NAU's PMHNP graduate certificate: two tracks, one in-person practicum
Northern Arizona University's Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Graduate Certificate runs to 23 units if you already practice as a nurse practitioner and 36 if you hold a nursing master's without the NP role. Both tracks hinge on NUR 680, the in-person psychiatric practicum, taken at 9 or 13 units. NAU lists the certificate at one year online, and its licensure table treats it differently from the MS in one state, Kansas.
Find your NUR 680 preceptor
Tell us your track, your town and your practicum term. Your placement advisor replies with psychiatric settings near you.
The two tracks side by side
The 2025-26 catalog and NAU's 2026-27 program-of-study form list the same two routes through the certificate. In both, NUR 680 is the only clinical course; everything else is classroom work delivered online.
| Nurse practitioner track | Non-NP MSN track | |
|---|---|---|
| Who it serves | MSN nurses already practicing as NPs | MSN nurses who are not NPs |
| Total units | 23 | 36 |
| Advanced foundation courses | None required | NUR 520, NUR 540, NUR 650 |
| PMHNP courses | NUR 653 through NUR 658, 14 units | NUR 653 through NUR 658 |
NUR 680 practicum | 9 units | 13 units |
The non-NP track's extra 13 units come from the three foundation courses plus four more units of practicum. The catalog also says a certificate student may not pursue the MS PMHNP emphasis at the same time, so pick the route that matches the master's you hold; the MS PMHNP page covers the degree version.
What in-person engagement means here
Of all NAU's NP programs, this one carries the plainest in-person language. The catalog page says the certificate was designed for practicing nurses and that it "requires in-person engagement in NUR 680, as well as engagement in direct patient care environments." The course list repeats the flag beside NUR 680, and the live college page carries the same words.
What NAU leaves unpublished is the logistics: where the in-person time takes place, how many visits it involves, and whether it all happens at your clinical site. Plan for a practicum in a working psychiatric care setting, budget for some travel, and ask your program coordinator early what the in-person piece looks like for your term. The course itself, its units and its description are on the NUR 680 guide.
Estimating the practicum hours
NAU prints no hour total for either track. Its graduate practicums run at 60 hours per unit, which is how the FNP tables arrive at 180 hours for three units and 300 for five. Applied to NUR 680, that ratio suggests about 540 hours on the 9-unit NP track and about 780 on the 13-unit non-NP track. Both numbers are our estimates, not NAU figures.
The NP track raises a further question. Whether NAU counts clinical hours from your first NP program toward the PMHNP role, and how, is not documented anywhere public. Ask your program coordinator how many new hours you owe and whether any earlier hours are reviewed, and get the answer in writing before you build a schedule with a preceptor. The clinical hours page compares every NAU program's numbers.
The 540 and 780 figures are estimates from NAU's 60-hours-per-unit ratio. Confirm your certificate's actual hour requirement before you commit a preceptor to a schedule.
Kansas and the licensure table
NAU's professional licensure table marks the PMHNP certificate Does Not Meet in eight states: Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas and Wisconsin. The MS PMHNP and both FNP programs fail only the last seven, so Kansas is this certificate's own answer.
The Kansas answer is recent. The March 2026 capture of the table showed Meets for the certificate there; by the May 2026 capture it read Does Not Meet, while the MS PMHNP kept Meets for Kansas. Utah moved the opposite way in the same window, from Does Not Meet to Meets for both PMHNP programs. The live table prints no date and NAU's policy has program leaders review it each year, so read it again before you enroll and whenever you relocate. The Kansas guide collects that state's rules.
Enrolling from a Does Not Meet state
NAU's Professional Licensure Disclosure Statements policy, effective April 1, 2026, sets the rule. A licensure program has to satisfy Arizona's educational requirements and then either satisfy those of the state where you are located when you first enroll or obtain your attestation that you intend to seek employment in another state.
The notices are automatic. Prospective distance students located where a program does not meet receive a disclosure email from NAU's student system before enrolling, and enrolled distance students are told within 14 calendar days when a state's answer changes to Does Not Meet. If you live in Kansas and plan to practice there, talk with graduate advising before you apply. The licensure disclosure page explains the whole table.
Preceptors for the certificate practicum
The only NAU placement procedure anyone can still read is the FNP one, in which the student suggests a preceptor on the Green Form and the program coordinator approves; the APRN handbook that would show the PMHNP version is no longer posted. The Arizona standard for who may precept is settled, though. It asks for an unencumbered license in the preceptor's own practice state, at least one year working as a physician or APRN, a population focus comparable to yours and, for nurse preceptors, current national or Board certification matching the PMHNP role.
For a PMHNP student that describes a psychiatrist or a psychiatric NP holding that certification, working where patients are seen directly. If you hope to train where you already work, NAU's FNP guidelines require an affiliation agreement even at a student's own employer, and it is wise to expect the same for NUR 680; the workplace practicum page lists what to check.
Why PMHNP certificate students choose us
A certificate that runs about a year leaves little slack for a slow preceptor search. Because NUR 680 must be done in person, we look for psychiatric preceptors close to where you live, and we check each one against R4-19-502 before you hear a name. We collect the CV, license and board certification and confirm the site's approval, so the request you send is complete.
Together we confirm with your program coordinator how and when PMHNP requests are filed this year, flag affiliation agreements early, and stay available for the whole practicum. If a preceptor withdraws, we move straight to a replacement. NAU keeps final approval; we make the request straightforward to approve. Use the form below to start.
Questions NAU students ask
Who is NAU's PMHNP certificate designed for?
NAU's Degree Search describes it as designed for licensed nurse practitioners and advanced practice nurses, yet the 2025-26 catalog also offers a 36-unit path for master's-prepared nurses who are not NPs, and the 2026-27 program-of-study form keeps both tracks. Graduate nursing advising can confirm which track your license and degree put you on.
Do I need an Arizona RN license for the PMHNP certificate?
The 2025-26 catalog says anyone applying for fall 2026 or later must hold an active RN license issued for Arizona or a multistate compact license. NAU's clinical rules add that your license must be good in whichever state hosts your clinical hours, so training outside Arizona and the compact states may mean adding that state's license. See RN license rules.
How long is NAU's PMHNP certificate?
Degree Search lists one year, online, and gives a single figure for both tracks. NAU publishes no separate term plan for the 23-unit and 36-unit routes, so the program of study you receive at admission sets the order of courses and the terms in which you carry NUR 680.
Is the PMHNP certificate accredited?
Yes. NAU's program accreditation table lists the Post-Graduate PMHNP Graduate Certificate among the nursing programs accredited by CCNE, with the next review shown for 2028. Institutionally, NAU's Higher Learning Commission accreditation comes up for reaffirmation in 2027-28, with the on-site visit set for September 2027.
When does NAU take PMHNP certificate applications?
The certificate page still says the PMHNP application is open for fall 2024, wording from a 2024 update, and no current cycle is posted elsewhere. The certificate itself began in Fall 2023. Ask graduate nursing advising for the present window, and begin preceptor planning as soon as you are admitted.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-27
We check these pages against Northern Arizona University's own catalog, program pages and published nursing documents. Your program coordinator and course faculty have the final word.
- Northern Arizona University catalog 2025-26: PMHNP Graduate Certificate (archived)
- Northern Arizona University College of Nursing: PMHNP graduate certificate
- Northern Arizona University: PMHNP Graduate Certificate program of study 2026-27
- Northern Arizona University: professional licensure by state
- Northern Arizona University policy: Professional Licensure Disclosure Statements
NAU welcomes a preceptor you arrange. We arrange one close to home.
Tell us your NAU track, your town and your next practicum. We line up preceptors who fit the course and Arizona's preceptor rule, confirm the site's approval, and gather the CV, license and certification the Green Form needs, well before NAU's cutoff.
- Preceptors matched to the course: all-ages family primary care for FNP, psychiatric settings for PMHNP
- License, experience and certification checked against the rule NAU applies, before the Green Form goes in
- All three FNP practicums planned together, near home instead of a long drive away
Start your placement plan
Track, town and next practicum is all we need to begin.