Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Programs in South Carolina - SC

Becoming a mental health nurse practitioner requires a significant investment of time and energy, but will undoubtedly prove to be both rewarding and challenging. Today, psychiatric nurse practitioners in South Carolina are highly educated and authorized to undertake numerous medical responsibilities, even prescribing medicine. Often, nurse practitioner programs in South Carolina prepare nurses to serve as primary care psychiatric providers to the state’s population.

Mental health nurse practitioner programs in South Carolina involve obtaining a doctorate or Master of Science in Nursing with a psychiatric nurse practitioner specialization. The South Carolina Board of Nursing offers an extensive list of approved nursing programs. Included among these are online courses and other non-traditional schooling options. In general, your master’s program will include 45 contact hours of education in pharmacotherapeutics. South Carolina requires that 15 of these hours be in controlled substances if the nurse practitioner wishes to hold prescriptive authority.

South Carolina’s psychiatric nurse practitioner programs often work closely with the state’s best medical facilities. After graduating, students often pursue careers working for, or in association with, such facilities as Roper Hospital, Palmetto Health, Providence Hospital and Medical University of South Carolina. Occasionally, psychiatric nurse practitioners choose an educational career path, where they use their knowledge and expertise to instruct entry-level nurses.