Mental health nurse vs mental health counselor

The differences between mental health nurses and mental health counselors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become a mental health nurse, becoming a mental health counselor takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a mental health nurse has an average salary of $106,812, which is higher than the $49,471 average annual salary of a mental health counselor.

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

Mental health nurse vs mental health counselor overview

	Mental Health Nurse	Mental Health Counselor
Yearly salary	$106,812	$49,471
Hourly rate	$51.35	$23.78
Growth rate	6%	9%
Number of jobs	86,884	110,752
Job satisfaction	-	2
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 43%	Bachelor's Degree, 58%
Average age	44	41
Years of experience	2	4

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.

What does a mental health counselor do?

A mental health counselor is responsible for helping patients deal with their emotional and mental disorders by developing treatment plans and conducting regular counseling to track the patient's progress and condition. Mental health counselors encourage active communication from their patients, provide coping strategies for triggering situations, seek advice from other health care professionals, and guide patients on doing other activities that would help them relax. A mental health counselor must have excellent knowledge of the mental health disciplines to assist patients in their healthy lifestyle development.

Mental health nurse vs mental health counselor salary

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

	Mental Health Nurse	Mental Health Counselor
Average salary	$106,812	$49,471
Salary range	Between $62,000 And $182,000	Between $34,000 And $70,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	Longview, WA
Highest paying state	California	Washington
Best paying company	Community Health Systems	Family Life Counseling & Psychiatric Services
Best paying industry	Government	Health Care

Differences between mental health nurse and mental health counselor education

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

	Mental Health Nurse	Mental Health Counselor
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 43%	Bachelor's Degree, 58%
Most common major	Nursing	Psychology
Most common college	Duke University	California State University - Long Beach

Mental health nurse vs mental health counselor demographics

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

	Mental Health Nurse	Mental Health Counselor
Average age	44	41
Gender ratio	Male, 16.9% Female, 83.1%	Male, 31.4% Female, 68.6%
Race ratio	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%	Black or African American, 11.3% Unknown, 5.9% Hispanic or Latino, 12.2% Asian, 3.2% White, 67.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage	9%	15%

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

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.

Mental health counselor example responsibilities.

Provide clinical consultation to consumers and clients regarding manage care services and other benefits available to them through their EAP programs.
Conduct group check-in and co-lead group psychotherapy sessions to help clients identify and manage problems associate with psychiatric conditions.
Certify in CPI (crisis intervention technique).
Assist with crisis intervention, (CPI) maintains treatment activities.
Provide mental health assessment and evaluation of detainees refer by facility staff or identify by pre-screening (booking or nursing).
Assess for special needs during booking process.

Mental health nurse vs mental health counselor skills

Common mental health nurse skills

Patients, 22%
Psychiatric Mental, 10%
PMHNP, 6%
Medication Management, 6%
CPR, 5%
Crisis Intervention, 4%

Common mental health counselor skills

Social Work, 17%
Patients, 16%
Crisis Intervention, 9%
Patient Care, 6%
Mental Health Issues, 5%
Rehabilitation, 4%

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Mental Health Nurse
Mental Health Nurse vs Mental Health Counselor

Updated January 8, 2025

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