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The differences between community health nurses and psychiatric registered nurses can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a community health nurse and a psychiatric registered nurse. Additionally, a psychiatric registered nurse has an average salary of $73,053, which is higher than the $59,638 average annual salary of a community health nurse.
The top three skills for a community health nurse include patients, community health and home health. The most important skills for a psychiatric registered nurse are patients, home health, and patient safety.
| Community Health Nurse | Psychiatric Registered Nurse | |
| Yearly salary | $59,638 | $73,053 |
| Hourly rate | $28.67 | $35.12 |
| Growth rate | 6% | 6% |
| Number of jobs | 403,240 | 640,480 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 54% | Associate Degree, 43% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 2 | 2 |
The main role of a community health nurse is to provide care to patients. Community health nurses make a plan on educational assemblies, conduct health screenings, and hand-out fliers. These nurses administer immunizations and dispense medications. They distribute health-associated items such as pregnancy tests and condoms. Part of their job is to assist the elderly, pregnant women, disabled, or homeless by directing them to social service centers. Also, they may concentrate on offering community health nursing.
A registered psychiatric nurse works alongside mental health experts to develop and administer psychiatric treatment plans according to the patients' needs. Among their responsibilities include gathering and organizing patient information, studying the patients' medical histories, conducting interviews and assessments, providing counseling, administering medicine, and restraining unsettled patients. There are also instances when they must conduct inspections to remove potentially harmful objects and provide psychoeducation to the patients' families. Above all, a registered psychiatric nurse must closely monitor the behavior of patients, record their daily progress, and report to the psychiatrists regularly.
Community health nurses and psychiatric registered nurses have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Community Health Nurse | Psychiatric Registered Nurse | |
| Average salary | $59,638 | $73,053 |
| Salary range | Between $41,000 And $85,000 | Between $45,000 And $117,000 |
| Highest paying City | New York, NY | New York, NY |
| Highest paying state | New York | New York |
| Best paying company | Cottage Health | Scripps Health |
| Best paying industry | Government | Health Care |
There are a few differences between a community health nurse and a psychiatric registered nurse in terms of educational background:
| Community Health Nurse | Psychiatric Registered Nurse | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 54% | Associate Degree, 43% |
| Most common major | Nursing | Nursing |
| Most common college | Duke University | Duke University |
Here are the differences between community health nurses' and psychiatric registered nurses' demographics:
| Community Health Nurse | Psychiatric Registered Nurse | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 9.2% Female, 90.8% | Male, 16.7% Female, 83.3% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 11.9% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 8.7% Asian, 8.9% White, 65.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% | Black or African American, 11.4% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 9.5% Asian, 8.9% White, 65.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 9% | 9% |