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 nurse responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real mental health nurse resumes:
- 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.
- Create a network of businesses offering placement for vocational rehabilitation clients.
- Help make environment safe for veterans and others by providing constant supervision and monitoring
- Develop and implement multiple group therapy groups in a fast pace outpatient rehabilitation setting.
- Interact with patients, coordinate and successfully manage therapeutic group activities with unit staffs under supervision of clinical instructor.
- Audit charts to prepare for successful JCAHO surveys as well as implement/assess corrective actions.
- Provide intensive therapeutic counseling (CBT, DBT) to dual-diagnoses caseload of inmates, a mental illness and/or mental retardation.
- Volunteer to be train and then train other staff in documentation process to meet JCAHO standards.
- Co-Facilitate and facilitate DBT groups.
- Provide in-services to all clinical staff on differing topics including: regulatory compliance, psychopharmacology, physical restraint, and psychopathology.
Mental health nurse skills and personality traits
We calculated that 22% of Mental Health Nurses are proficient in Patients, Psychiatric Mental, and PMHNP. They’re also known for soft skills such as Emotional stability, Physical stamina, and Compassion.
We break down the percentage of Mental Health Nurses that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Patients, 22%
Provided psychiatric evaluation, medication management and education for patients with serious and persistent mental illness and debilitating personality disorders.
- Psychiatric Mental, 10%
Functioned as the only psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner and psychiatric provider within an outpatient community health center.
- PMHNP, 6%
Teach, precept, supervise and evaluate PMHNP students.
- Medication Management, 6%
Provide psychiatric evaluation, consultation, brief supportive therapy, and medication management for residents of assisted living and skilled nursing facilities
- CPR, 5%
Obtained necessary certifications, including child abuse clearance, CPR, and nonviolent crisis intervention training.
- Crisis Intervention, 4%
Provide acute crisis intervention, determine safety risk, and refer for inpatient hospitalization as indicated.
"patients," "psychiatric mental," and "pmhnp" are among the most common skills that mental health nurses use at work. You can find even more mental health nurse responsibilities below, including:
Emotional stability. The most essential soft skill for a mental health nurse to carry out their responsibilities is emotional stability. This skill is important for the role because "registered nurses need emotional resilience and the ability to cope with human suffering, emergencies, and other stressors." Additionally, a mental health nurse resume shows how their duties depend on emotional stability: "maintained medical stability of patients by proper assessment, documentation, intervention, and evaluation. "
Physical stamina. Many mental health nurse duties rely on physical stamina. "nurses should be comfortable performing physical tasks, such as lifting patients," so a mental health nurse will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways mental health nurse responsibilities rely on physical stamina: "administered total patient care including physical assessment, oral medication administration, patient monitoring, and patient and family education. "
Compassion. mental health nurses are also known for compassion, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to mental health nurse responsibilities, because "registered nurses should be caring and empathetic when working with patients." A mental health nurse resume example shows how compassion is used in the workplace: "delivered high-quality and compassionate treatment to mental health patients in residential environment. "
Detail oriented. For certain mental health nurse responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "detail oriented." The day-to-day duties of a mental health nurse rely on this skill, as "registered nurses must be precise because they must ensure that patients get the correct treatments and medicines at the right time." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what mental health nurses do: "shift-oriented documentation; i.e., census and reconciliation of medication administration records. "
Communication skills. Another skill commonly found on mental health nurse job descriptions is "communication skills." It can come up quite often in mental health nurse duties, since "registered nurses must be able to communicate effectively with patients in order to understand their concerns and evaluate their health conditions." Here's an example from a resume of how this skill fits into day-to-day mental health nurse responsibilities: "practiced therapeutic communication and psychiatric care for mental health patients. "
The three companies that hire the most mental health nurses are:
- Cerebral940 mental health nurses jobs
- Discovery Behavioral Health89 mental health nurses jobs
- Wellpath63 mental health nurses jobs
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Compare different mental health nurses
Mental health nurse vs. Therapist
A therapist is responsible for improving the patients' health conditions by evaluating their needs and providing physical and mental support. Therapists are licensed, medical professionals who specialize in different areas to perform treatments and bring relief to patients. Some of their duties include diagnosing patient's problems, performing counseling services, monitoring medication progress, customizing therapy activities for pain management, and consulting other health professionals as needed. Therapists must have extensive knowledge with the medical industry to detect patients' conditions easily and provide effective medications.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a mental health nurse are more likely to require skills like "psychiatric mental," "pmhnp," "medication management," and "cpr." On the other hand, a job as a therapist requires skills like "patient care," "therapeutic services," "therapy services," and "substance abuse issues." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Therapists really shine in the government industry with an average salary of $55,972. Comparatively, mental health nurses tend to make the most money in the government industry with an average salary of $113,936.The education levels that therapists earn slightly differ from mental health nurses. In particular, therapists are 24.4% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a mental health nurse. Additionally, they're 0.2% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Mental health nurse vs. Counselor/art therapist
A counselor/art therapist is responsible for conducting art sessions as part of patients' therapy treatments, letting them express their human nature and emotions through artistic discovery. Counselors/art therapists guide the patients throughout their recovery process, identifying their needs and conditions by analyzing their crafts. A counselor/art therapist coordinates with other medical professionals to deliver quality care services for the patients, monitor their progress, record observations, and instructing patients in art activities to discover their maximum potential.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, mental health nurse responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "psychiatric mental," "pmhnp," "medication management," and "cpr." Meanwhile, a counselor/art therapist has duties that require skills in areas such as "diagnosis," "family therapy," "behavioral health," and "individual therapy." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
Average education levels between the two professions vary. Counselor/art therapists tend to reach higher levels of education than mental health nurses. In fact, they're 26.8% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.2% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Mental health nurse vs. Psychiatric technician
A psychiatric technician is responsible for supporting patients with mental issues and disabilities by administering treatment plans and quality therapeutic care. Psychiatric technicians assist the patients through counseling, observing their mental and social behaviors, and suggesting recreational activities to help them interact with others. They also work with other medical professionals to seek advice, especially when performing medical procedures and suggesting medications. A psychiatric technician must have excellent communication and time-management skills, especially when responding to the patients' concerns and looking after them during daily activities.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, mental health nurses are more likely to have skills like "psychiatric mental," "pmhnp," "medication management," and "psychiatric services." But a psychiatric technician is more likely to have skills like "patient behavior," "restraints," "cpi," and "mental illness."
Psychiatric technicians make a very good living in the government industry with an average annual salary of $33,642. On the other hand, mental health nurses are paid the highest salary in the government industry, with average annual pay of $113,936.When it comes to education, psychiatric technicians tend to earn lower degree levels compared to mental health nurses. In fact, they're 9.9% less likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 1.5% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Mental health nurse vs. Behavior technician
The job of a behavioral technician is to offer mental health services to patients who struggle with behavior-related problems. Behavior technicians uphold the highest standard of quality of care. They are the ones who enforce learning programs like self-help, communication, and play skills. It is their duty to incorporate medical care training for parents, so caregivers or family members can support and teach skills during family activities. One must be good in written and verbal communication, can work with team members, and develop good interpersonal relationship skills to be a good technician.
Types of mental health nurse
Updated January 8, 2025
