Cultivating Advanced Skills for Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse Practitioners to Care for Adults and Their Families 

The online Adult Psychiatric/Mental Health nurse practitioner track is designed to prepare students to provide a wide range of mental health services through a bio-psychosocial model of care. It includes the study and application of diagnostic and treatment modalities, theories and approaches to practice. Students learn collaborative skills to work with other healthcare professionals to provide mental healthcare services in all settings; the program enables graduates to deliver direct (assessment, intervention) and indirect advanced practice services (consultation, case management and supervision) to individuals who are at risk for and/or require mental health services.

This is a high-quality program that demands a major time commitment by advanced practicing nursing students. Because students are being trained to diagnose and treat patients, the online Master’s program was designed to combine the convenience of online learning with the necessary rigor to become a highly-competent, confident and advanced nurse practitioner upon graduation. Thus, while most courses are offered online, some facets of the program do require on-campus visits and a clinical practicum rotation in one of eight states (listed below).

Drexel’s adult Psychiatric/Mental Health MSN program is a 55-credit graduate track with a 640 clinical hour requirement. Clinical practicum courses consist of two parts: didactic lectures and clinical practicum rotations that run concurrently. The didactic lectures are held once a week online for three hours. Each clinical practicum course has a required 160 total clinical hours. Students typically complete two eight-hour clinical days each week (no weekend or evening hours).

Upon completion of the program, students are eligible for Adult Psychiatric/Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Certification through ANCC.

On-Campus Requirements 

The Nurse Practitioner Faculty is committed to quality and excellence in the online Nurse Practitioner (NP) programs. Campus visits are essential to maintain the preeminence of these degrees.

Students are required to be on campus once per quarter starting with the NURS 550: Advanced Physical Assessment and Diagnostic Reasoning course and throughout all clinical practicum courses, including NURS 592, 593, 594 and 595.

On Drexel’s campus, students will participate in simulated clinical learning experiences conducted in CNHP’s new state-of-the-art multidisciplinary patient simulation lab.

Residency visits afford faculty the opportunity to provide students with direct support, guidance, and mentoring. They provide students with the opportunity to interact with faculty and collaborate with their peers. 

Key Program Features:  

• Synchronous online lectures are offered in a highly interactive, e-learning method that challenges and engages students.
• Fully accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE), One Dupont Circle NW, Suite 530, Washington, DC 20036. (202) 887-6791.
• An experienced and board certified faculty from Drexel’s acclaimed College of Nursing and Health Professions 
• Mandatory on-campus visits:
• NURS 550 – Advanced Physical Assessment and Diagnostic Reasoning
• Clinical Orientation coincides with the last day of the NURS 550 on-campus visit.
• NURS 592 PMHNP I – 5-day Summer Residency
• NURS 593 PMHNP II – 2-day Fall Simulation Experience
• NURS 594 PMHNP III – 2-day Winter Simulation Experience
• NURS 595 PMHNP IV – 5-day Spring Residency

For additional information on the program, please contact: 

Track Coordinator:
Dorit Breiter, DNP, ARNP, PMHNP-BC
dgb33@drexel.edu 

 Academic Advisor:
Gladys Clapano-Mozdzonek, BA 
215-762-8564
Gc346@drexel.edu 

*Please note the Consensus Model for APRN Regulation was released in 2008 to provide a uniform approach to advanced practice licensure, accreditation, certification, and education with a target date of 2015 for full implementation. Subsequently, the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties adopted the term “ population focus” to describe the scope of preparation for nurse practitioners. The new recognized population foci include across the lifespan Psychiatric and Mental Health Nurse Practitioner under which the Adult Psychiatric and Mental Health Nurse Practitioner falls.  

As a result, the American Nurse Credentialing Center announced the upcoming title change from “Adult Psychiatric and Mental Health Nurse Practitioner” to “Family Psychiatric and Mental Health Nurse Practitioner” and is creating a new exam to reflect the new competencies that is expected to launch in 2013. The Adult Psychiatric and Mental Health Nurse Practitioner exam will then be retired and all students will need to meet the requirements of the new exam.  Current Adult Psychiatric and Mental Health Nurse Practitioners will maintain their certification, but if their certification lapses they will have to meet the new criteria to be able to sit for the “Family Psychiatric and Mental Health Nurse Practitioner” exam.  

Therefore, Drexel’s Adult Psychiatric and Mental Health Nurse Practitioner program is undergoing a curricular revision to become compliant with the new requirements. The revised curriculum is anticipated to be approved and in place by 2013.  

Current students will be notified in writing once the proposed curriculum is approved and the impact of the changes on their individual course of study.  

*Please note:  We do not accept New York residents into this program due to the clinical requirements. 

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