PMHNP preceptor shares his experience

The Texas Medical Center offers rich and rare clinical experiences for students at Cizik School of Nursing at UTHealth Houston, including those studying to become psychiatric/mental health nurse practitioners (PMHNPs).

Joby Joseph is among more than two dozen PMHNPs who work at the John S. Dunn Behavioral Science Center at UTHealth Houston. With two hospitals and more than 500 inpatient beds, the campus constitutes the largest academic psychiatric hospital in the nation.

Over the past several years, Joseph has worked with varied patient populations. His unit cared for COVID-19 patients during the pandemic, then geriatric patients, then served as a psychiatric intensive care unit before recently shifting back to treating the general population.

“I’m so happy to help the UTHealth Houston students,” said Joseph, who routinely serves as a preceptor. “The nursing school is excellent in teaching the curriculum to the students, so they learn everything before they come to the clinic. They know the medications and psychiatric symptoms very well.”

Joseph received his nursing diploma in India before moving to the United States in 2006. He worked as a nurse in an intensive care unit before joining the Harris County Psychiatric Center/ Dunn Behavioral Sciences Center in 2009. He received his Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Grand Canyon University in 2015. Four years later, he went back to school and earned his Master of Science in Nursing from Cizik School of Nursing on the PMHNP track.^*

“My goal as a preceptor is to help students to learn what I learned in my 25 years or so of nursing experience,” Joseph said. “I’m helping them get the confidence to handle real-life scenarios.”

Clinical rotations at the Dunn Behavioral Sciences Center involve much more patient interaction than is possible in an outpatient, private practice setting, he noted. PMHNP students are included in morning meetings and rounds, conduct supervised assessments, and monitor patients closely.

The teaching hospital treats general and vulnerable populations, including many patients experiencing homelessness. Students learn that a holistic approach involves more than just medications and counseling, it requires comprehensive support to ensure effective care.

“Not only are we treating the psychiatric condition, we advocate for them. We need to find resources for them,” Joseph said. “These students gain valuable clinical experience and learn how to implement these insights when they begin working.”

^*Because the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties and other professional nursing organizations are committed to moving all entry-level nurse practitioner education to the Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP), Cizik School of Nursing’s now  offers a BSN to DNP track for PMHNP students.