UCCS PMHNP practicum courses, from NURS 6800 to Synthesis

Five courses, two hour columns

UCCS keeps two PMHNP practicum handbooks, each dated 08/2026: a 630-hour edition for anyone who began before Fall 2026 and a 770-hour edition for Fall 2026 starts onward. The course list matches across both. Only the hours move, and your start term picks the column.

The 45 Health Assessment hours sit outside both totals and apply to PMHNP students "if on your degree plan," which matters for certificate students whose GAP analysis may cover that course. Cohort questions belong to 630 vs 770 hours.

Three populations, three searches

Each population course is built around one age band, so the preceptor behind it needs a steady flow of those patients. An adult outpatient psychiatry practice can carry NURS 6801 and still see few teenagers, while a child and adolescent service may see almost no older adults. Planning all three searches together keeps the later rotations from turning into a rush.

What each rotation points you toward

• NURS 6801 Adult: the broadest field. The PMHNP handbooks point to inpatient psychiatric hospitals, mental health clinics and the Department of Corrections, and they welcome a blend of inpatient and outpatient work.
• NURS 6802 Geriatric: a psychiatric prescriber whose caseload includes a regular share of older adults. Ask about the age mix before the site sheet goes in, because it is what your logs will be measured on.
• NURS 6803 Child and adolescent: a prescriber who treats children and teens every week. Start this search first if your degree plan puts the course soon after NURS 6800.

By graduation the 770-hour handbook expects your logs to show at least 60 patients in each age band (child and adolescent, adult, geriatric), so a rotation that runs light in its own age group leaves a gap to close later. The counting rules, including therapy and telehealth encounters, live on what counts for PMHNP.

NURS 6985, the Synthesis semester

Synthesis is the longest psychiatric block: 225 hours for the 630-hour cohort and 275 for the 770-hour cohort, listed at 1-5 credits in the catalog. It is also where several handbook exceptions come into play.

• Synthesis is exempt from the cap of three new agreements per semester, so extra sites can join here if your logs need a wider mix.
• Banked hours count only in the final synthesis course. The 770-hour handbook allows up to 55 banked hours; the 630-hour handbook allows none.
• The 770-hour handbook also credits up to 10 simulation hours, plus up to 10 "flexible" hours earned at a psychopharmacology or therapy conference.
• Any age group still short of 60 logged patients has to be filled before graduation, and Synthesis is the last course in which to do it.

The graduate grade rule still applies: a B (84%) or better, and a failed clinical portion means repeating the course together with its hours.

Why PMHNP students choose us

We build each psychiatric search around the course you are about to enter. For NURS 6802 we look for a prescriber with a steady geriatric caseload; for NURS 6803, one who treats children and adolescents week in, week out; for Synthesis, a setting that fills whatever your logs still need. Every match is licensed in your home state.

Then we gather everything UCCS needs: your preceptor's credentials, license and prescriptive authority, the site's details, the name of whoever signs agreements for it, and the exact hours for your site sheet. Your file reaches the college complete and early, and UCCS gives the final approval. Should a preceptor pull out partway through a rotation, the placement desk begins lining up a replacement immediately. Tell us your next course with the form below, or read about finding PMHNP preceptors.