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 2022 National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties’ (NONPF) Nurse Practitioner Role Core Competencies, and the draft 2023 NONPF specialty competencies for Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioners.
Across the 3-year program, each graduate will acquire over 1800 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.
Degree Requirements
Core Requirements
| OPMS 5000 | Leadership and Teamwork in the Health Professions: A Military Perspective | 3 |
| NURS 5110 | Advanced Health Assessment | 3 |
| NURS 5111 | Advanced Anatomy | 3 |
| NURS 5112 | Advanced Physiology | 3 |
| NURS 5120 | Global Perspectives Seminar in Complex Healthcare Systems I | 3 |
| NURS 5121 | Advanced Pathophysiology | 4 |
| NURS 5122 | Advanced Pharmacology | 4 |
| NURS 5130 | Global Perspectives Seminar in Complex Healthcare Systems II | 3 |
| NURS 5131 | Inquiry into Statistical Methods, Evidence Based Practice and Scholarship | 5 |
| NURS 5132 | Integrative Medicine Methodologies | 1 |
| NURS 5133 | Trauma & Combat Casualty Care | 3 |
| NURS 5134 | Healthcare Informatics | 3 |
| NURS 5220 | Translation of Evidence for Health Care Practice, Policy, and Evaluation | 3 |
| NURS 5330 | Doctor of Nursing Practice Project | 6 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 47 |
Program Requirements
| NURS 5530 | Family Theory for the APRN | 1 |
| NURS 5630 | Response to (Military) Sexual Assault | 1 |
| NURS 7120 | Foundations of Advance Practice Psychiatric Nursing | 5 |
| NURS 7121 | Psychopharmacology I | 2 |
| NURS 7130 | Advanced Diagnosis of Mental Disorders Across the Lifespan | 4 |
| NURS 7131 | Psychopharmacology II | 2 |
| NURS 7210 | Therapeutic Modalities | 4 |
| NURS 7211 | Psychopharmacology III | 3 |
| NURS 7222 | Treatment of Substance Abuse Disorders Across the Lifespan | 3 |
| NURS 7225 | Military Behavioral Health for Advanced Practice Nurse | 6 |
| NURS 7230 | Applied Concepts for Advanced Psychiatric Nursing | 5 |
| NURS 5710 | Doctor of Nursing Practice Practicum & Seminar in NP Practice I | 5 |
| NURS 5720 | Doctor of Nursing Practice Practicum & Seminar in NP Practice II | 5 |
| NURS 5730 | Doctor of Nursing Practice Practicum & Seminar in NP Practice III | 5 |
| NURS 7512 | Child and Adolescent Mental Health | 1 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 52 |
Total Required Credits: 99
Electives
| NURS 5400 | Operational Readiness: Dive Medicine and Water Rescue | 1 |
| NURS 5401 | Operational Readiness: Military Mountain Medicine (M3C) | 1 |
| NURS 5402 | Operational Readiness: Military Cold Weather/Avalanche | 1 |
| NURS 5403 | Operational Readiness: Directed Study | 1 |
| NURS 5404 | Operational Readiness: Critical Care Air Transport Team (CCATT) | 1 |
| NURS 5405 | Operational Readiness: Transitions of Care | 1 |
| NURS 5406 | Operational Readiness: Medical Management of Chemical and Biological Casualties (MMCBC) | 1 |
| NURS 5407 | Operational Readiness: Military Humanitarian and Civic Assistance | 1 |
| NURS 5408 | Interdisciplinary Health Policy | 2 |
| Total Credit Hours: | 10 |
These courses are electives and may be taken in addition to Core and Program requirements.