Use of Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner Students to Provide Services in Rural School-Based Health Clinics

Seventy to eighty percent of youth receiving mental health services receive these services in schools. Nurses have been identified as the second major provider of mental health services in the schools, yet little has been written about the role of psychiatric mental health nurses in rural school-based clinics or how they were trained in this role. This paper describes an innovative clinical experience for graduate students to shape the role of advanced psychiatric mental health nurses in rural, minority schools using evidence-based approaches. The authors describe the context, theoretical frameworks, role development, outcomes, and lessons learned.