SON Home | UW Home | MyUW | UW Bothell | UW Tacoma | HealthLinks | Contact the School | Search SON | Internal Headlines | Briefly | From the Deans Desk New Mental Health Certificate Includes Distance Learning Nurse practitioners in primary care are reporting that large numbers of patients in their caseloads are experiencing psychiatric problems. Meanwhile, advanced practice psychiatric nurses and others trained as mental health professionals are seeing more clients with physical disorders. A new Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) Post-Masters Certificate is addressing these issues with a program that will help nurses with a master’s degree in nursing update their skills in physical assessment, diagnostic reasoning and knowledge of new pharmacology. Coursework conforms to the updated requirements for the national nurse practitioner certification examination in psychiatric mental health nursing and may be taken either on the Seattle campus or through distance learning enhancements in Olympia or Port Angeles, two rural communities where resources for mental health services are far fewer than in urban areas. Nursing faculty who worked to develop the certificate program – Dr. Mary Durand Thomas and Dr. Frederica O’Connor – note that much has changed in mental health over the past 25 years. Until recently, say these mental health experts, the trend in health care was to be highly specialized. But today, according to Thomas, "We recognize the connectedness of many processes that influence human health." More information about either the post-masters certificate program or the masters program preparing PMHNPs is available on the School of Nursing website, www.son.washington.edu, or by sending an email to roc@u.washington.edu. Nursing faculty will help applicants plan the specific courses needed to supplement their education. Return to Headlines Headlines | Briefly | From the Deans Desk   Copyright © 2008 University of Washington 1959 NE Pacific Street, Seattle, Washington 98195