Who can precept a UCCS PMHNP student
UCCS's PMHNP handbooks limit your main preceptors to psychiatric prescribers: PMH nurse practitioners, PMH clinical nurse specialists and psychiatrists, each with full prescriptive authority and a license in the state where you do the hours. Therapists can supervise only a limited share of hours, with Option Coordinator approval, and a telehealth provider still has to practice in one of UCCS's approved states.
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Tell us your UCCS program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with the preceptor and site options that fit your UCCS course.
The three kinds of preceptor UCCS accepts
The 08/2026 PMHNP practicum handbooks name who can carry your psychiatric hours: "PMH nurse practitioners, PMH clinical nurse specialists, and/or psychiatrists, all with full prescriptive authority." Each must be licensed in the state where you complete the hours, usually the state you live in.
Full prescriptive authority is the dividing line. A welcoming practice with a strong clinician still falls outside the rule if your preceptor of record cannot prescribe on their own, so confirm prescribing status in the first conversation, before any paperwork starts. The handbooks add experience and certification checks on top of the role itself.
What UCCS asks of each PMHNP preceptor
- A psychiatric NP, psychiatric CNS or psychiatrist with full prescriptive authority
- A license in the state where you complete the hours
- At least two years of experience
- National certification, for nurse practitioners
- A resume if one is available, which the Preceptor Handbook links to CCNE requirements
Primary care preceptors for the FNP and AGNP tracks follow a different list, covered in FNP and AGNP preceptor requirements.
Therapists: a limited share, with approval
Licensed clinical social workers, licensed counselors and licensed psychologists can supervise some of your time, but the handbooks allow only "a limited number of hours" with them, and the Psychiatric Mental Health Option Coordinator has to approve it. UCCS publishes no fixed figure, so that approval is where your personal limit gets set.
Therapy experience still matters on this track. The handbooks encourage group and individual therapy, TMS and ECT. The cleanest way to get therapy exposure is inside a practice where a psychiatric prescriber is your preceptor of record and therapists work alongside medication management.
One older source reads differently. A UCCS Online certificate page, archived in July 2026, listed psychologists, licensed counselors and psychiatric social workers among PMHNP preceptors without mentioning a cap. The current handbooks are narrower and are the rule to follow; if you find conflicting wording, the Option Coordinator decides.
Get Option Coordinator approval before you log hours with an LCSW, counselor or psychologist, and keep those hours a small part of the rotation.
Telehealth and the approved-state rule
Telehealth visits count toward PMHNP hours, with one expectation: you sit in the office with the provider while the visits happen. Remote telehealth, where you and the provider are in different places, needs Option Coordinator approval first.
Where the provider practices matters as much as where you live. The PMHNP handbooks spell it out: "Students can only use providers in one of the approved states on our list even if telehealth is being used." A psychiatrist licensed only in a state outside UCCS's list does not qualify, even when every visit happens by video.
The list itself, and how it differs between programs, is on the approved states page. How telehealth encounters are coded and counted is covered in what counts for PMHNP.
Matching preceptors to your psychiatric rotations
UCCS organizes PMHNP clinical work by patient population. NURS 6800, Mental Health Assessment and Interventions Across the Lifespan, has no practicum hours; the three population courses and Synthesis carry all of them, and the figure depends on when you started.
| Course | UCCS title | Started before Fall 2026 | Started Fall 2026 or later |
|---|---|---|---|
NURS 6801 | Adult Psychiatric Diagnosis and Management | 135 | 165 |
NURS 6802 | Geriatric Psychiatric Diagnosis and Management | 135 | 165 |
NURS 6803 | Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Diagnosis and Management | 135 | 165 |
NURS 6985 | Psych Mental Health Synthesis Practicum | 225 | 275 |
A preceptor whose caseload fits the course population is what makes a rotation work. By graduation your logs need at least 60 child and adolescent, 60 adult and 60 geriatric patients, so a practice that sees only children cannot carry the geriatric course. Both inpatient and outpatient psychiatric settings are encouraged.
The handbooks also cap time with any one preceptor or site: 270 hours in the 630-hour handbook and 440 in the 770-hour handbook. Rotation by rotation detail is on the PMHNP practicum courses page.
Where UCCS suggests PMHNP students look
The PMHNP handbooks point to mental health clinics, inpatient psychiatric hospitals and the Department of Corrections as places to find a preceptor, and they tell you to begin well before the course. The recommended 3 to 6 month head start, and how it lines up with the site sheet, is on the lead time page. The handbooks' general tips apply here as well: ask students who have finished their rotations, and join your local advanced practice group.
UCCS keeps its list of contracted sites private, so the search is yours, as the MSN page says: psychiatric mental health clinical hours are found by the student where they reside. The Graduate Clinical Practicum Coordinator can still answer questions about whether a site suits the track. For regional search tactics, see psychiatric NP preceptors.
Why PMHNP students choose us for the search
We screen every psychiatric prescriber against UCCS's handbook wording first: role, full prescriptive authority, a license in your state, two years of experience and, for nurse practitioners, national certification. Then we match the caseload to the rotation in front of you, so an adult practice is lined up for NURS 6801 and a child and adolescent practice for NURS 6803.
We also plan across the whole program. That means building in time with a psychiatric NP toward UCCS's 200-hour recommendation, watching the same-preceptor cap for your cohort, and confirming that any telehealth provider practices in an approved state.
Before your Clinical Site Sheet goes in, we collect the preceptor's credentials, license, certification and exact hours so the Academic Services Professional receives it complete. UCCS gives the final approval; our job is sending it a PMHNP file that already matches the handbook. Tell us your state and rotation using the form below.
Questions UCCS students ask
Can a psychologist be my PMHNP preceptor at UCCS?
Only for a limited number of hours, and only after the Psychiatric Mental Health Option Coordinator approves it. The same goes for licensed clinical social workers and licensed counselors. The preceptor of record for each rotation needs to be a psychiatric NP, psychiatric CNS or psychiatrist with full prescriptive authority and a license in your state.
Does my UCCS PMHNP preceptor have to be a nurse practitioner?
No. Psychiatrists and PMH clinical nurse specialists with full prescriptive authority also qualify. UCCS does recommend at least 200 hours with a PMHNP across the program, so a plan built only on psychiatrists meets the rule but misses the recommendation. Put at least one rotation with a psychiatric nurse practitioner.
Can I do UCCS PMHNP hours by telehealth from home?
Only with Option Coordinator approval. UCCS's default is that you sit in the office with the provider during telehealth visits. In every case the provider has to practice in one of UCCS's approved states, even if all the visits happen by video.
Which UCCS handbook should my PMHNP preceptor read?
The PMHNP practicum handbook for your cohort, 630 or 770 hours, sets the track rules. UCCS also publishes a Preceptor Handbook for every track, but its 08/2026 edition describes PMHNP hours as practicum hours "in primary care," wording the PMHNP handbooks do not use. Where the two differ, follow your track handbook and ask the Option Coordinator.
How many hours can I spend with one PMHNP preceptor?
Up to 270 hours with the same preceptor or site under the 630-hour handbook, or up to 440 under the 770-hour handbook. The higher cap lets one strong preceptor carry more of the program, but you still need 60 patients in each of the three populations before you graduate.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-25
We check these pages against UCCS's catalog, practicum handbooks and college pages. Your degree plan, the handbook for your cohort and the Graduate Clinical Practicum Coordinator have the final word.
UCCS asks you to find your clinical hours where you live. Let us run that search.
Tell us your UCCS track, your next clinical course and where you live. We find preceptors who fit the course and prepare the details your Clinical Site Sheet needs, early enough for the agreement to be signed before the semester.
- Preceptors matched to the course: pediatrics for
NURS 6900, acute and chronic care forNURS 6915andNURS 6925, psychiatric prescribers forNURS 6801toNURS 6803 - Credentials, license, certification and the site's signer ready for the Clinical Site Sheet
- In Colorado Springs, along the Front Range, or in any of UCCS's approved states
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