Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP)

Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner student meeting with a patient during a mental health clinical session

Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Overview

The Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner specialty track prepares advanced practice nurses to provide mental health care across the lifespan. Students develop skills in psychiatric assessment, diagnosis, evidence-based psychotherapy, and psychopharmacology to support individuals and families with a wide range of mental health needs.

Available within both the MSN and DNP programs, this specialty track prepares graduates to deliver patient-centered mental health care in settings such as outpatient clinics, hospitals, community-based organizations, and telehealth environments.

Program Outcomes

Perform advanced psychiatric mental health assessments and establish accurate diagnoses
Develop, implement, and evaluate evidence-informed treatment plans, including psychotropic medication management
Apply therapeutic communication and psychotherapy techniques to support clinical outcomes
Collaborate effectively within interprofessional health care teams while practicing ethically and professionally

Certification Eligibility

Graduates are eligible for certification through:

State of California Nurse Practitioner certification, permitting graduates to practice as a Nurse Practitioner in California in accordance with state licensure requirements
National certification as a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner, including eligibility to sit for the Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner certification exam (PMHNP-BC) through the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC)

For questions about the PMHNP specialization, students are encouraged to schedule a meeting with Dr. Katie Lais, Program Coordinator, Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Program.

Meet with Dr. Lais

MSN PMHNP Curriculum

MSN Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Full-Time Curriculum Plan

MSN Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Full-Time Curriculum Plan
Course Number	Course Title	Units	Clinical Hours
Year 1: Fall Semester
APNC 620	Advanced Pathophysiology	3	0
APNC 621	Advanced Health Assessment	4	0
NPTC 630	Role of the Nurse Practitioner	1	0
APNC 623	Pharmacology in Health Management	3	0
Semester Total:		11	0
Year 1: Spring Semester
MSNC 611	Foundations of Evidence-Based Practice in Nursing	3	0
NPTC 640	Psychiatric Assessment for the Advanced Practice Nurse	3	0
NPTC 641	Psychopharmacology & Clinical Management of Psych Disorders	4	0
NPTC 641P	Psychopharmacology & Clinical Management of Psych Disorders Practicum	3	144
Semester Total:		13	144
Year 1: Summer Semester
MSNC 640	Health Care Information and Communication Management	3	0
NPTC 642	Diagnostics & Management of Mental Health Conditions Across the Lifespan I	3	0
NPTC 642P	Diagnostics & Management of Mental Health Conditions Across the Lifespan I Practicum	4	192
Semester Total:		10	192
Year 2: Fall Semester
MSNC 612	Population Health	3	0
NPTC 643	Diagnostics & Management of Mental Health Conditions Across the Lifespan II	3	0
NPTC 643P	Diagnostics & Management of Mental Health Conditions Across the Lifespan II Practicum	5	240
Semester Total:		11	240
Year 2: Spring Semester
NPTC 644	Diagnostics & Management of Mental Health Conditions Across the Lifespan III	2	0
NPTC 644P	Diagnostics & Management of Mental Health Conditions Across the Lifespan III Practicum	4	192
Semester Total:		6	192
Total Program Units/Hours:		51	768

MSN Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Part-Time Curriculum Plan

MSN Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner Part-Time Curriculum Plan
Semester	Course Number & Title	Units	Clinical Hours
Year 1
Fall Semester One	MSNC 612 Population Health	3	0
	APNC 621 Advanced Health Assessment	3	0
	APNC 621 Advanced Health Assessment Lab	1	0
Fall Semester One Total:		7	0
Spring Semester One	NPTC 630 Role of the Nurse Practitioner	1	0
	APNC 623 Pharmacology in Health Management	3	0
	*Optional Elective	*3	0
Spring Semester One Total:		*4 (7)**	0
Summer Semester One	MSNC 640: Health Care Information and Communication Management	3	0
Summer Semester One Total:		3	0
Year 2
Fall Semester Two	APNC 620 Advanced Pathophysiology	3	0
	MSNC 611 Foundations of Evidence-Based Practice in Nursing	3	0
	NPTC 640 Psychiatric Assessment for the Advanced Practice Nurse	3	0
Fall Semester Two Total:		9	0
Spring Semester Two	NPTC 641 Psychopharmacology and Clinical Management of Psychiatric Conditions	4	0
Spring Semester Two	NPTC 641P Psychopharmacology and Clinical Management of Psychiatric Conditions Practicum	3	144
Spring Semester Two Total:		7	144
Summer Semester Two	NPTC 642 Diagnostics and Management of Mental Health Conditions I	3	0
Summer Semester Two	NPTC 642P Diagnostics and Management of Mental Health Conditions I Practicum	4	192
Summer Semester Two Total:		7	192
Year 3
Fall Semester Three	DNPC 661 Leadership, Advocacy, and Quality Management I	1	0
	NPTC 643 Diagnostics and Management of Mental Health Conditions II	3	0
	NPTC 643P Diagnostics and Management of Mental Health Conditions II Practicum	5	240
Fall Semester Three Total:		9	240
Spring Semester Three	NPTC 644 Diagnostics and Management of Mental Health Conditions III	2	0
	NPTC 644P Diagnostics and Management of Mental Health Conditions III Practicum	4	192
	DNPC 662 Leadership, Advocacy, and Quality Management II	2	0
Spring Semester Three Total:		8	192
Total Program Units/Hours:		54	768

DNP PMHNP Curriculum

DNP Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Full-Time Curriculum Plan

DNP Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner Full-Time Curriculum Plan
Semester	Course Title	Units	Clinical/Project Hours
YEAR 1
Fall Semester One	MSNC 612 Population Health	3
	APNC 620 Advanced Pathophysiology	3
	NPTC 640 Psychiatric Assessment for the Advanced Practice Nurse	3
	APNC 621 Advanced Health Assessment	3
	APNC 621 Advanced Health Assessment Lab	1
Total		13
Spring Semester One	NPTC 630 Role of the Nurse Practitioner	1
	APNC 623 Pharmacology in Health Management	3
	NPTC 641 Psychopharmacology and Clinical Management of Psychiatric Conditions	4
	NPTC 641P Psychopharmacology and Clinical Management of Psychiatric Conditions Practicum	3	144
Total		11	144
Summer Semester One	MSNC 640: Health Care Information and Communication Management	3
	NPTC 642 Diagnostics and Management of Mental Health Conditions I	3
	NPTC 642P Diagnostics and Management of Mental Health Conditions I Practicum	4	192
Total		10	336
YEAR 2
Fall Semester Two	DNPC 600: Orientation to the DNP Scholarly Project Series	1
	DNPC 661 Leadership, Advocacy, and Quality Management I	1
	MSNC 611 Foundations of Evidence-Based Practice in Nursing	3
	NPTC 643 Diagnostics and Management of Mental Health Conditions II	3
	NPTC 643P Diagnostics and Management of Mental Health Conditions II Practicum	5	240
	DNPC 601: DNP Scholarly Project: Planning and Development	1
Total		14	576
Spring Semester Two	NPTC 644 Diagnostics and Management of Mental Health Conditions III	2
	NPTC 644P Diagnostics and Management of Mental Health Conditions III Practicum	4	192
	DNPC 662 Leadership, Advocacy, and Quality Management II	2
	DNPC 602: DNP Scholarly Project: Conceptualization & Planning Proposal	1
Total		9	768
Graduate with MSN PMHNP - 57 total units
Summer Semester Two (*HyFlex)	DNPC 631 Role of the Nurse with a Doctor of Nursing Practice	2
	DNPC 613 Advanced Applications of EBP	3
	DNPC 603 DNP Scholarly Project: Implementation	1
Total		6
YEAR 3
Fall Semester Three (*HyFlex)	DNPC 650 Data Analysis and Evaluation	3
	DNPC 604 DNP Scholarly Project: Evaluation	2
	DNPC 670 Advanced Leadership & Finance or Elective	3
Total		8
Spring Semester Three (*HyFlex)	DNPC 605 DNP Scholarly Project: Dissemination	1
	DNPC 651 Health Policy and Advocacy in Nursing Practice	2
	Elective	3
Total		6	232
Graduate with DNP - 77 total units / 1000 hours
*Hyflex: students can decide weekly if they would like to attend class in-person, online synchronous, or online asynchronous

DNP Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Part-Time Curriculum Plan

DNP Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner Part-Time Curriculum Plan (Starting Fall 2026)
Semester	Course Title	Units	Clinical / Project Hours
YEAR 1
Fall Semester One	MSNC 612 Population Health	3	-
	APNC 621 Advanced Health Assessment	3	-
	APNC 621 Advanced Health Assessment Lab	1	-
Fall Semester One Total		7	-
Spring Semester One	NPTC 630 Role of the Nurse Practitioner	1	-
Spring Semester One	APNC 623 Pharmacology in Health Management	3	-
Spring Semester One Total		4	-
Summer Semester One	MSNC 640 Health Care Information and Communication Management	3	-
Summer Semester One Total		3	-
YEAR 2
Fall Semester Two	APNC 620 Advanced Pathophysiology	3	-
	NPTC 640 Psychiatric Assessment for the Advanced Practice Nurse	3	-
	MSNC 611 Foundations of Evidence-Based Practice in Nursing	3	-
Fall Semester Two Total		9	-
Spring Semester Two	NPTC 641 Psychopharmacology and Clinical Management of Psychiatric Conditions	4	-
Spring Semester Two	NPTC 641P Psychopharmacology and Clinical Management of Psychiatric Conditions Practicum	3	144
Spring Semester Two Total		7	144
Summer Semester Two	NPTC 642 Diagnostics and Management of Mental Health Conditions I	3	-
Summer Semester Two	NPTC 642P Diagnostics and Management of Mental Health Conditions I Practicum	4	192
Summer Semester Two Total		7	336 (Cumulative)
YEAR 3
Fall Semester Three	DNPC 600 Orientation to the DNP Scholarly Project Series	1	-
	DNPC 661 Leadership, Advocacy, and Quality Management I	1	-
	NPTC 643 Diagnostics and Management of Mental Health Conditions II	3	-
	NPTC 643P Diagnostics and Management of Mental Health Conditions II Practicum	5	240
	DNPC 601 DNP Scholarly Project: Planning and Development	1	-
Fall Semester Three Total		11	576 (Cumulative)
Spring Semester Three	NPTC 644 Diagnostics and Management of Mental Health Conditions III	2	-
	NPTC 644P Diagnostics and Management of Mental Health Conditions III Practicum	4	192
	DNPC 662 Leadership, Advocacy, and Quality Management II	2	-
	DNPC 602 DNP Scholarly Project: Conceptualization & Planning Proposal	1	-
Spring Semester Three Total		9	768 (Cumulative)
Graduate with MSN PMHNP - 57 total units
Summer Semester Three (*HyFlex)	DNPC 631 Role of the Nurse with a Doctor of Nursing Practice	2	-
	DNPC 613 Advanced Applications of EBP	3	-
	DNPC 603 DNP Scholarly Project: Implementation	1	-
Summer Semester Three Total		6	-
YEAR 4
Fall Semester Four (*HyFlex)	DNPC 650 Data Analysis and Evaluation	3	-
	DNPC 604 DNP Scholarly Project: Evaluation	2	-
	DNPC 670 Advanced Leadership & Finance or Elective	3	-
Fall Semester Four Total		8	-
Spring Semester Four (*HyFlex)	DNPC 651 Health Policy and Advocacy in Nursing Practice	2	-
	DNPC 605 DNP Scholarly Project: Dissemination	1	-
	Elective	3	-
Spring Semester Four Total		6	232 Project Hours
Graduate with DNP - 77 total units / 1000 hours
*HyFlex: students can decide weekly if they would like to attend class in-person, online synchronous, or online asynchronous.

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Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Overview

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Certification Eligibility

MSN PMHNP Curriculum

DNP PMHNP Curriculum

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