Rural Nurse Practitioner Behavioral Health Program

Increase Access to Behavioral Health Services

This Grow Your Own model is an innovative project to increase access to behavioral health services in rural Colorado, New Mexico and Wyoming and is possible with the support from our partners:

JNJ-Foundation
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Integrated Care Advisory Panel

The Colorado Center for Nursing Excellence seeks experienced psychiatric providers who are integrated health specialists from Colorado, New Mexico, and Wyoming. This advisory group is one element of a grant award that Behavioral Health APRN Fellows receive. Most of the BH Fellows are dual-certified and will be integrating BH into their practices. They need assistance and guidance to set up a sustainable integrated practice model.

Click here to learn more and apply

The Challenge

Colorado, New Mexico, and Wyoming have a shortage of professional behavioral health providers across all three states. Rural and underserved communities have the most problematic shortages. Family nurse practitioners, specifically, from earlier Center run programs have indicated that the majority of their patient populations have chronic illnesses exacerbated by unmanaged or undiagnosed behavioral health challenges and the communities in which they live do not have enough specialized behavioral health providers.

family speaking to nurse practitioners
image of rural area - rural nurse practitioners

The Solution

The Colorado Center for Nursing Excellence developed this fellowship program to support nurse practitioners living in rural and underserved communities through the process of obtaining their certificate in Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioners (PMHNP). This is a “Grow Your Own” model where the recipients are NPs already embedded in the rural and underserved communities where they plan to practice.

Program Details

Licensed nurse practitioners who are currently embedded in rural/underserved Colorado, Wyoming and New Mexico are eligible to apply for the fellowship.

The fellowship provides:

  • Financial stipend up to $18,500
  • Flexibility to choose your school
  • Monthly 1:1 academic and professional coaching
  • Training related to telehealth, trauma-informed leadership, and integrated care models

Apply for the Program

We are accepting applications for Wyoming at this time. If you are interested in being put on a waitlist for another state, please send an email with your information to Callie@ColoradoNursingCenter.org.

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