Adtalem Global Education also produced more graduates with MSN Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner degrees in 2023 than the rest of the top 20 programs together.
At a time when 49% of Americans live in a mental health shortage area, Adtalem Global Education is stepping up to fill the gap with Master of Science in Nursing Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner programs. These online MSN-PMHNP degrees help prepare nurses to diagnose anxiety, depression, and other mental illnesses, and treat them with therapy and medications they prescribe.
Adtalem has more Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner students at the master’s degree level than the rest of the top 25 institutions that offer the program—combined—according to 2023 data from the American Association of Colleges of Nursing.
Explore this interactive pie chart of the institutions with the highest enrollment of Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner students, including Adtalem’s Walden University (No. 1) and Chamberlain University (No. 2).
Graduating Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioners
In 2023, Walden University conferred 1,842 in Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner master’s degrees, according to the AACN. That’s more than the rest of the top 20 programs by graduation combined. Chamberlain University celebrated its inaugural graduates in 2023, a total of 82.
One of those Chamberlain graduates is Christopher Wojnar, BSN ’18, MSN ’24. He is a professional nurse in Milwaukee, an international speaker, and mental health advocate.
Here, he shares how he intends to use his PMHNP to help support the well-being of nurses and other healthcare providers.
Supporting Individual Students Even at Scale
Even with the size of Adtalem’s online PMHNP programs, faculty and staff still provide a personal touch. Here Dr. Judi Kuric, associate dean of Walden’s nurse practitioner master’s program, shares the story of working with a student who was worried that the early arrival of her twins would derail her academic journey.
Mental Health Shortages in the U.S.
According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), one in five adults in the U.S. experienced mental illness in 2021. For one in 20, that mental illness was serious. Youth ages six to 17 experienced mental illness at a rate of 16.5%.
That puts a strain on providers, especially those who can prescribe and monitor medications, which includes psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioners and psychiatrists, according to NAMI. That strain is often felt in emergency rooms, when people in crisis seek help there.
Read how Adtalem is Meeting the Demand for Mental Health Care in Emergency Rooms.
Psychiatry is the third-most-sought after residency specialty for graduates of Adtalem’s American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine and Ross University School of Medicine. In 2024, 52 graduates matched into psychiatry residencies.
Nurse Practitioners Are in High Demand
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment of nurse practitioners and those in similar roles is projected to grow 38% by 2032, which is much faster than the average for all occupations.
For more information, email the Adtalem Global Communications Team: adtalemmedia@adtalem.com.
