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Mental health clinician vs mental health nurse

The differences between mental health clinicians and mental health nurses can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become a mental health clinician, becoming a mental health nurse takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, a mental health nurse has an average salary of $106,812, which is higher than the $54,359 average annual salary of a mental health clinician.

The top three skills for a mental health clinician include social work, patients and mental health. The most important skills for a mental health nurse are patients, psychiatric mental, and PMHNP.

Mental health clinician vs mental health nurse overview

Mental Health ClinicianMental Health Nurse
Yearly salary$54,359$106,812
Hourly rate$26.13$51.35
Growth rate9%6%
Number of jobs91,34786,884
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeMaster's Degree, 49%Bachelor's Degree, 43%
Average age4544
Years of experience42

What does a mental health clinician do?

A Mental Health Clinician provides psychotherapeutic and rehabilitation services for patients with mental health problems. They manage the treatment of clients and help them to obtain stable physical health.

What does a mental health nurse do?

A mental health nurse is responsible for assisting with the diagnosis and treatment plans of patients with mental health complications. Mental health nurses handle high-quality nursing care under mental health professionals' supervision within a hospital or mental health institution. They support in performing therapeutic activities, administering medical examinations, and counseling patients to know more about their conditions. A mental health nurse also does administrative tasks as needed, such as organizing and updating patients' information on the database, processing treatment payments, and responding to the family's inquiries and concerns.

Mental health clinician vs mental health nurse salary

Mental health clinicians and mental health nurses have different pay scales, as shown below.

Mental Health ClinicianMental Health Nurse
Average salary$54,359$106,812
Salary rangeBetween $36,000 And $80,000Between $62,000 And $182,000
Highest paying CitySan Francisco, CASan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateCaliforniaCalifornia
Best paying companyCity and County of Denver GovernmentCommunity Health Systems
Best paying industryEducationGovernment

Differences between mental health clinician and mental health nurse education

There are a few differences between a mental health clinician and a mental health nurse in terms of educational background:

Mental Health ClinicianMental Health Nurse
Most common degreeMaster's Degree, 49%Bachelor's Degree, 43%
Most common majorPsychologyNursing
Most common collegeCalifornia State University - Long BeachDuke University

Mental health clinician vs mental health nurse demographics

Here are the differences between mental health clinicians' and mental health nurses' demographics:

Mental Health ClinicianMental Health Nurse
Average age4544
Gender ratioMale, 24.3% Female, 75.7%Male, 16.9% Female, 83.1%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 7.9% Unknown, 6.2% Hispanic or Latino, 7.9% Asian, 3.1% White, 74.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%Black or African American, 12.2% Unknown, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, 8.8% Asian, 9.1% White, 65.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage15%9%

Differences between mental health clinician and mental health nurse duties and responsibilities

Mental health clinician example responsibilities.

  • Work with children with autism and developmental impairment, providing weekly therapeutic sessions.
  • Provide individual and group psychotherapy for adult population with goal of rehabilitation and community reintegration.
  • Meet productivity standards comply with all DMH documentation standards and participate in on call crisis intervention rotation.
  • Provide psychotherapy with empathy and concern as indicated by supervisory observation and feedback from patients, family and fellow team members.
  • Provide clinical therapeutic services to patients, including individual and group therapy and coordination of treatment for participants with co-occurring disorders.
  • Assess, diagnose, provide psychotherapy and rehabilitation for seriously mentally ill adults, children and adolescents with severe emotional disturbance.
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Mental health nurse example responsibilities.

  • Interact with patients, coordinate and successfully manage therapeutic group activities with unit staffs under supervision of clinical instructor.
  • Provide psychiatric evaluation, medication management and education for patients with serious and persistent mental illness and debilitating personality disorders.
  • Provide transportation, medication management, daily ADL's, housekeeping, and feeding.
  • Provide hourly room checks and ADL's according to care plan implement by the attending physician.
  • Initiate emergency resuscitative measures according to adult resuscitation protocols.
  • Perform case management for outpatient veterans that include psychiatric treatment.
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Mental health clinician vs mental health nurse skills

Common mental health clinician skills
  • Social Work, 28%
  • Patients, 15%
  • Mental Health, 5%
  • Discharge Planning, 3%
  • Community Resources, 3%
  • Rehabilitation, 2%
Common mental health nurse skills
  • Patients, 22%
  • Psychiatric Mental, 10%
  • PMHNP, 6%
  • Medication Management, 6%
  • CPR, 5%
  • Crisis Intervention, 4%

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