DNP in Psychiatric Mental Health Across the Lifespan
The Doctor of Nursing Practice degree (DNP) has three options: Family Nurse Practitioner, Nurse-Midwifery, and Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner. The DNP degree prepares the graduate for advanced practice nursing with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to provide clinical expertise, judgment, scholarship, and leadership at the highest level of nursing practice in the primary health care setting. Graduates will be eligible for national APRN certification and licensure specific to the population focus.
Students are able to choose a full-time three year or part-time four year course plan for completion of the DNP degree. DNP applicants with prior graduate nursing education will submit transcripts for review of potential equivalent coursework. This gap analysis will inform an individualized Program of Study.
The DNP - Psychiatric Mental Health NP Option prepares advanced practice nurses to demonstrate clinical expertise, judgment, scholarship, and leadership to provide the highest level of nursing practice in a variety of settings. The focus of the Psychiatric Mental Health NP Option is to provide assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of mental health needs for patients across the lifespan. The doctorally prepared Psychiatric Mental Health NP can provide treatment in a variety of ways, including with medication, crisis intervention, individual, group, and family psychotherapy.
Depending upon individual state regulations, nurse practitioners may practice independently with full prescriptive authority (check with your individual state). The DNP prepared PMHNP can work with children, adolescents, adults, and seniors in a wide range of practice settings. Graduates generate new knowledge through innovation of practice change, the translation of evidence, and the implementation of quality improvement process in specific practice settings, systems, or with specific populations to improve health or health outcomes.
Scholarly Project
Each student completes and defends a scholarly project developed in collaboration with a faculty advisor and a committee conducted over two semesters during the final year of study. Examples of exciting and innovative student projects include: development of mental health outreach programs to the rural elderly; examination of alternative health practices for healing; and establishment of pediatric cancer support groups for the rural client.
Program Learning Outcomes
- Evaluate, integrate, translate, and apply evidence from nursing science and other disciplines in the delivery of care.
- Create, communicate, and evaluate person-centered care that includes holistic, individualized, just, culturally aware, respectful, compassionate, coordinated, evidence-based and developmentally appropriate.
- Analyze current population health gaps and create and evaluate cost-effective, evidence-based interventions to meet the needs of the target population.
- Advance the scholarship of nursing through the integration of best evidence and ethical conduct of scholarly activities.
- Employ improvement science to ensure system effectiveness for safe, person-centered care within a physically, psychologically, secure, and just environment.
- Collaborate across professions and with other stakeholders to optimize care, enhance the healthcare experience, and strengthen outcomes.
- Coordinate the resources of the complex healthcare system to provide safe, quality, and equitable care to diverse populations.
- Use information and communication technology to anticipate, manage and improve healthcare in accordance with best practice and professional and regulatory standards.
- Model a sustainable professional identity of accountability, ethical comportment, and collaborative disposition.
- Participate in activities and self-reflection that foster personal health, resilience, and well-being; students will contribute to life-long learning; and students will support the acquisition of nursing expertise and the assertion of leadership.
| NRSG 601 | Advanced Health Assessment | 3 |
| NRSG 602 | Adv Physio/Pathophysiology | 4 |
| NRSG 603 | Advanced Pharmacology I | 2 |
| NRSG 604 | Evidence Based Practice I | 3 |
| NRSG 605 | Evidence Based Practice II | 3 |
| NRSG 606 | Statistical Applications | 3 |
| NRSG 608 | Design H C Delivery Systems | 3 |
| NRSG 609 | Advanced Nursing Leadership & Roles | 3 |
| NRSG 610 | Health Care Informatics | 3 |
| NRSG 611 | Program Planning & Evaluation for Quality Improvement | 3 |
| NRSG 612 | Ethics, Law, and Policy for Advocacy in Healthcare | 3 |
| NRSG 613 | Finance & Budget H C Systems | 2 |
| NRSG 614 | Vulnerability and Health Care in Diverse Communities | 3 |
| NRSG 616 | Psychiatric Case Formulation | 3 |
| NRSG 625 | Advanced Diagnostics in Primary Care (Elective) | 2 |
| NRSG 629 | Introduction to Advanced Practice Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing | 2 |
| NRSG 630 | Adv Psychopharmacology II | 3 |
| NRSG 661 | PMHNP Diagnosis & Management I | 3 |
| NRSG 662 | PMHNP Diagnosis & Management II | 3 |
| NRSG 663 | PMHNP Diagnosis & Management III | 3 |
| NRSG 664 | PMHNP Diagnosis & Management IV | 2 |
| NRSG 665 | PMHNP Advanced Clinical I | 4 |
| NRSG 666 | PMHNP Advanced Clinical II | 4 |
| NRSG 667 | PMHNP Advanced Clinical III | 4 |
| NRSG 668 | PMHNP Advanced Clinical IV | 5 |
| NRSG 673 | Writing for Scholarly Projects | 2 |
| NRSG 675 | DNP Scholarly Project | 3 |
| NRSG 675 | DNP Scholarly Project | 3 |
Total Credits - 82