Kent State Psychiatric Mental Health NP

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I applied for the PMHNP program and I was wondering if anyone has received their admission decision yet. I am anxious to begin the next chapter of my career!

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Specializes in Ortho, Med/Surg, Psych NP.

Hi j9eRN,

I had applied September 2011 and received admission status In March of 2012. I started the Family Psych and Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Program that fall. Nothing real special about my application. 3.2 BSN Cum. GPA. 1 year medical/surgical experience. Had some undergraduate teaching experience but probably insignificant to my admission. No GRE required which was and is nice. My graduation year will be spring 2014. There are 10 of us in my class. I am not sure how many are in other classes. And many students are part time and so every 4 month graduation cycle there is always a few new psych NPs graduating it seems. First semester is all online which is nice. My class is quite diverse. One of my classmates started right after his BSN program. Another is a FNP of 15 years getting a post masters certificate. Some students work in ICU, psych, OB, peds, med/surg. One even came from an accelerated RN with a bachelors in psychology. There is no "typical" psych NP student as we are all of diverse ages, ethnicity, experiences, and beliefs.

Expect to become a therapist first before a prescriber. Half of the practicum, or clinical experiences, will involve you conducting supervised psychotherapy. The rest will be learning about the medications and community outpatient culture. Some don't like this setup. I find it valuable and was unaware before starting. The professors are great. They have much experience, diverse training, and really support you as a student. It is a tough program. Anticipating dropping any work hours down. 20 is pushing it. I find one 12 hour shift a week is all I can handle with the course and clinical load. I can say that hard work pays off as I made a 3.7 GPA my first year when as I said earlier that my undergrad was a 3.2. If I could recommend a book for you to start reading if your goal is ultimately to work as a FPMHNP is Dr. Stahl's, "Stahl's Essential Psychopharmacology." This is the main text used in Kent's program for understanding the drugs and is a excellent foundation for learning the chemistry, theory, and details about these medications.

Please feel free to message me. I remember searching threads for information about Kent's program and having a hard time. Not to say that it isn't buried on here somewhere but that you often feel in the dark when there is so much information about the typical RN entry level programs and not much about specialty nursing education. Good luck, I hope you get in. I'd imagine you would find school as a rewarding experience and a paramount investment.

-Jarryd

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Specializes in critical care.

How many hours is the program?

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Specializes in critical care.

Does Kent State have student loans ?

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Specializes in ICU RN.
On 7/14/2013 at 6:20 AM, jdlunger1 said:

Hi j9eRN,

I had applied September 2011 and received admission status In March of 2012. I started the Family Psych and Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Program that fall. Nothing real special about my application. 3.2 BSN Cum. GPA. 1 year medical/surgical experience. Had some undergraduate teaching experience but probably insignificant to my admission. No GRE required which was and is nice. My graduation year will be Spring 2014. There are 10 of us in my class. I am not sure how many are in other classes. And many students are part time and so every 4 month graduation cycle there is always a few new psych NPs graduating it seems. First semester is all online which is nice. My class is quite diverse. One of my classmates started right after his BSN program. Another is a FNP of 15 years getting a post masters certificate. Some students work in ICU, psych, OB, peds, med/surg. One even came from an accelerated RN with a bachelors in psychology. There is no "typical" psych NP student as we are all of diverse ages, ethnicity, experiences, and beliefs.

Expect to become a therapist first before a prescriber. Half of the practicum, or clinical experiences, will involve you conducting supervised psychotherapy. The rest will be learning about the medications and community outpatient culture. Some don't like this setup. I find it valuable and was unaware before starting. The professors are great. They have much experience, diverse training, and really support you as a student. It is a tough program. Anticipating dropping any work hours down. 20 is pushing it. I find one 12 hour shift a week is all I can handle with the course and clinical load. I can say that hard work pays off as I made a 3.7 GPA my first year when as I said earlier that my undergrad was a 3.2. If I could recommend a book for you to start reading if your goal is ultimately to work as a FPMHNP is Dr. Stahl's, "Stahl's Essential Psychopharmacology." This is the main text used in Kent's program for understanding the drugs and is a excellent foundation for learning the Chemistry, theory, and details about these medications.

Please feel free to message me. I remember searching threads for information about Kent's program and having a hard time. Not to say that it isn't buried on here somewhere but that you often feel in the dark when there is so much information about the typical RN entry level programs and not much about specialty nursing education. Good luck, I hope you get in. I'd imagine you would find school as a rewarding experience and a paramount investment.

-Jarryd

Hello there,

I am a BSN RN in California looking to do a PMHNP online program with clinicals in CA and/or Hawaii...it looks like Kent state does allow it but I want to make sure before I apply.  Anyone already pave the way in CA or HI? 

Thanks,

Julie

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