Can Your Chamberlain Practicum Hours Happen Over Telehealth?
Some practicum hours can happen over video, and some cannot. Whether virtual visits count depends on your program, your specific course, and rules that follow the patient, so verify everything before you build a rotation around a screen.
The honest answer: sometimes, and never by assumption
Telehealth is real clinical care, and national NP education standards treat it that way. But whether a virtual visit counts toward your Chamberlain practicum passes through three separate gates: your program's rules, the course you are currently in, and the state rules that follow the patient.
Chamberlain students secure their own preceptors, so the appeal is obvious. A telehealth-capable preceptor widens your search far beyond driving distance. Before you plan a term around virtual visits, though, you need written confirmation from your program that those hours will count for that course. The Experiential Learning Team and your program handbook are the authorities here, not a preceptor's opinion and not a placement service's sales page, ours included.
This guide covers what the national standards actually permit, where telehealth fits naturally and where it does not, and the licensure detail that trips up more students than any other.
What the national standards say about virtual hours
Two documents shape how NP programs handle telehealth hours, and both are worth knowing by name when you email your program.
The NTF evaluation standards
The 2022 National Task Force standards, which CCNE accredited NP programs are evaluated against, allow care a student delivers to a patient through telehealth to count as direct patient care clinical hours when the program builds it into the curriculum. Simulation is treated differently: it supports learning but may not substitute for direct patient care hours.
The NONPF position
The National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties reaffirmed in March 2025 that a precepted telehealth visit can carry the same weight as an in-person encounter, on two conditions. The student must actively deliver care rather than observe, and the practicum must blend in-person and virtual encounters rather than going fully remote.
Notice what neither document says. Neither promises that any particular program must accept virtual hours, and neither sets a percentage. Each program decides how much telehealth, in which courses, toward which competencies. That is why the same question gets different answers in different sessions, and why you confirm in writing every time.
Where telehealth fits by track
Telehealth is not evenly useful across NP training. It maps cleanly onto some competencies and fails others outright.
| Track | Typical telehealth fit | Why |
|---|---|---|
| PMHNP | Strongest | Psychiatric interviews, medication follow-ups, and therapy are routinely delivered by video in modern practice, so precepted virtual visits mirror the real job. |
| MSN-FNP | Partial at most | The five 125-hour practicum courses build hands-on assessment across the lifespan. Expect in-person requirements for exam-heavy courses like women's health and pediatrics. |
| AGPCNP | Partial | Chronic disease follow-ups translate well to video. Initial evaluations and physical assessment generally do not. |
| AGACNP | Limited | Acute care competencies center on hands-on management of complex and unstable patients, which video cannot replace. |
| DNP | Different question | The DNP practicum is a scholarly project site with a mentor. Virtual mentor meetings are common, but site expectations come from your program. |
A note on numbers: the MSN-FNP requires 625 supervised clinical hours across those five practicum courses, while Chamberlain confirms hour requirements for the PMHNP, AGPCNP, and AGACNP tracks to your specific program of study. Check your own degree plan rather than a forum thread, and see our clinical hours guide for how hours accrue course by course.
The licensure wrinkle: care happens where the patient is
Regulators treat a telehealth visit as occurring where the patient sits, not where the provider sits. The National Council of State Boards of Nursing puts it in seven words: "Practice is where the patient is." That includes telehealth and telephone care.
For a practicum this matters twice. First, your preceptor's licensure has to cover each patient's state, so a telehealth practice with patients spread across several states may only be able to schedule you with patients from some of them. Second, your program's ability to approve a rotation can depend on authorization and affiliation paperwork in the states involved. Multistate compacts help licensed nurses move between member states, but student placement approval follows its own rules, so never assume a cross-state telehealth panel will work for your rotation. Our state pages cover placement considerations where you live.
Confirm before you count a single hour
Get answers to five questions in writing before you nominate a telehealth-capable preceptor in Typhon:
- Does my current course accept telehealth hours, and is there a cap or a required in-person mix?
- Will the Experiential Learning Team approve this site type for my population focus?
- Does the site hold, or will it sign, an affiliation agreement with Chamberlain? Every site needs one, virtual or not.
- Which states' patients am I permitted to see, given my location, the preceptor's licensure, and program approval?
- How should I log virtual encounters in Typhon so the hours credit correctly?
Compliance does not relax for virtual sites either. Complio clearance, meaning your background check, drug screen, and immunization records, still has to be complete before you start. Our practicum portal checklist walks the full nomination sequence, and the preceptor requirements page covers who qualifies to supervise you.
How we place students with telehealth-capable preceptors
When a student's program allows virtual hours, we treat telehealth capability as a search parameter from day one, not an afterthought. We confirm that the preceptor runs precepted, participatory virtual visits, that licensure covers the states involved, and that the site will complete Chamberlain's affiliation paperwork, then we align the match with what your course actually accepts. If the answer from your program is no, we search for in-person options near you instead, and nothing is lost.
Chamberlain's Practicum Commitment assists only after three documented denials. We start at denial zero, so an unclear telehealth policy never has to cost you a session. The placement review is free, you pay only when matched, and we work on a 14-day match commitment. If your start date is close, the fast placement page explains the expedited path, how it works walks the process end to end, and the cost page covers fees.
Want to know whether a virtual-friendly match exists for your course? Request your free placement review and we will map your options, in-person and telehealth alike, against your program's rules.
Sources
- National Task Force on Quality Nurse Practitioner Education, Standards for Quality Nurse Practitioner Education, 6th edition (2022): aacnnursing.org
- NONPF, NONPF Supports Telehealth in Nurse Practitioner Education (March 2025): nonpf.org
- National Council of State Boards of Nursing, Nurse Licensure Guidance: ncsbn.org
Program policies change. Confirm current telehealth rules with the Experiential Learning Team and your program handbook before relying on them.
Answered.
Does Chamberlain accept telehealth hours for NP practicum courses?
Sometimes. National standards permit precepted telehealth visits to count as direct patient care, but each program decides whether and where to apply that, course by course. Ask the Experiential Learning Team about your current course and get the answer in writing before you nominate a site. Never assume virtual hours will count.
Can my whole practicum be virtual?
Plan on no. NONPF's position calls for a mix of in-person and telehealth encounters, and hands-on assessment competencies cannot be demonstrated by video. Even in telehealth-friendly tracks like the PMHNP, expect a blend at most, with the split set by your program.
Do telehealth sites still need an affiliation agreement and Complio clearance?
Yes. A virtual site goes through the same steps as a physical one: Typhon nomination, an affiliation agreement between the site and Chamberlain, and your Complio compliance items completed before you start. Budget the same lead time you would for any site.
What if my telehealth preceptor sees patients in other states?
Care happens where the patient is located, so your preceptor's licensure and your program's approvals decide which patients you can see. Many students on telehealth rotations are limited to patients in specific states. Confirm the permitted states with your preceptor and the Experiential Learning Team before counting on the volume you need.
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