This graduate certificate prepares students for the Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) role in advanced practice psychiatric nursing in a variety of clinical settings within the healthcare delivery system. Graduates will be eligible for prescriptive authority and are prepared to provide a variety of mental health services, including medication management and psychotherapy. Course and practice content focus on the assessment and management of serious mental illness.
Graduates of the PMHNP post-master’s certificate are eligible to sit for the Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner national certification examination given by the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC).
The certificate may be pursued on a part-time basis. Candidates must complete 23 graduate credits with a minimum GPA of 3.00 in coursework and no more than 3 credits with a grade of C. For students not already certified as a nurse practitioner, an additional 9 credits must be taken to prepare for certification eligibility.
Plan of Study
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Admission Requirements and Deadlines
- Applicants must meet the admission standards and application requirements specified in Graduate Admissions and must apply using the online Application for Graduate Admission.
- For application deadlines and detailed application requirements, refer to the Admissions page.
Tuition and Fees
- For information regarding tuition and fees, please visit the Student Accounts, Tuition and Fees website.
- It is important to note that Nursing programs require additional fees.
Scholarships and Financial Aids
- The College of Public Health and School of Nursing provides a number of scholarships to students of all levels. Explore scholarship opportunities and application deadlines from the College of Public Health's Scholarship page.
- For other scholarship opportunities available in the university, please visit the university's page.
- Finding more financial aid options for graduate students from the Graduate Costs and Aid page
Student Requirements
A current U.S.-issued RN license is required and must be submitted to the program before beginning nursing coursework. To ensure clinical agency requirements are met, proof of current immunizations or immunity, a criminal background check, and a current professional rescuer/BLS CPR card are required before the first clinical agency rotation. Additional information about these requirements will be provided upon acceptance to the program.
National Council of State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements
On October 17, 2014, the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) approved Virginia as a member state to participate in National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements (NC-SARA), and on September 8, 2016, George Mason University became an institutional participant in the NC-SARA initiative. With this membership, George Mason University programs are automatically available to students who reside in 49 participating states and U.S. territories that participate in NC-SARA. At present, only California has not yet joined the NC-SARA initiative. However, California law permits its students to enroll in out-of-state programs.
Read more Mason's authorization to provide distance education from the university's page.