Skip to header Skip to Content Skip to Footer
Two students talking in an office during a hypothetical patient session

Doctor of Nursing Practice, DNP (Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Concentration)

Provide Mental Health Care to Patients Across the Lifespan
  • ANCC

    Graduates Will Be Eligible To Take The American Nurses Credentialing Center Certification Exam For Family Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioners

  • 70

    Credit Hour Program That Can Be Completed In As Few As Eight Semesters

Doctor of Nursing Practice, Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse Program Overview

For Nursing Professionals with Advanced-Practice Skills

The Doctor of Nursing Practice Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) Concentration is designed for nursing professionals with advanced-practice skills and enables them to provide psychiatric and mental health care to patients across the lifespan.

The DNP serves as a clinical leader in transforming care of the individual, the community, and the health care system. This program integrates nursing science with biophysical, psychosocial, analytical and organizational sciences, which graduates use to understand the nature of health and health care delivery and evaluate the effectiveness of interventions.

Learn To

Upon completion of the DNP curriculum, the new graduate will be able to Integrate science from nursing and other disciplines to identify, develop, and evaluate practice change initiatives that improve individual and population health

Demonstrate leadership within health care systems to adopt strategies to improve quality and safety

Incorporate knowledge of evidence-based practice into advanced decision-making through the evaluation and translation of evidence into practice

Analyze, apply and integrate appropriate information and technology that will improve and transform care at the individual and population level

Critically analyze health policy to develop and implement health care reform that advocates for social justice and equity

Graduates find career in:

Improve or support the mental and physical well-being of people with mental health or behavioral conditions. (Source)

Work collaboratively across disciplines and treatment settings with designated medical teams—and other community resources—to help coordinate the full spectrum of patient care. (Source)

Perform nursing assessments for Mental Health and medical concerns; processes admissions and discharges ensuring continuity of care and meeting all patient needs. (Source)

Monitor and assess a patient's treatment strategy and recovery process, evaluating the strengths and weaknesses.

Assess, diagnose, and treat individuals and families with mental health or substance use disorders or the potential for such disorders. (Source)

Develop a meaningful therapeutic relationship based on trust, acceptance and understanding, provide specialist care while empowering the young person to identify effective means of managing their own thoughts and feelings. (Source)

client getting psych assessment

Sample Courses

A table showing a few sample courses required for the doctor of nursing practice dnp psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner concentration program.
NSG 601 Pathophysiology for Advanced Practice Nurses
NSG 602 Advanced Health Assessment & Diagnostic Reasoning
NSG 632 Psychiatric Mental Health Disorders, Disease management
& Psychotherapeutic Treatment
NSG 633 Group & Family Therapy
NSG 634 Child & Adolescent Mental Health Care
NSG 683 Statistics for Evidence-Based Practice
See The Full Curriculum

Admission Deadlines & Requirements

Information: DNP Doctor of Nursing Practice - Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (BSN to DNP)

Apply Now

  • Complete applications are considered for admission as a group, after the published deadline.
  • All application and supporting documents must be received by the published deadline.

Coordinator

Location/Delivery Method

  • Distance Education - Online except for the mandatory on campus orientation and designated on campus intensives scheduled throughout the program as indicated for each concentration.  
    Mixture of asynchronous and synchronous by class Asynchronous - instructional materials made available on the Internet and available 24 hours a day every day-not time-dependent slots. Synchronous - instruction made available on the web or internet in time-dependent slots.

Concentration

  • Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner - BSN to DNP

Deadlines (11:59 p.m. EST)

  • Fall 2025
    • Application Deadline:  February 1, 2025 Extended to February 15, 2025

Test Scores

  • None required

Recommendations

  • 3 professional references

Additional Requirements

  1. Upload Supplemental Documents After Application Submission
    Upload Supplemental Documents
  2. Bachelor's Degree in Nursing from a regionally accredited institution.
  3. RN License: Must have a valid unrestricted North Carolina registered nurse license or a compact state license to complete practicum hours in North Carolina.
  4. GPA: Overall cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher. A GPA as low as 2.75 will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
  5. Prerequisite Courses:  Official transcripts demonstrate successful completion of academic credits in undergraduate community health, health and physical assessment, nursing research, and statistics. 
  6. Resume: 1-page clinical work-history resume.
  7. Include on Resume: Successful completion of academic credits in undergraduate community health, health and physical assessment, nursing research and statistics.
  8. Include on Resume: Include the 600 hours of Registered Nurse experience prior to beginning any clinical courses in the BSN to DNP program.  
  9. Essay:  
    ESSAY PROMPT & INSTRUCTIONS
  10. International applicants:  International applicants must present evidence of professional standing in their home countries. This requirement excludes U.S. citizens and Lawful Permanent Residents.
  11. Differential Tuition: Differential tuition applies to this program.
    Tuition & Fee

See everything happening in the
School of Nursing

Explore More Program
Details

  • Related Programs

    Nursing, BSN

    Designed to provide the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to practice family-centered, professional nursing in a variety of current and emerging health care delivery systems.

    Learn more

    Social Work, BSW

    Apply social work knowledge, values and skills to help people access services, cope with social, emotional, and health concerns to improve lives, and advocate for a just society.

    Learn more

    Social Work, MSW

    Prepares graduates for a career in clinical practice dedicated to assisting individuals, groups, families and communities.

    Learn more