MSN: Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner
Major: Nurse Practitioner, Psychiatric Mental Health
Degree Awarded: Master of Science in Nursing (MSN)
Calendar Type: Quarter
Minimum Required Credits: 52.0 quarter credits; 640 clinical hours
Co-op Option: None
Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) code: 51.3801
Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) code: 29-1171
About the Program
The online Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) program prepares practitioners to provide a wide range of services to patients across the lifespan and their families. The program of study is based on a biopsychosocial model of care and includes the study and application of diagnostic and treatment modalities and theories and approaches to practice. Graduates of this program practice in a wide variety of settings as this program enables them to provide direct (assessment and intervention) and indirect (consultation, case management and supervision) advanced practice services to individuals who are at risk and those who need mental health services. Graduates are eligible to sit for the ANCC’s Psychiatric Mental Health Certification Examination.
The nurse practitioner faculty is committed to quality and excellence in the nurse practitioner (NP) programs. Students meet on campus for mandatory On-Campus Intensive (OCI) learning experiences, simulation and evaluation. Students will attend an in-person on-campus intensive in NURS 592 for four days during week one of the summer quarter. Dates are subject to change. During the OCIs, students engage in simulated clinical learning experiences conducted in the College of Nursing and Health Professions' state-of-the-art, multidisciplinary patient simulation lab. These visits provide direct guidance and mentoring from faculty and the opportunity to collaborate with peers. Mandatory, on-campus visits are essential to students transitioning into the NP role.
The program is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education.
Additional Information
For more information about this program, contact:
Graduate Nursing Division
CNHPGraduateDivision@drexel.edu
Additional information is available on Drexel's College of Nursing and Health Professions MSN Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner webpage and on Drexel University Online's MSN Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner webpage.
Degree Requirements
| Core Courses | ||
| NURS 500 [WI] | Confronting Issues in Contemporary Health Care Environments | 3.0 |
| NURS 502 | Advanced Ethical Decision Making in Health Care | 3.0 |
| NURS 544 | Quality and Safety in Healthcare | 3.0 |
| RSCH 503 | Research Methods and Biostatistics | 3.0 |
| RSCH 504 | Evaluation and Translation of Health Research | 3.0 |
| Support Courses | ||
| NUPR 520 | Nurse Practitioner Clinical Orientation Seminar | 0.0 |
| NURS 548 | Advanced Pathophysiology | 3.0 |
| NURS 549 | Advanced Pharmacology | 3.0 |
| NURS 550 | Advanced Health Assessment & Diagnostic Reasoning | 4.0 |
| NURS 555 | Psychopharmacology Across the Lifespan | 3.0 |
| NURS 664 | Professional Issues for Nurse Practitioners | 1.0 |
| Clinical Courses | ||
| NURS 592 | PMHNP I: Advanced Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Theoretical Foundations and Psychopathology I | 5.0 |
| NURS 593 | PMHNP II: Advanced Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Theoretical Foundations and Psychopathology II | 5.0 |
| NURS 594 | PMHNP III: Advanced Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Theoretical Foundations and Psychopathology III | 5.0 |
| NURS 595 | PMHNP IV: Adv Mental Hlth NP Management and Care of Clients in Diverse Pop Across the Lifespan | 5.0 |
| Elective * | 3.0 | |
| Total Credits | 52.0 | |
- *
Nursing Electives can be any course with the prefix Nursing (NURS, NUPR), Interprofessional Studies (IPS), or Complementary and Integrative Health (CIT), with course number ranging from 500-699. Other graduate courses outside of these designations will need to be approved by the department chairperson.
Writing-Intensive Course Requirement
A [WI], Writing Intensive, next to a graduate course in this catalog indicates that the graduate course is a writing intensive course. The graduate course is a required course in your curriculum.
Sample Plan of Study
Note: Some terms are less than the 4.5-credit minimum required (considered half-time status) of graduate programs to be considered financial aid eligible. As a result, aid will not be disbursed to students these terms.
| First Year | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fall | Credits | Winter | Credits | Spring | Credits | Summer | Credits |
| NURS 500 | 3.0 | NURS 502 | 3.0 | NURS 544 | 3.0 | Elective | 3.0 |
| NURS 549 | 3.0 | NURS 548 | 3.0 | RSCH 503 | 3.0 | RSCH 504 | 3.0 |
| 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | ||||
| Second Year | |||||||
| Fall | Credits | Winter | Credits | Spring | Credits | Summer | Credits |
| NUPR 520 | 0.0 | NURS 555* | 3.0 | NURS 550 | 4.0 | NURS 592 | 5.0 |
| NURS 664 | 1.0 | ||||||
| 0 | 3 | 5 | 5 | ||||
| Third Year | |||||||
| Fall | Credits | Winter | Credits | Spring | Credits | ||
| NURS 593 | 5.0 | NURS 594 | 5.0 | NURS 595 | 5.0 | ||
| 5 | 5 | 5 | |||||
| Total Credits 52 | |||||||
* Note: This term is less than the 4.5-credit minimum required (considered half-time status) of graduate programs to be considered financial aid eligible. As a result, aid will not be disbursed to students this term.
Program Level Outcomes
- Practices within a legal and ethical framework of health care delivery.
- Advances the role of advanced nursing practice in the health care system through scholarship, clinical experience and political involvement.
- Demonstrates critical thinking and diagnostic reasoning skills in clinical decision-making.
- Integrates multiple technologies and relevant theories into the organization and synthesis of health data required to develop plans of care for patients, families and communities.
- Integrates culturally sensitive health promotion activities that contribute to the health and wellness of the community into clinical practice.
- Demonstrates leadership in nursing and health care through involvement in the development of outcome-based standards of care and practice-based health policy issues.
- Evaluates and modify the quality and effectiveness of clinical practice based on current research findings, standards of care and patient outcomes.
- Contributes to the advancement of nursing, health care and humanity through communication, collaboration and education.