What do they do?

Assess, diagnose, and treat individuals and families with mental health or substance use disorders or the potential for such disorders. Apply therapeutic activities, including the prescription of medication, per state regulations, and the administration of psychotherapy.

Also known as:

Adult PMHNP (Adult Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner), Adult Psychiatric Mental Health APRN (Adult Psychiatric Mental Health Advanced Practice Registered Nurse), Advanced Practice Psychiatric Nurse, APN (Advanced Practice Nurse), Board Certified Psychiatric Mental Health Clinical Nurse Specialist (BC PMH-CNS), PMHNP (Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner), Psychiatric APN (Psychiatric Advanced Practice Nurse), Psychiatric Clinical Nurse Specialist (Psychiatric CNS), Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse (PMH Nurse), Psychiatric NP (Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner), Psychiatric Provider, Psychiatric-Mental Health Clinical Nurse Specialist (PMH-CNS), Psychiatry APRN (Psychiatry Advanced Practice Registered Nurse)

Typical Wages

Projected Growth Rate

Employment of Registered Nurses is projected to grow 4 percent from 2022 to 2032, more slowly than average compared to all occupations.

Projected Employment in VA

No Data Available
  • 4.3%

    Change

    Ranks #17 in job growth rate
    4,160

    Job Openings

    Ranks #25 in net job growth

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Education Level

Percent of workers in this field with these degrees:

  • Bachelor's degree  (53%)
  • Associate's degree  (28%)
  • Master's degree  (11%)
  • Some college, no degree  (4%)
  • Doctorate or Professional Degree  (2%)
  • High school diploma equivalent  (1%)
  • Less than high school diploma  (<1%)

Typical College Majors

Most Popular Majors that prepare Advanced Practice Psychiatric Nurses

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People in this career often have these skills:

  • Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
  • Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
  • Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
  • Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
  • Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
  • Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
  • Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
  • Judgment and Decision Making - Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
  • Time Management - Managing one's own time and the time of others.
  • Active Learning - Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
  • Complex Problem Solving - Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
  • Learning Strategies - Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
  • Coordination - Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
  • Instructing - Teaching others how to do something.
  • Service Orientation - Actively looking for ways to help people.
  • Persuasion - Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
  • Negotiation - Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
  • Systems Analysis - Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.

People in this career often know a lot about:

  • Psychology - Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
  • Therapy and Counseling - Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
  • English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
  • Medicine and Dentistry - Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
  • Biology - Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
  • Sociology and Anthropology - Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
  • Education and Training - Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
  • Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
  • Law and Government - Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.

People in this career often have talent in:

  • Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
  • Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
  • Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
  • Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
  • Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
  • Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
  • Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
  • Speech Recognition - The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
  • Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
  • Information Ordering - The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
  • Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
  • Category Flexibility - The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
  • Fluency of Ideas - The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
  • Originality - The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
  • Selective Attention - The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.

People in this career often do these activities:

  • Evaluate patient functioning, capabilities, or health.
  • Diagnose medical conditions.
  • Record patient medical histories.
  • Explain medical procedures or test results to patients or family members.
  • Prescribe medications.
  • Monitor patient progress or responses to treatments.
  • Analyze patient data to determine patient needs or treatment goals.
  • Develop medical treatment plans.
  • Treat patients using psychological therapies.
  • Maintain medical or professional knowledge.
  • Collaborate with healthcare professionals to plan or provide treatment.
  • Refer patients to other healthcare practitioners or health resources.
  • Analyze test data or images to inform diagnosis or treatment.
  • Maintain inventory of medical supplies or equipment.
  • Establish nursing policies or standards.
  • Examine patients to assess general physical condition.
  • Administer intravenous medications.
  • Administer basic health care or medical treatments.
  • Design public or employee health programs.
  • Teach health management classes.

This page includes data from:

O*NET OnLine Career data: O*NET 28.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (“USDOL/ETA”). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Logo Occupation statistics: USDOL U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment Statistics

careeronestop logo Videos: CareerOneStop, USDOL/ETA and the Minnesota Department of Employment & Economic Development

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