Main content
School of Nursing celebrates accreditation for inaugural cohort of Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner program
Media Contact
Tricia Benson
Chief Engagement Officer
School of Nursing

The Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing at Emory University has earned accreditation for its novel Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) program from the South Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC). Post-BSN DNP candidates will have the opportunity to learn more about the mental health field and help close the current care gap.

The United States, but in particular the state of Georgia, faces a crisis-level shortage of qualified mental health professionals. The curriculum of the School of Nursing’s Psychiatric Mental Health program enables advanced practice nurses to develop exceptional clinical and leadership skills while acting as advocates for patients and their families.

“Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner graduates from our program will be uniquely qualified to meet the mental health needs of the most vulnerable among us and begin to close this devastating gap in health care,” states Dorothy Jordan, DNP, APRN, PMHNP-BC, PMHCNS-BC, FAAN, an associate professor and lead of Emory’s psychiatry and mental health nursing program.

Launching this fall, Jordan notes that the PMHNP program is precisely designed to teach the complex skills associated with mental health nursing and promote the core centrality of the nurse-client relationship. Students will learn evidence-based practice across the life span to provide exceptional psychiatric care to clients, families, and communities.

The Post-BSN to DNP PMHNP will cover best practices for the nurse-client relationship as well as a neurobiologically-informed approach to increasing core knowledge in the behavioral and biological disciplines. Students may explore potential areas of focus in various subdisciplines ranging from veteran mental health to addiction to geropsychiatry.

The inaugural cohort of PMHNP students will also benefit from the School of Nursing’s award-winning clinical and educational partnerships with the support of the clinical affairs placement coordinators.

For more information on the psychiatric and mental health programs at the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, visit https://www.nursing.emory.edu/program-details/psychiatric-mental-health.

About the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing 

Emory University's Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing produces nurse leaders who are transforming healthcare through science, education, practice, and policy. Graduates go on to become national and international leaders in patient care, public health, government, research, and education. Others become qualified to seek certification as nurse practitioners and nurse-midwives. The doctor of nurse practice (DNP) program trains nurse anesthetist and/or advanced leaders in healthcare administration. The school also maintains a PhD program in partnership with Emory's Laney Graduate School. For more information, visit https://www.nursing.emory.edu/ 

About SACSCOC
The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) is the body for the accreditation of degree-granting higher education institutions in the Southern states. It serves as the common denominator of shared values and practices primarily among the diverse institutions in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and Latin America and certain other international sites approved by the SACSCOC Board of Trustees that award associate, baccalaureate, master’s, or doctoral degrees. The Commission also accepts applications for membership from domestic institutions in the other 39 states, as well as international institutions of higher education around the world.


Recent News