Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (MS)

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Program Description

The master's program in psychiatric-mental health nursing prepares graduates to become psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioners (PMHNP) with the knowledge and skills necessary to provide comprehensive psychiatric-mental healthcare to children, adolescents, adults, and older adults. After successful completion of the program, graduates are eligible to take the Psychiatric and Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Certification Exam offered by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) and become certified as a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP-BC) as well as become licensed in New York State and/or any state in the USA as a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner (NP-P).

Highlights

  • Opportunity to learn from experienced, nationally renowned faculty who are both academicians and practicing psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioners.
  • Ability to develop specialized expertise in substance use and addictive disorders, trauma disorders and trauma treatment, and individual, group, and family psychotherapy.
  • Opportunity to conduct research, publish articles, speak at state and national conferences, and serve as leaders in psychiatric nursing organizations.

Goals

  • To provide comprehensive and competent psychiatric-mental healthcare to clients across the lifespan.
  • To develop competency in performing psychiatric evaluations, determining psychiatric diagnoses and case conceptualizations, and providing psychiatric treatments including conducting psychotherapy and prescribing psychotropic medication.
  • To develop the ability to establish advanced therapeutic relationships with clients that display empathic understanding, authenticity, genuineness, and unconditional positive regard -- qualities that are the quintessence of therapeutic effectiveness.
  • To develop an awareness and understanding of self and to pursue an enduring commitment to personal development and reflective practice.
  • To develop a spirit of active inquiry and critical thought in the application of psychiatric-mental health knowledge.
  • To appreciate human diversity and develop competency in culturally sensitive psychiatric-mental healthcare.

MS Specialty Sequences

The College of Nursing offers specialty sequences for graduate students in:

  • Holistic Nursing
  • Palliative Care
  • Substance Use Disorders

See Academic Programs | Master's (MS) for more information.

Practicum Opportunities

  • All practicum placements are arranged by the PMHNP faculty.
  • Supervision is provided by licensed psychiatric clinicians at diverse practicum sites representing the full array of psychiatric-mental health treatment facilities throughout the New York metropolitan area.
    • Premier teaching hospitals (e.g., NYU Langone Health, NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue, New York-Presbyterian, Four Winds Hospital, Montefiore Medical Center and Behavioral Health Centers, and the VA Medical System).
    • Select private practice offices, counseling centers, child and adolescent residential centers, substance use facilities, school systems, psychiatric emergency centers, correctional facilities, ACT teams, and community-based psychiatric clinics (e.g., Jewish Board of Family and Children’s Services, True Pursuit Psychological Services, NYU Counseling Center, Association to Benefit Children, MetroNP, Phoenix House, and Revcore Recovery Center).

Admissions

Access the application for our MS programs. All applicants to our MS programs are required to submit the following documents at the time of application:

  1. One (1) transcript from each post-secondary school attended. We can review applications with unofficial transcripts. Admitted students will be asked to submit official transcripts prior to beginning coursework at NYU Meyers.
  2. Resume.
  3. A two- to three-page personal statement.
  4. At least two (2) letters of recommendation.
  5. RN license and registration certificate. You may submit an application with an out-of-state license, but admitted students must obtain a New York State RN license prior to beginning coursework at NYU Meyers.

Applicants who have attended a post-secondary institution outside of the United States are required to upload one (1) transcript from each post-secondary school attended and submit one (1) official course-by-course evaluation of each foreign transcript directly to our office at the time of application. Your application will not be reviewed without these documents. Please mail your official course-by-course evaluation(s) to:

NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing
Office of Student Affairs and Admissions
433 First Avenue, LL1
New York, NY 10010

For applicants whose native language is not English, a copy of your latest TOEFL or IELTS score is required. Admitted students will be asked to submit official test scores prior to beginning coursework at NYU Meyers. We require a minimum TOEFL internet-based score of 100 and an IELTS Band score of 7.

See Master's (MS) for additional admission instructions and eligibility requirements.

Psychiatric-Mental Health

  • At least one year full-time clinical experience as a registered nurse in psychiatric nursing is required.
  • One year full-time clinical experience as a registered psychiatric nurse may be substituted by other equivalent experience in the psychiatric field, psychology, or another closely related social science field subject to approval by the program director.