Nursing Licensure
This program prepares nurses who have completed an advanced practice registered nurse (APRN) graduate education program from a nationally accredited school of nursing for an additional advanced practice specialty certification. APRN eligibility differs across states and may require a specialty certification. Specialty certifications are acquired through national exams that do not vary by state. For information on individual state's requirements, visit the National Councils of State Boards of Nursing website.
As of July 1, 2020, the U.S. Department of Education implemented Regulation 34 CFR 668.43 (a) (5) (v) that requires professional nursing programs to provide information on how their curriculum meets education requirements for professional licensing in each state. You may review KU School of Nursing's information on licensure by state.
Formerly known as Family Psychiatric–Mental Health Nurse Practitioner, this exam allows Nurse Practitioners to become Board Certified to work in a variety of settings and care for mental health patients of all ages. You must complete the requisite academic program and training, candidates are able to take the Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner exam to become certified. Below, you will find all you need to review and prep for the PMHNP exam. Have you already failed the PMHNP? It’s okay, there are second chances, and we guarantee that–with our help– you won’t fail a second time!
What Are the Eligibility Requirements?
To be eligible to take the exam, you will need a valid registered nurse license, graduate degree (master’s or higher) from a psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner academic program accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) or the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission (NLNAC) with at least 500 clinical hours.
What is the Application Process?
You can apply anytime either by submitting an application online or via mail. You will need to submit official transcripts with your application and take the exam within 90 days of receiving your exam authorization.
What is the Exam Fee?
The fee to take the Psychiatric and mental health nurse certification exam is $395 for non-members and $295 for members of the American Nurses Association.
What Is the Exam Format?
The exam is delivered via computer and offered year-round at authorized testing centers. You will have four hours to complete the 175 questions that make up the exam. Your score will be based on 150 of the questions. The additional 25 questions are evaluated as pretest questions. They are distributed randomly throughout the exam so you must answer every question. There is no penalty for an incorrect answer. It cannot hurt to guess if you’re not sure which answer is correct.
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How Is the Exam Scored?
You will receive your test results at the test center immediately after completing the test. Results are reported as pass or fail. In cases of failure, score reports include information on performance on each content area of the exam.
What Do You Need on Exam Day?
You will need valid identification with photo and signature. You may not bring any personal items into the test center. This includes cell phones or any electronic devices, purses, bags, notebooks, calculators, food, and water. You should plan to arrive at the test center at least 15 minutes before your scheduled exam time. You will have time to become familiar with the computer system prior to the start of the exam.
What is the Content of the Exam?
PMHNP Exam questions are distributed across the following five domains:
- Scientific Foundation 20% of your total score – 30 questions total
- Advanced Practice Skills 25% of your total score – 38 questions total
- Diagnosis and Treatment 25% of your total score – 37 questions total
- Psychotherapy and Related Theories 15% of your total score – 22 questions total
- Ethical and Legal Principles 15% of your total score – 23 questions total
Under this first domain of the Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner exam you will be evaluated on your advanced knowledge of the following:
- Pathophysiology
- Pharmacology
- Psychopharmacology
- Neurodevelopment
- Neuroanatomy
- Neurophysiology
- Psychogenomics
You will also be tested on your skills to perform the following task(s):
- Advanced physical assessment
Advanced Practice 25%
Under this next domain of the Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner exam, your capability to perform the following Advanced Practice Skills will be evaluated:
- Clinical interviewing
- Health promotion and disease prevention
- Mental health screening tool selection and interpretation
- Mental status exam
- Psychiatric emergency management
- Psychoeducation
- Recovery and resilience promotion
- Risk assessment
- Screening tool selection and interpretation for substance use
Psychotherapy and Related Theories 25%
On the third domain of the Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner exam, your knowledge regarding the following theories will be tested:
- Psychotherapy principles (e.g., cognitive, grief and loss)
- Change theories (e.g., Transtheoretical Model, motivational interviewing)
- Developmental theories
- Family theories (e.g., structural, narrative)
- Therapeutic alliance development and management (e.g., empathy, boundaries, psychotherapy facilitation, trauma-informed approach)
Next, your skills regarding the application of the above theories will be evaluated:
Ethical and Legal Principles 15%
The last domain of the Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner exam is weighted the lowest at only 15% of your total score. The knowledge that will be tested consists of the following topic areas:
- Patient’s Bill of Rights
- Scope of confidentiality
- ANA Scope and Standards of Practice: Psychiatric-Mental Health Nursing
- Cultural and spiritual competence
- Ethics in clinical decision-making
- Patient advocacy
The associated ethical and legal skill applications that will be tested are:
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What’s the Best Way to Prepare for the Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Exam?
The 175 questions you will face on the exam cover a broad spectrum of content. You should prepare strategically so you’ll be ready. The experts at Mometrix have created two products to help you to meet the challenge. The Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Exam Secrets Study Guide and the Nurse Practitioner Exam Flashcards are carefully researched and designed to serve as your roadmap to success on exam day. These tools not only reinforce the content you have learned in your coursework but also teach you how to apply that knowledge while using proven test-taking strategies. The Exam Secrets Study Guide includes practice test questions and essential fact sheets to help you use your study time most effectively. A companion to the Guide, the Flash Cards Study System is an easily portable tool for on-the-go study of the most critical information for the exam. Together, these two study aids will help you prepare strategically and succeed with confidence on exam day.
Online PMHNP Prep Course
If you want to be fully prepared, Mometrix offers an online Psychiatric and Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Prep Course. The course is designed to provide you with any and every resource you might want while studying. The PMHNP Course includes:
- Review Lessons Covering All the Topics
- 700+ PMHN Practice Questions
- More than 500 Electronic Flashcards
- Money-back Guarantee
- Free Mobile Access
- and More!
The PMHNP prep Course is designed to help any learner get everything they need to prepare for their PMHNP exam; click below to check it out.
- PMHNP Online Course
Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Study Guide
Mometrix Academy is a completely free resource provided by Mometrix Test Preparation. If you find benefit from our efforts here, check out our premium quality Family Psychiatric & Mental Health Nurse Practitioner study guide to take your studying to the next level. Just click the Family Psychiatric & Mental Health Nurse Practitioner study guide link below. Your purchase also helps us make even more great, free content for test-takers.
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NP Family PMH Study Guide Customer Success Stories
Our customers love the tutorial videos from Mometrix Academy that we have incorporated into our NP Family PMH test study guide. The NP Family PMH study guide reviews below are examples of customer experiences.
The products are readers friendly with concise explanations. The flash card is portable and can be carried with me anywhere I go.
NP Family PMH Study Guide – David
I've taken several PMHNP review courses recently and this study guide provided me with additional study essentials in the "Test Taking Tips", "General Strategies" and "Secret Keys" sections. The study guide provided both a succinct review of familiar material and also included new information I didn't have in my Post-Graduate program or other review courses! The exam review provided refreshing new questions with thorough explanations. It's definitely a valuable resource to include in preparation for the certification exam. The online resources were also relevant material for the advanced practice nurse to use. I highly recommend it!
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I thought the information in this study guide was helpful and comprehensive. I was surprised with the amount of material that was covered, and it was more than I expected.
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I purchased the Family Psychiatric & Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Exam Secrets (printed book) and the Family Psychiatric & Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Flashcards to assist me with my midterm and final examinations and ultimately my Board certifications. They have been great resources so far enabling me to be successful in all my courses. I bought these same products for my Psychiatric Nurse Certification in 2012 and I passed those 175 questions with no effort even though I was engaged in my Masters in Nursing Education curriculum at the same time. These products did it for me, they will do it for you. All contents are relevant. Thanks to Mometrix, I am board certified in Psychiatry and will be a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner soon.
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NP Family PMH Study Guide – Laura
This book gave a great overview of all material studied throughout multiple years in nurse practitioner school in a condensed version. It allowed me to study this material in a methodical way to cover all areas needed for the exam. I really enjoyed the review questions with rationale section to practice these type of questions before taking the certification exam. I really thought this was a helpful resource.
NP Family PMH Study Guide – Ashley
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