PMHNP telehealth hours at Graceland: up to 450, licensed where each patient is
Graceland University lets PMHNP students, and no other NP track, count telehealth appointments toward practicum hours, up to two terms or 450 hours across the track. The condition is licensure: you and your preceptor must be licensed in the state where each patient is located at the moment of the visit, and a compact license only reaches patients in compact states.
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Tell us your Graceland program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with the preceptor and site options that fit your course.
What Graceland allows, and for whom
The 2026 Graduate Student Handbook puts it in one line: "For the PMHNP program (only), a total of 2 terms or 450 hours may be Telehealth appointments." That applies to the three PMHNP practicums, NURS6841, NURS6842 and NURS6843, whether you are in the MSN, the post-graduate certificate or the PMHNP track of the BSN-to-DNP.
The other tracks work under much tighter terms. FNP students may not log telehealth hours unless the instructor approves them, and AGACNP students may not log any at all; the FNP specialty hours page covers the FNP side.
The PMHNP allowance has grown sharply. The October 2023 handbook permitted only 60 telehealth hours out of a 540-hour total. The 2026 version allows 450 out of 750, which opens up psychiatric practices that see much of their caseload by video, provided the licensing lines up.
Reading "two terms or 450 hours"
The two limits fit neatly over the first two practicums: 225 hours in Practicum: I plus 225 in Practicum: II is exactly 450. A student who ran both of those terms largely by telehealth would reach both caps at once and complete the 300-hour final practicum in person.
The fit is less tidy if the final practicum is one of your telehealth terms. Pairing NURS6843 with either earlier practicum adds up to 525 hours, more than the 450 cap, so the hour figure would bind first. Graceland's text does not say whether a term with only partial telehealth counts as one of the two terms. If your plan leans on telehealth in more than one practicum, ask the lead faculty for the PMHNP practicum courses how they apply the limit before you commit a site.
Taken at face value, the cap leaves at least 300 of your 750 hours for in-person visits, and all hours still must be direct patient contact inside the United States and its territories. The what counts as practicum hours page covers that rule.
The license rule for you and your preceptor
Graceland states the rule in three places. The PMHNP section says that seeing a telehealth patient legally requires the student to hold a license in the state where the patient is during the appointment, and that a compact license in compact states meets that requirement. The preceptor qualifications add that the preceptor and the student must both be licensed where each patient is located at the time of the appointment. The practicum clearance section repeats the student side and notes that a compact license may work.
This sits on top of Graceland's baseline license rule. You already need an unencumbered RN license in your state of residence and in every approved state where practicum hours happen, proved by verification from the state board rather than a copy, and no license may carry an adverse action in any state. The RN license page covers that baseline.
State boards say the same thing from their side. Iowa's licensing agency, for example, states that if a patient is physically located in Iowa, nurses must have an active Iowa or multistate license.
Compact states and the exceptions
A multistate license under the Nurse Licensure Compact covers patients in any state that has implemented the compact. The NCSBN compact map dated August 2026 counts 43 jurisdictions that have enacted it; Missouri and Iowa both joined on January 19, 2018. Check with your home board that your license is actually multistate before counting on it.
| Patient located in | Compact status | RN license that meets Graceland's rule |
|---|---|---|
| A state that has implemented the compact, such as Missouri, Iowa, Kansas or Nebraska | Implemented | Your multistate license, or that state's own license |
| Alaska, California, Hawaii, Illinois, Minnesota, Nevada, New York or Oregon | Not a member | A license issued by that state |
| Michigan | Not a member; legislation pending | A Michigan license |
| Massachusetts | Enacted November 2024; implementation targeted for May 2027 | A Massachusetts license until the compact takes effect there |
Your preceptor needs to be licensed in each patient's state too. For a psychiatrist or PMHNP who already treats patients across state lines, that is part of their practice, but confirm it for every state on their panel before the site goes on your Appendix A.
Building a telehealth practicum Graceland will approve
Telehealth changes where patients are, not who can precept. The preceptor must still be a psychiatrist or a certified PMHNP, and the practice still needs Appendix A, Appendix B and a signed affiliation agreement before any hours count. The approval email, the Typhon listing and the other conditions apply exactly as they do for in-person terms.
Some details Graceland leaves open. The handbook does not say where you must physically sit during a telehealth visit, whether telehealth encounters count the same toward the 100 under 18, 100 over 65 and 100 aged 18 to 64 targets, or how a midterm site visit works for a mostly virtual practice. Put those questions to the lead faculty for the PMHNP practicum courses in writing, and send site questions to the contract coordinators at soncontracts@graceland.edu.
Before you propose a telehealth-heavy site
- Ask the practice which states its telehealth patients are located in, and how that mix changes over a typical week
- Match that list against your own licenses and the preceptor's, state by state
- Decide which of your three practicums will carry the telehealth hours, keeping the two-term and 450-hour limits in view
- Keep your own note of each patient's state for every telehealth encounter, so your hours hold up if anyone asks
How we plan telehealth hours for PMHNP students
Our placement desk treats licensure as the first filter for any telehealth-heavy practice. Before we propose a psychiatrist or PMHNP, we ask where their virtual patients are located and compare that with the licenses you hold, so the site we bring you fits Graceland's rule from day one.
We also balance the track as a whole. A telehealth practice can carry one or two of your practicums, and we pair it with an in-person site that covers the rest of your hours and fills whichever age bands the telehealth practice sees less often. You receive the contract contact, preceptor credentials and site details that Appendix A and Appendix B ask for, organized for the June 15, October 15 or February 15 deadline.
Tell us which states you are licensed in and when your next practicum starts, using the form below or the contact page.
Questions Graceland students ask
Can Graceland FNP or AGACNP students count telehealth hours?
AGACNP students cannot; the handbook rules out telehealth hours for the whole program. FNP students may not log telehealth hours unless their instructor approves them. The two-term, 450-hour allowance belongs to the PMHNP track alone, which is why psychiatric practices that work largely by video can host Graceland PMHNP students when the licensing fits.
Do I need a California license to see a telehealth patient in California?
Yes. Graceland requires a license in the state where the patient is located during the appointment, and California is not a Nurse Licensure Compact state, so a multistate license from elsewhere does not reach patients there. Your preceptor must be licensed in California as well. The same applies to the other states outside the compact.
Do telehealth patients count toward the 100/100/100 age mix?
The handbook does not treat them separately. It sets about 300 PMHNP encounters, 100 under 18, 100 over 65 and 100 aged 18 to 64, and allows up to 450 telehealth hours, without saying whether virtual encounters count differently. Ask the lead faculty for the PMHNP practicum courses before you plan a term around video visits.
Can I do telehealth practicum hours from my own home?
Graceland's handbook does not address it. Your approvals are tied to the sites and addresses on your Appendix A and to the affiliation agreement with the practice, so ask the lead faculty and the contract coordinators where you must be during telehealth visits before you plan to join from anywhere other than the approved site.
What proof of my other state licenses does Graceland need?
Graceland wants license verification from the state board, not a copy of the card, and your RN license records sit in Castle Branch. The handbook does not spell out whether licenses held only for telehealth patients must also be uploaded, so ask the contract coordinators at soncontracts@graceland.edu and keep the verifications ready.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-25
We check these pages against Graceland's own catalog, program pages and Graduate Student Handbook. Your handbook, your track coordinator and the contract coordinators have the final word.
- Graceland University Graduate Student Handbook, Version 2026 (9-10-26 updates)
- Graceland University MSN: Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner program page
- Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing: ARNP Role & Scope
- Iowa Department of Inspections, Appeals, and Licensing: Nurse Licensure Compact
Graceland's practicums are arranged by you, with Graceland's help. We do the searching.
Tell us your Graceland track, your city and your next practicum. We find preceptors who fit the course, line up what Appendix A and Appendix B ask for, and aim everything at Graceland's paperwork deadline for your term.
- Preceptors matched to the course: primary care for FNP, hospital and ICU clinicians for AGACNP, psychiatrists and PMHNPs for PMHNP
- Site address, contract contact and preceptor details ready before the June 15, October 15 or February 15 deadline
- Close to home in your approved state, with a second preceptor planned for Graceland's two-preceptor rule
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