Outpatient physical therapist vs mental health nurse

The differences between outpatient physical therapists and mental health nurses can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a mental health nurse has an average salary of $106,812, which is higher than the $66,359 average annual salary of an outpatient physical therapist.

The top three skills for an outpatient physical therapist include patients, physical therapy and rehabilitation. The most important skills for a mental health nurse are patients, psychiatric mental, and PMHNP.

Outpatient physical therapist vs mental health nurse overview

	Outpatient Physical Therapist	Mental Health Nurse
Yearly salary	$66,359	$106,812
Hourly rate	$31.90	$51.35
Growth rate	17%	6%
Number of jobs	119,973	86,884
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Master's Degree, 49%	Bachelor's Degree, 43%
Average age	41	44
Years of experience	-	2

What does an outpatient physical therapist do?

An outpatient physical therapist specializes in diagnosing and treating a patient's movement dysfunction often caused by an illness or injury. Their responsibilities revolve around studying a patient's medical history, performing initial assessments, crafting a specific care and treatment plan, and discussing the extent of treatments with patients and their families. An outpatient physical therapist may also provide advice to families or guardians on how to assist and care for patients at home, prescribe medication, and perform follow-up consultations.

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.

Outpatient physical therapist vs mental health nurse salary

Outpatient physical therapists and mental health nurses have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Outpatient Physical Therapist	Mental Health Nurse
Average salary	$66,359	$106,812
Salary range	Between $40,000 And $108,000	Between $62,000 And $182,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	California	California
Best paying company	Accountable Healthcare Holdings Corp.	Community Health Systems
Best paying industry	Non Profits	Government

Differences between outpatient physical therapist and mental health nurse education

There are a few differences between an outpatient physical therapist and a mental health nurse in terms of educational background:

	Outpatient Physical Therapist	Mental Health Nurse
Most common degree	Master's Degree, 49%	Bachelor's Degree, 43%
Most common major	Social Work	Nursing
Most common college	Boston University	Duke University

Outpatient physical therapist vs mental health nurse demographics

Here are the differences between outpatient physical therapists' and mental health nurses' demographics:

	Outpatient Physical Therapist	Mental Health Nurse
Average age	41	44
Gender ratio	Male, 24.4% Female, 75.6%	Male, 16.9% Female, 83.1%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 3.9% Unknown, 3.8% Hispanic or Latino, 7.8% Asian, 11.3% White, 72.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5%	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 Percentage	12%	9%

Differences between outpatient physical therapist and mental health nurse duties and responsibilities

Outpatient physical therapist example responsibilities.

Facilitate development of coping techniques to manage psychiatric symptoms effectively; educate patients on importance of medication management and compliance.
Demonstrate working knowledge of community mental health services identify in the Medicaid guidelines and attain contractual outcomes within designate time frames.
Perform assessments with clients to determine diagnosis and need of services.
Complete intake assessment and formulate diagnosis.
Assist veterans with transportation to interviews.
Provide active case management service for veterans in residential treatment.

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.

Outpatient physical therapist vs mental health nurse skills

Common outpatient physical therapist skills

Patients, 23%
Physical Therapy, 17%
Rehabilitation, 11%
Patient Care, 10%
Therapy Services, 5%
Social Work, 5%

Common mental health nurse skills

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

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Outpatient Physical Therapist
Outpatient Physical Therapist vs Mental Health Nurse

Updated January 8, 2025

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