The Doctorate of Nursing Practice program at Radford University has added a concentration in psychiatric mental health in collaboration with Shenandoah University.

The concentration will address a significant need for health care providers in the region who can address the mental health needs of the population.

Students completing this concentration will be able to sit for the Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) or the Psychiatric Mental Health Clinical Nurse Specialist (PMHCNS) certification exams.

The addition brings the total number of concentrations in the DNP program, which admitted its inaugural class in fall 2010, to four. The other concentrations are Adult Gerontology Clinical Nurse Specialist, Family Nurse Practitioner and Nurse Midwifery Initiative Courses. The nurse midwifery concentration is also administered in collaboration with Shenandoah University.

Radford University’s DNP degree is Virginia’s first online distance learning program leading to a doctoral degree in nursing. It is offered to both post-baccalaureate and post-master's degree nursing students.

The DNP degree is one of three recently established doctoral degree programs at Radford University.  The Doctor of Psychology (Psy.D.) degree program in counseling psychology accepted its first cohort of students in 2008, and the Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) degree program will accept its charter class this summer.

For more information on the DNP program, including admission requirements and deadlines, please visit www.dnp.radford.edu or contact Virginia Burggraf, graduate program coordinator for the School of Nursing, at (540) 831-7714 or vburggraf2@radford.edu.