Sacred Heart University's post-master's PMHNP certificate
Sacred Heart University's online post-master's PMHNP certificate adds psychiatric-mental health practice to a nursing master's in four courses: NU 509 Advanced Psychopharmacology, then three 180-hour practicums. Compliance is due by week 10 of NU 509, before any patient contact, and Sacred Heart's own pages disagree on the credits and the length. We find psychiatric preceptors for all three practicums while you are still in NU 509.
Plan three practicums at once
Tell us your admission term and where you practice.
What Sacred Heart's pages say, and where they differ
The certificate is described in several Sacred Heart sources, and their details do not all match. Read them side by side before you plan a schedule.
| Detail | What Sacred Heart says | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Credits | Not stated; no course table | 2026-27 graduate catalog |
| Credits | 21: NU 509 3, NU 571 6, NU 572 6, NU 573 6 | Certificate web page |
| Length | 15 months, part-time, four courses, cohort model | Certificate web page |
| Length | Four semesters | SHU Online FAQ |
| Course length | 16 weeks | Catalog |
| Clinical hours | 540 with a preceptor across NU 571, NU 572, NU 573 | Catalog, student guide, web page |
| Residency | One in-person residency per year | SHU Online FAQ |
| Start term | Not published on public pages | Ask admissions |
To be admitted you need a master's in nursing with at least a 3.0, an RN license without encumbrance in the state where you live (plus any APRN credentials you already hold) and prior advanced pathophysiology, health assessment and pharmacology. For credits and dates, the plan of study your academic advisor approves is the document to trust.
The path: NU 509, then three practicums
Everything turns on NU 509. It carries no clinical hours of its own, but its week 10 is your compliance deadline and its weeks are your window to secure the first preceptor. The NU 509 page covers the course itself.
| Step | Course | Hours | Clinical focus |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | NU 509 Advanced Psychopharmacology for the PMHNP | None listed | Compliance due by its week 10 |
| 2 | NU 571 Role Development for the PMHNP I | 180 | Adults, from late adolescence on: diagnosis, medication management, psychotherapy |
| 3 | NU 572 PMHNP II: Care of Children and Families | 180, with 100 or more under age 18 | Children, adolescents and families; crisis care and psychiatric emergencies |
| 4 | NU 573 PMHNP III: The PMHNP in Complex Systems | 180 | Older adults, couples, families; co-occurring medical and psychiatric illness |
For certificate students, the three practicums accept admission to the certificate with program director approval in place of the MSN's long prerequisite list. Each course, NU 509 included, carries the NP exam rule: a weighted exam average under 75 becomes the course grade.
Compliance by week 10 of NU 509
This is where the certificate parts company with the MSN. MSN PMHNP students have until week 10 of NU 552, well into their program. Certificate students must be fully compliant by week 10 of NU 509, the course taken before the first practicum, so the deadline arrives in your first term. Every item goes into your Health Account; the compliance page lists them.
- At admissionOrder the physical exam, TB test and CPR course, and confirm your RN license covers the state where you will train.
- Insurance and trainingArrange Nurse Practitioner Student Liability Insurance for the first clinical course and complete the Protecting Youth training.
- Connecticut sitesIf you will train in Connecticut, pass the CT Hospital Association Health & Safety Test with 85 or better.
- By November 1Upload the seasonal flu vaccine, or earlier if a site asks.
- Week 10 of NU 509Everything uploaded and accepted in the Health Account.
A common slip for working clinicians: assuming records held by an employer count. Sacred Heart reviews its own Health Account, so every item must be uploaded there.
Placement deadlines and the three searches
PMHNP placements, the certificate's included, are due by a date the Clinical Placement Team publishes to students; no dates appear on public pages. Ask your academic advisor for the NU 571 date while you are in NU 509, and expect it to come quickly. The deadline page explains how PMHNP dates differ from the FNP's week-10 rule.
Every practicum repeats the same approval chain: your academic advisor, then the MSN Online NP Programs Clinical Coordinator with the preceptor's documents, then the PM PMHNP Certificate Contract Request Form. Contracting a site that is new to Sacred Heart can run up to nine months, more than twice the length of a 16-week course, so the search belongs at admission.
NU 572 is the hardest of the three to fill, because at least 100 of its 180 hours must be with patients under 18. The PMHNP clinical hours page shows how the hours fall across the courses.
Preceptors for a practicing clinician
The student guide names MD, DO or APRN preceptors with board certification where appropriate, and Sacred Heart's PMHNP inquiry form adds licensed clinical social workers and licensed mental health counselors. The preceptor requirements page sorts out those differences. Relatives, spouses and anyone with a visible conflict of interest are off the list.
If you already work as an NP in another population, your professional network is an asset, since psychiatric colleagues in your own health system may be willing to host you. A workplace placement gets a close look, since the Contract Request Form covers your employment at the site and your ties to the preceptor. A preceptor from a partnering health system also needs that system's approval before Sacred Heart grants its own.
Residency, accreditation and state rules
The SHU Online FAQ lists one in-person residency per year for the certificate, while the catalog's certificate page mentions none. Residency is graded pass or fail, and dates are not posted on public pages, so confirm yours with your advisor early and protect the days before you set a clinic schedule. Plan the trip to campus in Fairfield, Connecticut around your work calendar as well.
CCNE accredited Sacred Heart's post-graduate APRN certificate, which covers the PMHNP track, with an initial date of November 5, 2025 and a term through June 30, 2031. The accreditation page has the detail.
The certificate shares the MSN PMHNP's licensure "No" list, Washington included, and New York is closed to NP clinical hours. See the disclosure table and the New York clinical rule.
Why PMHNP certificate students choose us
PMHNP certificate students choose us for thoroughness on a short clock: our search starts the moment you are admitted.
- Three psychiatric preceptors planned during
NU 509: adult care forNU 571, child and adolescent care forNU 572, complex systems forNU 573. - A
NU 572site with enough patients under 18 to reach 100 hours inside one 16-week course. - Credentials matched to the student guide before your advisor sees them.
- Contract details ready for the PM PMHNP Certificate Contract Request Form.
- Clinic days arranged around the job you already hold.
- A replacement preceptor search right away if anyone withdraws.
Every approval and contract remains Sacred Heart's decision, and its reviewers get a complete file from us at the first submission. Tell us your admission term through the form below.
Questions Sacred Heart students ask
Where are the PMHNP certificate's clinical forms?
The student guide points MSN PMHNP and post-master's PMHNP certificate students to the Grad Cert: Psych Mental Hlth Nurse Prac Clinical Requirements organization in Blackboard. It holds the process details and forms for approvals and the Contract Request Form. Check it at the start of NU 509 so your first request follows the current steps.
What happens if I fail a PMHNP practicum?
A failed practicum means a failed course, and failing any clinical practice component results in an F and dismissal from the program. A grade of 73 to 79 means repeating every component of the course, and a course may be repeated only once. Below 73, the course cannot be retaken. Finishing the required hours is part of passing.
How are PMHNP certificate students evaluated in clinicals?
Through E*Value. At midterm you complete a self-evaluation there, which then goes to your preceptor to finish. At the end, the preceptor summarizes your performance on the preceptor evaluation form. Sacred Heart also asks preceptors to give weekly feedback and to review and co-sign your documentation, so agree on that routine in week one.
Can a psychiatric NP I work with precept me?
Possibly, but expect questions. The Contract Request Form asks whether you work with the proposed preceptor in any capacity at your current job, and the student guide excludes preceptors where a conflict of interest may be evident. A direct supervisor is the likeliest concern. Raise the arrangement with your academic advisor before you ask the colleague to commit.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-25
We check these pages against Sacred Heart's own catalog, program pages and 2026-27 student guides. Your student guide, your academic advisor and your course faculty have the final word.
- Sacred Heart University 2026-27 Graduate Catalog, Post-Master's PMHNP Certificate
- Sacred Heart University Online, PMHNP Certificate program page
- Sacred Heart University, MSN and Post-MSN Certificate Online Student Guide 2026-27
- Sacred Heart University Online, FAQ
- Sacred Heart University, State Authorization, Disclosures and Student Complaints
Sacred Heart asks you to secure your clinical placement. We make that the easy part.
Tell us your Sacred Heart program, your city and your next clinical course. We find preceptors who fit the course and prepare what your advisor, the NP clinical coordinator and the Contract Request Form ask for, early enough for the affiliation agreement.
- Preceptors matched to the course: primary care of adults, women and children for FNP, psychiatric care across the lifespan for PMHNP
- Preceptor CV, license, board certification and the site's contract contact ready before your week-10 deadline
- Close to home in any state where Sacred Heart's program meets licensure requirements, with New York's rule planned around
Start your placement plan
Program, city and clinical start is all we need to begin.