Curriculum
Examine the Curriculum
Our curriculum prepares graduates for psychiatric mental health care practice across the life span in acute psychiatric care hospitals, clinics, and behavioral health care settings, including private practice.
The curriculum is three years (full time).
We offer a curriculum plan for students that do not have one year (1800 hours) of RN experience. Students will be required to complete the 1800 hours of RN employment by the end of the first year in the program. If students do not fulfill the RN work requirement, they will not be allowed to move on to the second year of the program.
Please review the curriculum plans below:
Doctor of Nursing Practice PMHNP Program Curriculum
- For applicants that have one year RN Experience. The curriculum grid appears on page 113.
- For applicants that do not have one year RN Experience. The curriculum grid appears on page 116.
Hybrid/Online Curriculum for Working Professionals
Self-directed hybrid/online courses include assignments, exams, and online discussions where you will collaborate with faculty to achieve learning objectives in the curriculum.
Seminars will include two synchronous/virtual intensives each semester with one time per year on campus in July each year for competency assessment. The schedule includes clinical skill-building labs and testing, selected clinical experiences with faculty, lectures, student presentations and content assessments across the curriculum. To view the start/end semester dates and when you need to be on campus, please visit our Academic Calendar.
Clinical Experiences and Practice Hours are an integral part of the DNP/PMHNP curriculum. To learn more, please visit the DNP/PMHNP Clinical Experiences page.
Students are required to attend two mandatory synchronous/live orientation sessions during Welcome Week. In addition, students will be required to complete the asynchronous/online orientation course via the college learning management system. Students must accept their seat offer and pay the admission deposit before taking the course. Students will have 4 to 5 weeks to complete this course during the summer term prior to fall term matriculation. The completion of this course is required to register for the first semester of the first year. Students will work through all self-paced, asynchronous modules which will provide orientation to the resources and skills needed to successfully navigate through the students’ academic program. There is no tuition cost charged for this course and no grade is given for this course. Successful completion of this course requires the completion of all modules and associated knowledge checks, which can be taken as many times as needed to pass. Students will be provided with information on how to access the orientation course via email from college administration.
Caring about students and helping them achieve success is the hallmark of all WesternU faculty. Our nursing faculty are respected practitioners and scholars who keep pace with the latest teaching techniques and technology and are committed to helping you advance competency throughout your learning experiences.
The College of Graduate Nursing staff are also a great resource when it comes to your everyday support. Although you are studying at a distance, we work hard to connect with you to ensure you are on track to succeed in your courses and finish in a timely fashion.
The Harriet K. and Philip Pumerantz Library and Bookstore are set up to support our students with textbook and academic research needs while the Computing Resources/Information Technology staff are available to our distance students for technical support. Electronic databases are available both on-campus and off-campus through the Library’s e-resources page.
The Office of Learning Enhancement & Academic Development Office (LEAD) is another resource for on-campus and prospective students. LEAD helps students connect academic success with wellbeing. In individual counseling sessions, students learn time management, test taking, and studying strategies. LEAD facilitates training in managing stress, increasing focus, and professional skills. Also, LEAD offers academic writing support including review of APA formatting for scholarly papers.