Normal Time to Completion: 2 years 10 months
This program is offered online.
Jump to the MSN-PMHNP Curriculum
The online Master of Science in Nursing - Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (MSN-PMHNP) Specialization at Post University provides the opportunity to build the insights and skills students could use to make a positive impact on the mental health of your patients. The program emphasizes critical areas of primary care-assessment, prevention, diagnosis, and management of chronic and acute conditions-with an in-depth focus on psychiatric issues. Coursework covers assessment, diagnosis, psychopharmacology, interventions, and more, across the lifespan. Plus, it offers preceptorship experiences to translate online classroom learnings to different mental health situations.
This is a post-licensure program. Students will need to maintain an active and unencumbered registered nurse license.
Students will need to fulfill additional requirements to become nurse practitioners. While the Master of Science Nursing (Adult Gerontology Primary Care Nurse Practitioner, Family Nurse Practitioner, and Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner specializations) is not designed to fulfill licensure requirements in an individual state, the program may be used to partially fulfill licensure requirements.
Post University assists in researching and providing information regarding licensure; however, each state has different requirements for such licensure outside of the required education. Such state requirements may include licensure exams, background checks, certain work experience, and more. It is ultimately the responsibility of each student to manage their own licensure process and to ensure that all requirements are met in order for the student to obtain licensure. Post University does not speak on behalf of any licensing board or body and does not guarantee licensure. Requirements for licensure are subject to change without notice.
The table at the following link shows whether Post University, with completion of the appropriate curriculum, does or does not fulfill the educational requirements for a specific license:
: Nurse Practitioner Disclosure by State
Master of Science in Nursing - Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Specialization
Coursework for the psychiatric nurse practitioner online specialization is designed to help students build a foundation of insights and practical skills:
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Graduates will apply nursing and scientific knowledge to assess, diagnose, and manage health needs across settings, using evidence, clinical guidelines, and shared decision-making to support safe, high-quality, holistic care for individuals and populations while evaluating outcomes and addressing safety.
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Graduates will use leadership and scholarly skills to guide collaboration across interprofessional teams, strengthen communication, and support improvement efforts that enhance access, care delivery, safety, and system performance, while applying quality methods to measure and improve outcomes.
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Graduates will examine the legal, social, political, and ethical influences on care and advocate for policies that support fair access, culturally responsive practices, equity, cost-effective, high-quality care, and population-level strategies that address community needs and reduce disparities.
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Graduates will use informatics, technology, and evidence-based data to strengthen communication, guide decision making, enhance quality improvement, monitor safety outcomes, and advance care processes across diverse settings.
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Graduates will apply ethical, integrity-based judgment and lifelong learning to guide practice, promote safety, advance healthcare systems, and improve outcomes for individuals and populations.
Curriculum
All nurse practitioner courses are to be taken one at a time. The courses are all 8 weeks in length. Courses must be completed in the specified timeframe, including clinical hours completed in the allotted 8 weeks. The nurse practitioner specializations are not offered on a part-time or accelerated basis.
The Master of Science Nursing - nurse practitioner specializations do require clinical work. Learn more about clinical work on the additional nursing requirements page.
