Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP)
The Washburn University PMHNP Post-Graduate Certificate program prepares advanced practice nurses to deliver person-centered, evidence-based mental health care across the lifespan. Graduates are equipped to promote mental wellness, identify risk factors, and assess and manage psychiatric conditions in individuals, families and populations. PMHNPs provide care in diverse clinical settings using therapeutic approaches, pharmacologic treatments and non-pharmacologic interventions to support recovery and build resilience.
Why choose Washburn for your PMHNP certificate?
Washburn's fully online PMHNP Post-Graduate Certificate program offers flexible, high-quality education designed for working nurses. Our team collaborates with you to develop a clinical placement plan that is close and convenient to where you live.
Clinical experiences are supervised by experienced instructors and supported by qualified preceptors, ensuring comprehensive preparation for advanced psychiatric mental health practice. Graduates are eligible to apply for national board certification as a PMHNP through the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) or the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP).
You'll benefit from responsive, student success focused faculty who are committed to supporting your success throughout the program. We provide customized study plans based on your prior nursing education and licensure, whether you're an APRN, a certified nurse midwife or nurse anesthetist, a clinical nurse specialist or a master's or doctoral-prepared RN without APRN status.
Online advantage
All classes for the PMHNP program are offered online. Most classes are offered in a self-paced format that you can complete independently and submit assignment by specified due dates.
There are also a limited number of courses each semester that are conducted “live”. These classes meet virtually according to a pre-arranged schedule and provide an opportunity for you to interact with faculty and peers, and to share learning activities and presentations.
Virtual simulation
An example of the innovative approaches used by the PMHNP faculty in the School of Nursing was the creation of a virtual simulation to allow students to practice their psychiatric diagnostic interviewing skills. The simulation covers:
- Content Principles
- Interview Structure Fundamentals
- Process Principles
- History of Present Illness Assessment
- Assessment of Risk
- Review of Systems Assessment
- Social History
- Diagnostic Interviewing/Psychiatric ROS
- Mental Status Exam
Meet PMHNP graduates Althea Graham and Wendy Gibson
Althea Graham and Wendy Gibson live a combined 1,225 miles from the campus, but they’ve come to love Washburn University as students in the Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) program.
“I really enjoy this program,” said Graham, a family nurse practitioner in Maryland. “The professors are excellent. As an online experience, Washburn has been great. I 110 percent recommend this school to anyone who wants to come here.”
The completely online program is flexible and works with students to find clinical placements close and convenient to them. The post-graduate certificate prepares students to evaluate and treat people with psychiatric disorders.
“Washburn has a really strong reputation here in Kansas,” said Gibson, a healthcare professional in Salina. “Something that was really important to me is that the instructors are currently working in their fields, so their knowledge is current.”
Both students learned about Washburn from coworkers.
“One of the nurses we hired in the emergency department where I worked was exceptional,” Gibson said. “I thought to myself, if I can be half the nurse that she is, then I want to go where she went.”
Set for success
Average time to completion
4 semesters
PMHNP certification exam pass rate
94%
3-year average (2022-2024)
Student/faculty ratio
Clinical 10:1
Program cost
Costs include graduate credit-hour tuition, university administrative fees, selected software programs to document information for clinical placement and to support learning. Textbooks will be an additional charge and vary based on the course. Graduate students may be eligible for federal financial aid; grants and scholarships are offered as they are available.
The baccalaureate degree program in nursing, master’s degree program in nursing, Doctor of Nursing Practice program and post-graduate APRN certificate program at Washburn University are accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education.GET IN TOUCH WITH School of Nursing
School of Nursing
Petro Allied Health Center
1700 SW College Ave.
Topeka, KS 66621-1117
Phone & Fax
785.670.1525
Fax: 785.670.1032
