Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Programs in Georgia - GA

The Georgia Board of Nursing defines advanced practice nurses as those who have met the educational, certification, and practice requirements- as specified by the Georgia Board of Nursing- necessary to provide primary patient care.  Advanced practice nurses, or APNs, can be certified nurse midwives, nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists (CNS), and certified registered nurse anesthetists among others recognized by the board.

In some states, psychiatric nurse practitioners are known as CNSs in psychiatric/mental health (PMH) Georgia is among these states, so the psychiatric nurse practitioner programs in Georgia may be referred to as CNS – PMH programs.

As a licensed registered nurse (RN) in Georgia, you can only practice as a CNS–PMH when you obtain authorization from the state to do so. In order to obtain such authorization, you have to comply with the following criteria:

• Graduate level education in psychiatric – mental health (master’s degree or higher)
• Currently active Georgia RN license
• Active national certification as CNS–PMH

Currently, the application fee for state authorization is $60 (source: www. sos.georgia.gov)

There are numerous approved master’s level programs available in Georgia’s university campuses. RNs from some of the state’s best hospitals including the Atlanta Medical Center, DeKalb Medical at North Decatur, Grady Memorial Hospital, and WellStar Kennestone Hospital are opting to pursue these programs.  Online programs that typically offer more flexibility for today’s busy professional are also available.