A Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) oversees many responsibilities, including physical and psychosocial assessments, emergency psychiatric care and treatment effectiveness evaluations, according to the American Association of Nurse Practitioners.
A PMHNP role focuses on a patient’s mental health and often works in collaboration with a family nurse practitioner to promote holistic care.
When caring for a patient, a PMHNP may have to:
- Carry out examinations and mental health assessments
- Diagnose psychiatric illness
- Educate the patient and family
- Prescribe a treatment plan, including medications
- Lead psychotherapy sessions
- Coordinate services for other healthcare components
According to the AANP, psychiatric nurse practitioner programs have great communication and relationship-building skills and a passion for patient care. If that sounds like you, and you want to shift gears in your current nursing career, you might want to take a closer look at becoming a PMHNP.
Here are the top 3 psychiatric nurse practitioner programs of 2024, according to Nurse.org:
UTICA College
Enrollment: Nationwide for RN-BSN program. MSN program available only in Florida, Massachusetts and New York.
Utica University is perfect for those with a hectic schedule as schooling is flexible, allowing you never to miss a class and making it possible to get a degree despite life getting in the way.
For more information on UTICA’s MSN-Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner program, click here.
University of Cincinnati
Enrollment is nationwide, excluding Arizona, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island and Tennessee.
All nursing programs are accredited regionally and through the CCNE, and are taught by doctorally prepared, clinically up-to-date faculty who are practicing nurses. The University of Cincinnati has been offering online nursing programs for more than 20 years.
For more information on the Post-Master’s Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner program, click here.
Walden University
Enrollment is nationwide, excluding Alaska, Idaho, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island and South Dakota.
“Walden’s online nursing programs meet rigorous standards for academic quality and integrity, and the School of Nursing teaching faculty all hold doctorates,” noted Nurse.org
For more information on the MSN - Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner program, click here, or for the MSN program, click here.
