Psychiatric/Mental Health Nursing
Types of Degrees Psychiatric/Mental Health Nursing Majors Are Getting
The following table lists how many psychiatric/mental health nurse/nursing graduations there were for each degree level during the last year for which data was available.
| Education Level | Number of Grads |
|---|---|
| Graduate Certificate | 1,744 |
| Master’s Degree | 1,323 |
| Doctor’s Degree | 193 |
| Undergraduate Certificate | 1 |
What Psychiatric/Mental Health Nursing Majors Need to Know
In an O*NET survey, psychiatric/mental health nursing majors were asked to rate what knowledge areas, skills, and abilities were important in their occupations. These answers were weighted on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the most important.
Knowledge Areas for Psychiatric/Mental Health Nursing Majors
According to O*NET survey takers, a major in psychiatric/mental health nursing should prepare you for careers in which you will need to be knowledgeable in the following areas:
- 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.
- 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.
- English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
- 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.
- 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.
Skills for Psychiatric/Mental Health Nursing Majors
The following list of skills has been highlighted as some of the most essential for careers related to psychiatric/mental health nursing:
- 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.
- Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others’ reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
- Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
Abilities for Psychiatric/Mental Health Nursing Majors
Psychiatric/Mental Health Nursing majors often go into careers where the following abilities are vital:
- 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.
- 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 there is a problem.
- 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.
What Can You Do With a Psychiatric/Mental Health Nursing Major?
Below is a list of occupations associated with psychiatric/mental health nursing:
| Job Title | Job Growth Rate | Median Salary |
|---|---|---|
| Advanced Practice Psychiatric Nurses | 14.8% | $71,730 |
| Nurse Practitioners | 36.1% | $107,030 |
| Nursing Instructors and Professors | 24.0% | $73,490 |
| Registered Nurses | 14.8% | $71,730 |
Amount of Education Required for Careers Related to Psychiatric/Mental Health Nursing
Some careers associated with psychiatric/mental health nursing require an advanced degree while some may not even require a bachelor’s. Whatever the case may be, pursuing more education usually means that more career options will be available to you.
Find out what the typical degree level is for psychiatric/mental health nursing careers below.
| Education Level | Percentage of Workers |
|---|---|
| Some College Courses | 3.2% |
| Associate’s Degree (or other 2-year degree) | 19.6% |
| Bachelor’s Degree | 8.2% |
| Post-Baccalaureate Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Baccalaureate degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees carrying the title of Master. | 0.8% |
| Master’s Degree | 47.2% |
| Post-Master’s Certificate - awarded for completion of an organized program of study; designed for people who have completed a Master’s degree but do not meet the requirements of academic degrees at the doctoral level. | 6.8% |
| First Professional Degree - awarded for completion of a program that: requires at least 2 years of college work before entrance into the program, includes a total of at least 6 academic years of work to complete, and provides all remaining academic requirements to begin practice in a profession. | 2.3% |
| Doctoral Degree | 11.6% |
| Post-Doctoral Training | 1.7% |
Online Psychiatric/Mental Health Nursing Programs
The following table lists the number of programs by degree level, along with how many schools offered online courses in the field.
| Degree Level | Colleges Offering Programs | Colleges Offering Online Classes |
|---|---|---|
| Certificate (Less Than 1 Year) | 0 | 0 |
| Certificate (1-2 years) | 2 | 0 |
| Certificate (2-4 Years) | 0 | 0 |
| Associate’s Degree | 1 | 0 |
| Bachelor’s Degree | 36 | 9 |
| Post-Baccalaureate | 0 | 0 |
| Master’s Degree | 78 | 29 |
| Post-Master’s | 128 | 0 |
| Doctor’s Degree (Research) | 10 | 2 |
| Doctor’s Degree (Professional Practice) | 28 | 8 |
| Doctor’s Degree (Other) | 0 | 0 |
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Majors Related to Psychiatric/Mental Health Nursing
You may also be interested in one of the following majors related to psychiatric/mental health nursing.
References
*The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students, international students, and students whose race/ethnicity was unknown. This number is then divided by the total number of students at the school to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.
- College Factual
- College Scorecard
- National Center for Education Statistics
- O*NET Online
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers First Quarter 2020
- Image Credit: By Aleksahgabrielle under License
More about our data sources and methodologies.
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