
For nurse practitioners already certified in another population, UL Lafayette's Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Post-Master's Certificate adds the psychiatric focus in 20 credits over four accelerated semesters. Didactic courses are fully online; the clinical side is 510 direct patient care hours in Louisiana, plus 60 observational hours in the psychotherapy course.
Plan your certificate practicums
Tell us your start term and where you practice in Louisiana.
Who the certificate is built for
The PMHNP Post-Master's Certificate is for NPs adding a psychiatric-mental health focus on top of a national certification they already hold. UL Lafayette admits NPs with current national certification as an ACNP, ANP, FNP, GNP or WHNP. The certificate itself is 20 credits taken over four accelerated semesters, compared with six semesters for the full PMHNP MSN.
Cohorts begin in January or August, on the MSN's application calendar: October 30 for a spring start and June 30 for fall. Didactic courses are 100% online, and UL Lafayette publishes no on-campus requirement for the certificate. The clinical courses are in person, at approved sites in Louisiana.
The certificate carries approval from the Louisiana State Board of Nursing. As a post-graduate APRN certificate it also holds CCNE accreditation through the ICMSN, first granted in March 2023 and running through December 31, 2033. If you have no NP certification yet, the PMHNP MSN is the route instead.
Admission requirements
The 2026-27 catalog lists seven entry requirements. Most are license, certification or transcript checks, so request those documents early.
What the catalog asks for
- An MSN from a program accredited by CCNE or ACEN
- A graduate GPA of 3.0
- Graduate coursework in three advanced areas: health assessment, pharmacotherapeutics and pathophysiology
- Two recommendations
- An unencumbered Louisiana or multistate RN license
- An unencumbered Louisiana APRN license
- Current national certification as an ACNP, ANP, FNP, GNP or WHNP
The Louisiana APRN license is the item to plan around if you practice elsewhere. A multistate RN license can cover the RN line, but the APRN license must be Louisiana's, and UL Lafayette's state authorization notes tie certificate clinicals to Louisiana with a Louisiana RN license. Louisiana and Mississippi are the states where UL Lafayette says the certificate meets educational requirements. RN license requirements sets the certificate's rule beside the MSN and DNP versions.
Four semesters, five courses
Semester I is coursework only. Each later semester carries one precepted psychiatric course, so the certificate runs three clinical placements back to back.
| Semester | Course | Credits | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | NURS 508 Diagnostic Considerations and Psychopharmacology for Psychiatric Disorders | 3 | None |
| I | NURS 590 Psychotherapy for the Advanced Practice Psychiatric Nurse | 3 | 60 observational |
| II | NURS 591 Advanced Nursing Practice: Psychiatric Mental Health I | 5 | 180 clinical |
| III | NURS 592 Advanced Practice Nursing: Psychiatric Mental Health II | 5 | 210 clinical |
| IV | NURS 597 Advanced Practice Nursing: Psychiatric Mental Health III, older-adult emphasis | 4 | 120 clinical |
NURS 597 shares its title with the MSN's NURS 593 but is a separate course: 4 credits rather than 5, with an older-adult emphasis. Plan your final placement around that population. Course-level preceptor expectations are on the certificate practicums page.
510 hours, plus 60 observational
The catalog's total is 510 clinical hours, described as "direct patient care clinical experiences (120 - 210 hours in each course) in which the student works with an approved advanced practice preceptor" whom graduate faculty guide. UL Lafayette's online certificate page states the same total as a minimum of 510 direct patient care hours in Louisiana.
The two sources fit together. The online page's per-course figures, 180 in NURS 591, 210 in NURS 592 and 120 in NURS 597, add to exactly 510. The 60 hours in NURS 590 are listed separately as observational and sit outside that direct care total, so you complete the 510 hands-on hours and the observational block on top.
Louisiana's Board rules apply to every one of those hours: most clinical time with an APRN licensed and certified in the population focus, a two-student cap for each preceptor during any clinical experience, and faculty conferring with preceptor and student at least weekly. The NP clinical hours page sets these figures beside the MSN totals.
Grades, timing and the Louisiana rule
Every certificate course requires a grade of B or higher. The catalog's certificate entry does not spell out a repeat policy the way the MSN entry does, so if a grade looks at risk, speak with course faculty and your advisor early.
The pace leaves little slack. With a practicum in each of semesters II, III and IV, there is no gap semester to absorb a late contract or a preceptor who backs out. The ICMSN handbook, which governs the consortium MSN, warns that a first contract with a new agency can stretch from weeks into months, so the site for NURS 591 deserves attention well before semester I ends.
Location is fixed. UL Lafayette's state authorization notes require certificate clinical rotations in Louisiana, with a Louisiana RN license. The Louisiana-only clinicals page covers how the rule plays out near the state's borders.
Why certificate students choose us
Certificate students are practicing NPs who have to fit three placements into three consecutive semesters, the last one centered on older adults. With or without help from UL Lafayette on placement, we find psychiatric preceptors and sites that fit its standards for NURS 591, NURS 592 and NURS 597, near where you live and work in Louisiana.
Each match is checked against the rules that decide approval: a Louisiana-licensed psychiatric-mental health APRN for the majority of your hours, a minimum of one year in clinical practice, a practice setting that suits the course and a preceptor still inside the two-student cap. We prepare the preceptor's CV and practice details, the site's details for the agency contract and the letter of agreement, and keep your own health and training items in order. Graduate faculty guide each preceptor, and the approval decision belongs to UL Lafayette's faculty; our part is a file complete enough to clear on its first review.
We plan all three clinical semesters from the start, so a fast program keeps its pace between terms. Should a preceptor step away mid-course, your placement advisor opens a replacement search as soon as we hear. The how it works page shows each step, and the form below reaches the placement desk.
Questions UL Lafayette students ask
Can an FNP enroll in UL Lafayette's PMHNP certificate?
Yes. Current national certification as a family nurse practitioner is one of the five that UL Lafayette accepts, alongside ACNP, ANP, GNP and WHNP. You also need an MSN from a CCNE- or ACEN-accredited program, a 3.0 graduate GPA, the three advanced core courses, two recommendations and an unencumbered Louisiana APRN license.
Is the PMHNP certificate online?
The didactic courses are 100% online, and UL Lafayette lists no on-campus requirement for the certificate. The clinical side is in person: 510 direct patient care hours at approved Louisiana sites across NURS 591, NURS 592 and NURS 597, plus 60 observational hours tied to the psychotherapy course, NURS 590.
How long does the certificate take?
Four accelerated semesters, starting in January or August. The first semester is coursework only, and a precepted clinical course follows in each of the next three. UL Lafayette does not publish which calendar term each certificate semester falls in, so confirm your sequence with your advisor after admission.
Does a certificate student need a psychiatric NP as preceptor?
For most hours, yes. Louisiana's Board rule puts the majority of an APRN student's clinical time with a preceptor licensed and certified in the population focus, which for this certificate is psychiatric-mental health. Other clinicians can add to your learning, but plan for a certified psychiatric-mental health NP to anchor the bulk of your practicum time.
What grade do certificate students need?
Under the 2026-27 catalog, every course requires at least a B. Because the certificate entry publishes no repeat rule, treat a borderline grade as urgent and talk with faculty early. In the practicums, faculty evaluate your performance with input from your preceptor, so a well-matched site supports your grade as well as your hours.
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.
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.