DNP – Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner (Post-BSN)

Help Your Patients Overcome Mental Health Challenges with Liberty’s Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner Program Online

Our PMHNP program seeks to help meet the desperate need for mental health care providers in the United States. Throughout your courses, you can develop the skills needed to treat mental health disorders, substance abuse issues, and developmental problems in patients of all ages. Additionally, you can prepare to sit for the American Nurses Credentialing Center Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner national certification exam and pursue state licensure as a PMHNP.

Partner with us and prepare to help meet a variety of patient health needs — both physical and mental.

*Some exclusions apply. Please refer to our exclusions page for more information.

Licensure requirements may vary and are subject to change without notice. View your state’s requirements here: licensure/certification requirements.

The baccalaureate degree program in nursing, master’s degree program in nursing, Doctor of Nursing Practice program, and the postgraduate APRN certificate program at Liberty University School of Nursing are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (http://www.ccneaccreditation.org).

Why Choose Liberty’s BSN to DNP – Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Degree?

Liberty University has been a pioneer in distance education since 1985. A lot has changed since then, but our commitment to Training Champions for Christ has not. We seek to offer high-quality programs that maximize flexibility, affordability, and accessibility.

Here are just some of the benefits of choosing Liberty’s online PMHNP program:

• Valuable Credentials | Our DNP – Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner program is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE). You can pursue your degree with confidence knowing that our courses have met rigorous academic standards.
• Practical Experience | While pursuing your post-BSN DNP – PMHNP, you will complete over 1,000 practicum hours. That way, you can gain marketable experience that could help you stand out to future employers. Additionally, you’ll attend 1 residential intensive, giving you the opportunity to visit our beautiful campus in Lynchburg, Virginia. During this intensive, you can further benefit from hands-on instruction, state-of-the-art equipment, and the chance to connect in-person with your classmates and professors.
• BSN to DNP Format | If you want to earn your nursing doctorate but don’t have a master’s degree, then this program is for you. You can apply to our DNP – PMHNP (post-BSN) program if you’ve completed a Bachelor of Science in Nursing — allowing you to start achieving your academic and professional goals sooner.
• Top-Notch Mentorship | In our PMHNP online program, you will study under nursing professionals who have years of real-world experience. Our DNP faculty will support you as you complete your scholarly project, and our practicum coordinators can help you gain practicum placement. Additionally, for some of your courses, you’ll have online meetings with your professors so you can further benefit from their mentorship.

Frequently Asked Questions

Additional Requirements

Students who are accepted and offered a seat each semester will be required to submit a $500 deposit,* which will be applied to your student account to be used towards tuition, fees, etc. If accepted to our program, you will receive additional information via your Liberty email regarding your next steps and payment of the deposit.

If you have any questions, you may reach the School of Nursing at jeast@liberty.edu or by calling (434) 592-6505.

*Deposit refund deadlines apply. Contact the School of Nursing for specific semester refund dates.

What Will You Learn in Our BSN to DNP – PMHNP Program Online?

This post-BSN degree is broken down into core nursing courses, advanced practice courses, project and practicum classes, and the PMHNP specialization. In addition to completing extensive DNP and PMHNP practicums, you will research, write, and defend a scholarly project. You’ll also select an elective course so you can explore further topics of interest in the field of nursing.

Throughout the program, you can train to work at the highest level of clinical practice and help improve quality, safety, cost, and patient care in nursing. You can also prepare to lead multidisciplinary nursing initiatives, translate evidence into practice, and work as a PMHNP in a variety of inpatient and outpatient settings.

Liberty’s core DNP courses provide a solid foundation in advanced nursing research, applications of evidence-based care, clinical prevention, healthcare operations, and interprofessional collaboration. You’ll also receive advanced training in health assessment, pathophysiology, and pharmacology. Our goal is to help you approach nursing from an ethical perspective so you can make medical decisions that are morally and scientifically sound.

Within the PMHNP specialization, you’ll study methods for treating and supporting patients with mental health problems. You will analyze the most common causes of mental disorders, including injury, trauma, infection, disease, and genetics. You can also learn how to approach psychiatric diagnoses using tools like behavioral assessments and diagnostic tests. Additionally, our program explores how to:

• Account for the cultural, legal, ethical, and socioeconomic factors that affect individuals and families seeking psychiatric help.
• Develop treatment plans and provide quality care to patients facing a variety of psychiatric mental health challenges.
• Make client-centered prescriptive decisions within the context of outcomes, safety, quality, and costs.
• Navigate challenges related to advocacy, policy, health promotion, and disease prevention.
• Use psychopharmacology to treat mental illness and disorders across the lifespan.

Featured Courses

• NURS 742 – Nursing Seminar: Issues in Global Health
• NURS 751 – Neurobiology and Differential Diagnosis of Mental Disorders
• NURS 752 – Clinical Psychopharmacology
• NURS 753 – Psychotherapeutic Theories, Frameworks, and Modalities

Course guides available upon request