50 Credits
600 Clinical Placement Hours
1 Immersion
Online Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) Program
Program Overview
Designed for nurses who want to work with patients who suffer from mental health illness and psychiatric disorders, our Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) program will prepare you to provide compassionate, effective care to diverse patients.
The Part-Time Program Track
We offer our online Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner program on a part-time schedule. This allows you to:
- Maintain the flexibility to balance your professional obligations with your education
- Earn your degree in as few as 32 months
Online PMHNP Program Curriculum
Our curriculum consists of academic coursework and clinical rotations to create confident practitioners who are prepared to support patients with mental health illnesses.
Coursework
All four of our programs include 30 credits of scholarship core and direct core coursework to help you master the key skills needed by all nurse practitioners. The online PMHNP program continues with 23 credits of advanced coursework focusing on concepts that are specific to psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners.
These specialized courses prepare you to:
- Conduct trauma-informed assessment and intervention
- Support children and adolescents with their mental health
- Provide ethical, supportive care to a range of at-risk populations
- View the PMHNP course sequence here
View a full list of courses here.
Experiential Learning
You’ll gain hands-on experience helping patients treat and manage mental health illness through 600 hours of clinical rotations in your own community. You will assess patients, create treatment plans, and more under the supervision of an advanced practitioner.
PMHNP rotations may take place in settings such as community mental health centers, inpatient or outpatient psychiatric facilities, and mental health clinics. They must occur outside of your current place of employment.
In addition, you’ll visit our campus in Rochester, New York, for one pre-clinical immersion. Immersions are opportunities to practice critical nursing skills hands-on, experience the School of Nursing’s renowned facilities, and strengthen your connections within the Fisher community.
Prepare to Become a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner at Fisher
The online Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner program from the Wegmans School of Nursing can prepare you to make an immediate difference in your community. In a 2017 survey, two out of three primary care physicians reported difficulty referring patients for mental health care services.1
Psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners help individuals of all ages treat and manage mental health illnesses. They provide physical and psychosocial assessments, emergency psychiatric care, and treatment effectiveness evaluation. Typically, the setting in which they work influences the population they serve, and can include:
- Psychiatric mental health facilities
- Correctional facilities
- Private psychiatric practices
- Hospitals
To become a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner, you must earn an advanced nursing degree and pursue certification. Graduates of our online M.S. in Nursing program are prepared to pursue the Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (Across the Lifespan) Certification (PMHNP-BC) offered by the American Nurses Credentialing Center.
Support Patients With Mental Health Illnesses
Request information to learn how you can meet the demand for psychiatric mental health NPs in your community through the online PMHNP program at St. John Fisher University.
Request Information1 2017 Review of Physician and Advanced Practitioner Recruiting Incentives [PDF, 5.5 MB]. Merritt Hawkins. Accessed Oct. 24, 2020.