Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Residency Program

The PMHNPs will advance from novice to competent psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners while developing competencies in Veterans' health care needs. Through mentored clinical experiences and professional development activities, PMHNPs will be prepared to provide mental health services for the veteran population.

Through the completion of this 12-month Post-Graduate Training Program, the PMHNPs will:

1. Gain tremendous experience in the management of Veterans with complex mental health conditions;
2. Hone critical thinking and diagnostic skills; and
3. Enhance leadership skills.

Program Structure

This 12-month Post-Graduate Training Program is divided into two three-month blocks of clinical rotation assignments. Each learner will be assessed based on previous academic and clinical experiences and interests to determine their clinical rotation schedules. Every effort is made to assign a set of clinical rotations that will balance the PMHNPs' interests and needs to ensure a broad range of clinical experiences at the outset of the program. The program directors will meet with the PMHNPs to determine training needs and interest.

Didactic Education

The PMHNPs will typically engage in eight hours of didactic experience per week in addition to 32 hours of clinical experience per week. The weekly didactic experiences will be drawn from existing regular educational offerings, case presentations, and grand rounds at the Duke and Durham VA Health Care Systems. These didactic experiences will facilitate the PMHNPs meet the specific components within the psychiatric nurse practitioner residency program core domains.

Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Residency Program Faculty

Durham VA Health Care System, Duke School of Nursing and Duke School of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Affiliated Faculty

• Michael Zychowicz
• Bich-Tuyen Nguyen
• Paul Riordan

Eligibility

To be eligible, students must:

• Be a graduate of an accredited psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner (PMHNP) program within the past twelve months
• Hold a master's degree or higher.
• Be board certified as a PMHNP.
• Be licensed as a NP in the state of North Carolina