Many individuals live with mental health illnesses in the United States. In fact, in 2021, 1 in 5 adults experienced mental illness, while 1 in 20 adults experienced serious mental illness. Individuals affected by mental health illnesses require support, continued care, and support from trained and skilled healthcare professionals such as psychiatric-mental health nurses.
This article tackles everything you need to know about psychiatric-mental health nursing — what it is, what a psychiatric nurse does, and how you can become one.
What is a psychiatric-mental health nurse?
A psychiatric-mental health nurse (PMHN) is a registered nurse (RN) who specializes in caring for individuals living with mental health illnesses. They get specialized neurobiological, psychosocial, and nursing training to help support patients with various mental health conditions.
Psychiatric-mental health nurses work alongside psychiatric nurse practitioners (PNPs), psychiatrists, social workers, and other healthcare professionals to improve the quality of life of individuals with mental health illnesses and suffer from substance abuse disorders via patient assessment, education, and treatment.
It’s no secret that being a psychiatric nurse can be challenging at times, but it’s also a rewarding and fulfilling profession. Successful psychiatric nurses embody admirable qualities, including empathy, compassion, open-mindedness, resilience, calmness, emotional intelligence, and patience. Psychiatric-mental health nurses must also have the following integral skills: analytical thinking, flexible problem-solving, professionalism, and excellent communication skills.
What are the responsibilities of a psychiatric nurse?
The main job responsibilities of a PMHN are:
· Properly assessing and diagnosing patients with mental health illnesses
· Evaluating patients’ symptoms and medical histories and conducting proper documentation
· Working closely with and under the guidance of psychiatric nurse practitioners and psychiatrists in creating patient care plans
· Administering medication and monitoring treatment plans
· Taking patients’ vitals
· Educating and interacting with patients and their family members
Becoming a psychiatric-mental health nurse: A step-by-step guide
To become a psychiatric nurse, you must complete the following steps:
1. Complete a nursing program. You can get a two-year associate’s degree in nursing or a four-year bachelor’s in nursing degree.
2. Pass the NCLEX-RN. To get your RN license.
3. Practice as a full-time RN. Get at least two years of experience as an RN.
4. Get psychiatric-mental health nursing experience. Get at least 2,000 hours of clinical practice within three years of obtaining your RN license/passing the NCLEX-RN.
5. Get psychiatric nursing continuing education. Complete 30 hours of psychiatric nursing-specific continuing education within three years of getting your RN license.
6. Get board-certified. Pass a competency-based certification examination such as the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) Psychiatric–Mental Health Nursing Board certification examination.
7. Maintain your certifications and RN license.
What’s the difference between a psychiatric-mental health nurse and a psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner?
As previously mentioned, psychiatric nurses work primarily with psychiatrists and an interdisciplinary healthcare team to carry out treatment plans and support mental health patients.
Meanwhile, psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioners or psychiatric nurse practitioners (PNPs) have advanced education, certification, and experience. Because of these, they work at a greater capacity than psychiatric nurses; they can write prescriptions, provide diagnoses, give advanced assessments, and even counsel or psychotherapy sessions.
Mental health nurse job outlook
The job outlook for Registered Nurses continues to be higher than the national average, with a 6% growth from 2022 to 2023. This is especially true for nurses with high-demand specialties, and psychiatric or mental health nursing is one of them.
According to Glassdoor, in 2024, psychiatric nurses in the US make an estimated US$112,110 annually. On average, they make US$106,495.Are you interested in becoming a traveling psychiatric nurse? Check out our job openings here.
