Mary Baldwin University is launching a new Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner program, as a direct response to growing mental healthcare needs in rural communities.
The program, which is being offered through the Murphy Deming College of Health Sciences, will prepare advanced practice nurses to diagnose, treat and support patients with mental health conditions across a range of clinical settings, including outpatient and inpatient psychiatric care, pediatric mental health, substance abuse treatment, sexual assault response and telehealth services.
“As demand for mental health services continues to grow, rural communities are feeling the impact in very real ways,” said Shelia Talbott, the recently appointed vice president, dean and chief nursing officer at Murphy Deming. “You find in practice that about 50 percent of your patients have a mental health need. It’s not unusual for a patient in our area to be referred to a mental health clinician and have to wait six months.”
According to the Rural Health Information Hub, the 2024 National Survey on Drug Use and Health identified that 7.2 million nonmetropolitan adults reported having any mental illness in 2024, accounting for 22.9 percent of nonmetropolitan adults; 1.7 million, or 5.5 percent, of adults in nonmetropolitan areas reported having serious thoughts of suicide during the year.
The problem here being: access to mental healthcare is a challenge in rural areas, with chronic shortages of mental health professionals in many rural areas, forcing rural residents to have to travel long distances to receive services.
“One of our clinical partners is Augusta Health,” Talbott said. “We sat down to wonder, How can MBU serve our community? This was the biggest need that all of our local and regional partners identified.”
The new MBU program will allow nurses with associate degrees to complete an RN-to-BSN pathway while pursuing their first master’s degree. BSN-prepared nurses can enter directly into the master’s-level PMHNP track.
Advanced practice nurses who already hold a master’s degree may pursue a post-master’s certificate to become certified psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners.
Talbott said the goal is to prepare nurses who want to remain connected to the communities most affected by gaps in care.
“Really, we’re looking for that student that wants to make a difference in their community — to serve that community with mental health needs,” she said.
The program’s clinical model reflects the realities of modern rural healthcare delivery. Students will rotate through diverse clinical settings, including outpatient clinics, inpatient facilities, pediatric placements, and telehealth environments.
In addition to partnerships in Virginia, MBU will support students completing placements in Maryland, West Virginia and North Carolina.
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Chris Graham
