Virtual and telehealth practicum at Walden: what is permitted and what is not
Walden does not offer a fully remote, work-from-home practicum. Telehealth is permitted only in select NP specializations and courses, only after your application is approved in Meditrek, and only when you are physically onsite with your preceptor. Below is exactly how it works, where the limits are, and how to plan around them.
Last updated: June 22, 2026 · Reviewed by the Walden Preceptor placement team
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Is a virtual practicum allowed at Walden?
This is the most common misconception, so it is worth stating plainly. A practicum you complete alone from your laptop at home does not exist at Walden. What does exist is telehealth practicum: real-time video care delivered while you sit beside an approved preceptor at an approved clinical site. Walden allows this in a limited set of NP courses and specializations where telehealth is part of how that specialty actually practices.
The College of Nursing permits telehealth for students in select NP specializations and courses to help meet course requirements, but it layers strict conditions on top. The two that surprise students most are that you must be onsite with your preceptor during telehealth visits, and that you cannot log a single telehealth hour until your application is fully approved in Meditrek (Walden NP Practicum Manual, Section 3).
How telehealth fits into your 640 hours
The five NP tracks (FNP, PMHNP, AGPCNP, AGACNP, and PNP) each require 640 practicum hours spread across four practicum courses, 160 hours per course. Kansas APRN students who started on or after March 1, 2025 complete 750 hours. Telehealth does not change those totals. Approved telehealth encounters count toward the hours in the specific courses where they are allowed, while the bulk of your experience is still in-person direct patient care (Practicum Requirements, MSN NP).
Think of telehealth as a supplement that mirrors modern practice, not a shortcut that lets you skip the clinic. Walden still requires a 1:1 onsite preceptor-to-student ratio for direct supervision at any given time, and the daily and weekly caps below apply to telehealth hours just as they do to in-person hours.
| Program | Total hours | Telehealth role |
|---|---|---|
| NP tracks (FNP, PMHNP, AGPCNP, AGACNP, PNP) | 640 across four courses | Allowed in select courses, supplements in-person care |
| Kansas APRN (new on/after 2025-03-01) | 750 | Same conditions, more total hours |
| DNP | 1,000+ post-bachelor's | Project and indirect work differ from NP telehealth rules |
| RN-to-BSN | 100-hour capstone plus leadership hours | Not an NP telehealth pathway |
What Walden counts as telehealth
Walden's definition is narrow on purpose. Telehealth means synchronous care: the provider and the patient interact live, in real time, with both video and audio (for example, a video visit). Two things follow directly from that definition:
- ✓ The encounter must be live and two-way. Recorded sessions, chart review, and asynchronous messaging are not telehealth visits.
- ✓ Telephone-only assessment of a patient does not count. If there is no video, it is not a telehealth practicum hour.
This matters because students sometimes assume a phone triage line or a patient portal exchange will count. It will not. Plan your encounters around live video visits with patients you are actively assessing under your preceptor's supervision.
The Meditrek approval you need first
Telehealth has its own approval layer inside the normal Meditrek application. You cannot log telehealth hours until that layer is fully approved, and hours logged before approval, or with a preceptor who is not approved for telehealth, will not be counted.
Source: Walden SON Field Experience, Telehealth Questionnaire and the Application Process guide.
The onsite and location rules
The conditions below are where most telehealth plans either work or fall apart. Read them before you commit to a site.
- ✓ You must be onsite at the practicum site with your preceptor while conducting telehealth. This is not a remote-from-home arrangement for the student.
- ✓ No private homes. Telehealth cannot be conducted from a preceptor's private residence. It happens at a clinical site.
- ✓ Licensure follows the patient. You must be licensed in the state where the patient or client is located during the visit, not just where you live.
- ✓ Some states are off-limits. Certain states cannot be approved for NP telehealth practicum. Walden maintains a restricted states list, and it changes, so verify yours before planning.
Telehealth versus simulation and indirect hours
Students often lump telehealth together with simulation, but Walden treats them differently. Telehealth, when approved, is live direct patient care delivered over video. Simulation activities (such as tabletop exercises, grand rounds, mock clinical experiences, and student intensives) serve as an adjunct to your clinical practicum and are generally tracked as indirect rather than direct patient-care hours. Neither one replaces the in-person, hands-on direct care that anchors your practicum.
Daily and term limits that still apply
Telehealth does not loosen the pacing rules. You may log a maximum of 12 practicum hours in a single day, your hours must be spread over at least 8 weeks, and you must finish by the end of Week 10 (Week 11 for Tempo Learning). Note that the NP specializations are course-based, not Tempo, so the Week 10 deadline is the one most NP students plan against.
Does Walden allow a fully virtual practicum from home?
No. Telehealth is allowed only in select NP specializations and courses where it is permitted, and you must be onsite at the practicum site with your preceptor while you deliver care over video. You cannot complete telehealth practicum from your own home or from your preceptor's private home.
Can telehealth count toward all 640 NP practicum hours?
No. Telehealth applies only in courses and specializations Walden approves for it. Most of your 640 hours across the four NP practicum courses are in-person direct patient care, and approved telehealth encounters supplement that experience rather than replace it.
What approval do I need before I log a telehealth hour?
Your telehealth practicum application must be fully approved in Meditrek first, including a Telehealth Questionnaire completed and signed by your preceptor and uploaded with your application. Hours logged before approval, or with a preceptor not approved for telehealth, are not counted.
Does a phone-only visit count as telehealth?
No. Walden defines telehealth as synchronous, live, real-time care with both video and audio. Telephone-only assessment of patients is not permitted for practicum hours.
Are there states where telehealth practicum is not allowed?
Yes. Some states cannot be approved for NP telehealth practicum, and you must be licensed in the state where your patients are located. Always check Walden's restricted states list before you plan a telehealth experience.
Sources
Where we fit in
Telehealth eligibility is narrow, and the approval chain (right course, willing preceptor, signed questionnaire, Meditrek sign-off, eligible state) trips up a lot of students late in the term. We place Walden nurses with vetted preceptors and sites, confirm whether telehealth is an option for your specific course, and walk your Telehealth Questionnaire and Meditrek application through before the deadline. You are matched in 5 days, and you pay nothing until you are matched.
Plan a telehealth-eligible placement
Tell us your track and term, and we will map what is permitted for your courses.