Psychiatric-Mental Health Track
About
The University of Louisvilleās School of Nursing offers a comprehensive and competitive graduate psychiatric nursing program. The opportunities for advanced clinical practice in the area of psychiatric and mental health nursing are growing rapidly. This is a practice area experiencing a tremendous shortage across the country.
Career Opportunities
Healthcare is undergoing many changes, and one major advantage for Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioners (PMHNP)s lies in their ability to promote seamless health care delivery. More information about career opportunities...
Curriculum
The curriculum includes a combination of NP courses and track specific clinical courses that build on the general core.
These courses are the general core:
| Course Number |
Course Title |
Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|
| NURS 605 |
Foundations for Advanced Practice |
3 |
| NURS 606 |
Health Care Systems |
3 |
| NURS 609 |
Research Design and Professional Writing |
3 |
| NURS 651 |
Evidence Based Nursing for Advanced Practice |
3 |
| NURS 652 |
Statistics | 3 |
| NURS 654 |
Informatics in Health Care |
3 |
| NURS 657 |
Health Promotion and Illness Prevention Across the Lifespan |
3 |
The NP core curricula consists of the following in the PMHNP track:
| Course Number |
Course Title |
Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|
| NURS 600 |
Genetics | 2 |
| NURS 604 |
Transition to Practice |
2 |
| NURS 611 |
Nursing Pharmacology |
3 |
| NURS 653 |
Advanced Practice Roles |
2 |
| NURS 659 |
Lifespan Pathophysiology |
1 |
Track specific courses:
| Course Number |
Course Title |
Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|
| NURS 638 |
Advanced Psychiatric Assessment and Clinical Interviewing Techniques |
1 |
| NURS 641 | Advanced Psychiatric/Mental Health Practice I: PMH Nursing of Individuals, Families, Groups | 3 |
| NURS 642 |
Advanced Psychiatric/Mental Health Practice II: PMH Nursing of Individuals, Families, Groups | 3 |
| NURS 645 |
Advanced Clinical Psychiatric/Mental Health Practice I: Individuals, Families, Groups |
3 |
| NURS 646 |
Advanced Clinical Practice II: Psychiatric Nursing with Groups and Communities |
4 |
| NURS 647 |
Clinical Decision Making: Psychopathology Across the Lifespan |
2 |
| NURS 649 |
Psychopharmacology |
2 |
| NURS 656 |
Advanced Clinical Assessment |
3 |
Total credit hours for the PMHNP track equal 52.
Clinical
Our students are placed with preceptors for extensive supervised clinical practice focusing on various types of assessment and psychotherapeutic interventions as well as psychotropic medication evaluation and management. More information about clinical placement sites...
What Makes Us Stand Out ?
There are many reasons to consider the Psych-Mental Health Track at the University of Louisville School of Nursing. More on what makes the program unique...
Our Distinguished Faculty
We have an expert clinical faculty with many years of advanced practice, teaching, and research experience unlike any other program in the region. More on our distinguished faculty...
Quick Links
See a list of quick links to various psychiatric and mental health nursing information. More quick links...
Contact
Please contact the Office of Student Services at (502) 852-1196 for information on admissions and programs of study. Contact the Track Coordinator Dr. Debbie Thomas via email or 852-8392 for career or clinical information.

