Overview
Mission
The Mission of the Uniformed Services University's Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) Program is to educate safe, competent, and professional Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioners who are able to practice independently within the Federal healthcare system.
Philosophy
The Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Program (DNP Track) is dedicated to preparing graduate nurses for advanced clinical practice, the critical appraisal and translation of evidence into practice, and leadership in the advanced practice nursing role across healthcare systems. The rigorous curriculum stresses psychiatric-mental health care across the lifespan that is consistent with current standards of practice for the psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner.
Design
The PMHNP DNP track is a 36 month - full time program that refines critical thinking skills through didactics, clinical simulation, and clinical practice. Our curriculum stresses care across the lifespan and operationally relevant psychiatric-mental health care foundationally built upon evidenced based practice and systems orientation. Didactic learning is cemented into knowledge within the clinical practice environment at military and Federal facilities supervised by experienced nurse practitioner and other behavioral health providers. The first year of clinical exposure is executed exclusively via simulation. The second year of clinical exposure utilizes both simulation and direct patient care opportunities. In the third year, students continue to build upon clinical skills at a service specific phase II clinical site.
The program was built to achieve goals of the AACN 2021 Essentials: Core Competencies for Professional Nursing Education, and meets the requirements of the 2011 National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties’ (NONPF) guidelines for NP programs, and the 2012 NONPF specialty competencies for Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioners.
Across the 3-year program, each graduate will acquire over 1900 direct practice hours, will create and implement a scholarly inquiry project addressing a healthcare system’s issue and will create a personal portfolio demonstrating how they have achieved each of the 10 Essentials. Program faculty are experienced nurse practitioners and educators.
Outcomes
PMHNP Program –Specific Terminal Competencies/Expected Outcomes
Upon graduation, the DNP PMHNP graduate is prepared to:
- Manage the unique healthcare for the behavioral health needs of military beneficiaries across the lifespan.
- Provide adaptive leadership in joint service environments within multidisciplinary teams.
- Deliver healthcare in unique and dynamic settings including military operational, austere, disaster, and humanitarian and civic aid environments.
PMHNP Program outcome requirements
- Comply with the GSN requirements for graduation.
- 36 months of full time study
- Complete required number of program credits and clinical hours
- Complete the DNP Portfolio
- Comply with program requirements for graduation.
- Overall GPA of 3.0 or above
- Achieve the minimum grade required in each course
- Obtain a minimum of 1800 total clinical hours
- Receive a “pass” in all clinical practicum components
- Meet the mission of the Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner program.
- Meet the GSN and PMHNP program terminal objectives and NONPF Core and PHMNHP competencies
- Be recommended for graduation by the FNP Program Director
Degree Requirements
Summer 1st year
| NURS 5111 | Advanced Anatomy | 3 |
| NURS 5110 | Advanced Health Assessment | 3 |
| NURS 5112 | Advanced Physiology | 3 |
| OPMS 5000 | Leadership and Teamwork in the Health Professions: A Military Perspective I | 1 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 10 |
Fall 1st year
| NURS 5120 | Global Perspectives Seminar in Complex Healthcare Systems-I | 3 |
| NURS 5121 | Advanced Pathophysiology | 4 |
| NURS 5122 | Advanced Pharmacology | 4 |
| NURS 7120 | Foundations of Advance Practice Psychiatric Nursing | 4 |
| NURS 7121 | Psychopharmacology I | 1 |
| OPMS 5001 | Leadership and Teamwork in the Health Professions: A Military Perspective II | 1 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 17 |
Spring 1st year
| NURS 5130 | Global Perspectives Seminar in Complex Healthcare Systems-II | 3 |
| NURS 5131 | Inquiry into Statistical Methods, Evidence Based Practice and Scholarship | 5 |
| NURS 7130 | Advanced Diagnosis of Mental Disorders Across the Lifespan | 4 |
| NURS 7131 | Psychopharmacology II | 1 |
| NURS 5530 | Family Theory for the APRN | 1 |
| NURS 5133 | Trauma & Combat Casualty Care | 3 |
| NURS 5132 | Integrative Medicine Methodologies | 1 |
| OPMS 5002 | Leadership and Teamwork in the Health Professions: A Military Perspective III | 1 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 19 |
Summer 2nd year
Fall 2nd year
| NURS 7220 | Advanced Practice Administrative Behavioral Health | 2 |
| NURS 7222 | Treatment of Substance Abuse Disorders Across the Lifespan | 3 |
| NURS 7221 | Operational Behavioral Health for Advance Practice Nurses | 5 |
| NURS 5220 | Translation of Evidence for Health Care Practice, Policy, and Evaluation | 3 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 13 |
Spring 2nd year
| NURS 5134 | Healthcare Informatics | 3 |
| NURS 5630 | Response to (Military) Sexual Assault | 1 |
| NURS 7230 | Applied Concepts for Advanced Psychiatric Nursing | 5 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 9 |
Summer 3rd year
| NURS 5710 | Doctor of Nursing Practice Practicum & Seminar in NP Practice I | 5 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 5 |
Fall 3rd year
| NURS 5720 | Doctor of Nursing Practice Practicum & Seminar in NP Practice II | 5 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 5 |
Spring 3rd year
| NURS 5330 | Doctor of Nursing Practice Project | 6 |
| NURS 5730 | Doctor of Nursing Practice Practicum & Seminar in NP Practice III | 5 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 11 |
Total Credit Hours: 96