Post Master’s Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Certificate (MHNP-CERTE)

CIP Code: 51380

Program Description

The Post Master’s Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Certificate provides students a pathway to obtain secondary certification as a PMHNP and develop the knowledge and skills needed to deliver comprehensive psychiatric and mental health care to individuals and families across the lifespan. Upon successful completion of the program, graduates are eligible to sit for the Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner certification examination through the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) and/or the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners Certification Board (AANPCB).

Program Accreditation

This program is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE).

Program Admission Requirements

Applicants must meet the following requirements:

• Acceptance to the Wright State University Graduate School
• Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) or Master of Science (MS) in a Nursing-related field from a CCNE- or ACEN-accredited program
• Cumulative grade point average of 3.00 or higher on a 4.00 scale for graduate work
• Current, unencumbered Registered Nurse (RN) license in the state where clinical experiences will occur
• FBI and OBCI (or state-equivalent) background checks that meet clinical placement requirements. (Provisional admission may be granted pending receipt.)
• Graduate-level APRN Advanced Pathophysiology, Advanced Health Assessment, and Advanced Pharmacology completed
• Applicants must submit syllabi from the time the courses were taken for ANCC approval during admission review.
• Advanced Pharmacology must have been completed within the past two years if the applicant is not currently practicing and prescribing as an APRN.
• Applicants missing one or more foundational courses may be required to complete them prior to or within the certificate plan of study.
• Gap Analysis: A formal gap analysis will be completed to determine required specialty coursework and clinical hours based on previous APRN preparation.
• Current curriculum vitae or résumé.
• Meaningful clinical experience essay illustrating your interest in psychiatric care (two pages maximum)
• Statement of professional goals (250 words maximum)
• Name and email address of two references for letters of recommendation. These references must be able to speak to the student’s abilities as a potential psychiatric practitioner, as well as professional and personal attributes. Appropriate references include current or most recent supervisor, faculty members from your nursing program, or previous employers.

Note: All psychiatric mental health specialty (PMHNP) track courses must be completed at Wright State University for certificate eligibility.

Program Learning Objectives

Students enrolled in this program will learn to:

• analyze and apply scientific knowledge from nursing, biopsychosocial sciences, public health, genetics, and organizational systems to inform evidence-based decision-making and improve nursing care across diverse populations and settings
• demonstrate leadership skills that support ethical and critical decision-making, effective collaboration, and a systems perspective that promotes high-quality and safe patient care within complex healthcare environments
• apply quality improvement principles, tools, and performance measures to evaluate care processes, address practice problems, and implement and disseminate evidence-based improvements in clinical and organizational settings
• utilize patient-care technologies, informatics, and advanced communication strategies to integrate, coordinate, and enhance care delivery across interprofessional teams
• evaluate health policy processes, apply advocacy strategies, and integrate culturally responsive, client-centered, and organizational concepts to plan, deliver, and evaluate prevention and population-focused care for individuals, families, and communities

Program Learning Outcomes

As a result of their learning experience, graduates of this certificate program can:

• examine scientific findings from nursing, biopsychosocial fields, genetics, public health, quality improvement, and organizational sciences for the continual improvement of nursing care across diverse settings 
• demonstrate leadership skills necessary for ethical and critical decision making, effective working relationships, and a systems-perspective to promote high quality and safe patient care
• apply quality principles within an organization and articulate the methods, tools, performance measures, and standards related to quality
• apply evidence-based outcomes 
within the practice setting, resolving practice problems, working as a change 
agent, and disseminating results  
• use communication strategies and patient-care technologies to integrate, coordinate, deliver, and enhance care
• examince the policy development process and advocacy strategies necessary to intervene at the system level to influence health and health care
• use communication strategies necessary for interprofessional collaboration and consultation to manage and coordinate care
• integrate broad, organizational, client-centered, and culturally appropriate concepts in the planning, delivery, management, and evaluation of evidence-based clinical prevention and population care and services to individuals, families, and aggregates/identified populations
• demonstrate advanced level of understanding of nursing and relevant sciences as well as the ability to integrate this knowledge into practice including both direct and indirect care components that influence health care outcomes for individuals, populations, or systems

State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements (NC-SARA)

This program prepares students to be eligible to apply for a professional license to practice in the state of Ohio. Students planning to work in other states or countries should contact the relevant state licensing board in the state where you plan to work before beginning the program. SARA does not provide reciprocity for state professional licensure requirements. Academic programs and the program graduate must meet standards set by the licensing board in a state in order for the graduate to be eligible for a license in that state.

For More Information

• Webpage: Program Website Not Yet Created
• School/department webpage: https://health-education-human-services.wright.edu/nursing
• College webpage: https://health-education-human-services.wright.edu/

Program Requirements