Expanding rural access to mental health care through online postgraduate nurse practitioner education

Abstract

Background and purpose Workforce shortages in mental health care are especially relevant to rural communities. People often turn to their primary care providers for mental healthcare services, yet primary care providers indicate that more education is needed to fill this role. Rural primary care nurse practitioners (NPs) are ideal candidates for educational enhancement. Online programs allow NPs to continue living and working in their communities while developing the competencies to provide comprehensive and integrated mental healthcare services. This article presents a review of current online postgraduate psychiatric mental health NP (PMHNP) options. Methods Website descriptions of online PMHNP programs were located using keywords: PMHNP or psychiatric nurse practitioner, postgraduate or post‐master's, and distance or online. Conclusions Across the United States, 15 online postgraduate certificate programs were located that are designed for primary care NPs seeking additional PMHNP specialization. Implications for practice For rural primary care NPs who are ready, willing, and able, a postgraduate PMHNP specialty certificate can be obtained online in as few as three to four semesters. The expected outcome is a cadre of dually credentialed NPs capable of functioning in an integrated role and of increasing rural access to comprehensive mental healthcare services.

Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioners Meeting Rural Mental Health Challenges

“…Telepsychiatry services are generally covered in rural areas by commercial and federal payers (Finley & Shea, 2019). Telepsychiatry consultations can be feasibly adopted in established rural primary care settings; meanwhile, on-site primary care nurse practitioners can earn a postmaster certification in psychiatric mental health online to expand their practice for an integrated provider role without having them leave the rural setting for further education (Fortney et al, 2015; Kverno & Kozeniewski, 2016).…”

“…In the outpatient rural health setting, most people receive psychiatric care from their primary care provider due to a great shortage of psychiatric specialists and therapists (Kverno & Kozeniewski, 2016; Lynm & Bonham, 2013; RHI Hub, 2017e). Yet there is a lack of primary care providers in rural primary care as well, many of which lack comprehensive, in-depth mental health training (Petterson, Phillips, Bazemore, & Koinis, 2013).…”

Advanced Practice Registered Nurses Using Synchronous Telepsychiatry: An Integrative Systematic Review

“…Therefore, most people receive psychiatric care from their outpatient primary care provider, and psychotropic medication prescribing rates are steadily increasing in this setting (Olfson et al, 2014; RHI Hub, 2019). Yet, generally, primary care providers often do not have sufficient training for effective treatment of diverse mental illnesses, especially individuals with severe mental illness (Kverno & Kozeniewski, 2016; Lynm & Bonham, 2013; RHI Hub, 2019). While research and clinical practice collectively supports using integrated primary and mental health care for improved patient outcomes, lower costs, reduced reimbursement issues, and higher employee productivity and satisfaction, many challenges and barriers hinder their widespread adoption (Delaney et al, 2018).…”

Survey to child/adolescent psychiatry and developmental/behavioral pediatric training directors to expand psychiatric‐mental health training to nurse practitioners

“…At the present time, the only way to obtain additional training in both didactic and clinical, except for on‐the‐job training, is by earning an additional postgraduate certification in a Psychiatric‐Mental Health program. There are at least 15 online postgraduate programs with clinical rotations close to students’ geographical location, where possible, to prepare primary care NPs to gain additional certification in psychiatric and mental health (Kverno & Kozeniewski, ). The Adult Psychiatric & Mental Health Nurse Practitioner has been retired because it did not meet the APRN Consensus Model requirements for role and/or population foci (American Nurses Credentialing Center, ).…”

“…Those who earn a postmaster's certificate for the psychiatric mental health NP have the knowledge and competence to work in a variety of settings ranging from specialty behavioral health centers to primary care settings. Comorbid conditions may exist in children (Merikangas et al., ) and dually certified primary care NPs are better able to practice in a holistic fashion, addressing not only physical complaints but also more complicated mental health issues (Kverno & Kozeniewski, ).…”