Advanced Training in Child and Adolescent Mental Health: A Course Redesign for Tri-Service Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioners

Introduction As healthcare providers address the growing child and adolescent mental health (CAMH) crisis, the need for population-specific curriculum has increased. This need is especially pressing in military contexts, where service members face distinct stressors that impact the mental health of children and adolescents. In response, we developed and revised our CAMH course for Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) tri-service students. This project aimed to redesign said course with a focus on enhancing higher-order cognitive skills and preclinical readiness, ensuring that future providers are better equipped to meet the complex demands of CAMH care in military and civilian settings. Materials and Methods This project involved a comprehensive approach to course redesign, including the use of a pre- and post-test. To achieve the course redesign, we conducted a review of all PMHNP courses containing CAMH content. This involved creating a comprehensive matrix that mapped course objectives to all assessments. The redesign was guided by Bloom's taxonomy and Miller's clinical competence pyramid and delivered to PMHNP tri-service students in summer 2023. Participating students were asked to complete a post-course evaluation with items related to preparedness and confidence in managing CAMH. Results The revised CAMH course was successfully implemented, and post-course evaluations were completed by 12 students (100% response rate). Evaluations indicated that students reported an increased sense of preparedness and confidence in delivering evidence-based mental health treatment. These results suggest that the redesign effectively enhanced students' higher-order cognitive skills and their self-evaluation of preparedness for clinicals. Conclusion The integration of the redesigned CAMH course into the PMHNP curriculum demonstrates its potential to enhance population-specific education before clinical rotations. By focusing on higher-order cognitive skills and aligning with competencies, the course supports the development of well-prepared nurse practitioners capable of meeting the complex needs of this population.