Summary Report for:
29-1141.02 - Advanced Practice Psychiatric Nurses
Provide advanced nursing care for patients with psychiatric disorders. May provide psychotherapy under the direction of a psychiatrist.
Sample of reported job titles:
Clinical Nurse Specialist, Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner, Psychiatric Clinical Nurse Specialist, Advanced Practice Psychiatric Nurse
Tasks | Tools & Technology | Knowledge | Skills | Abilities | Work Activities | Work Context | Job Zone | Education | Interests | Work Styles | Work Values | Related Occupations | Wages & Employment | Additional Information
Tasks
- Diagnose psychiatric disorders and mental health conditions.
- Distinguish between physiologically and psychologically based disorders and diagnose appropriately.
- Assess patients' mental and physical status based on the presenting symptoms and complaints.
- Conduct individual, group, or family psychotherapy for those with chronic or acute mental disorders.
- Monitor patients' medication usage and results.
- Evaluate patients' behavior to formulate diagnoses or assess treatments.
- Educate patients and family members about mental health and medical conditions, preventive health measures, medications, or treatment plans.
- Document patients' medical and psychological histories, physical assessment results, diagnoses, treatment plans, prescriptions, or outcomes.
- Collaborate with interdisciplinary team members, including psychiatrists, psychologists, or nursing staff, to develop, implement, or evaluate treatment plans.
- Write prescriptions for psychotropic medications as allowed by state regulations and collaborative practice agreements.
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Tools & Technology
Tools used in this occupation:
| Blood pressure cuff kits — Blood pressure cuffs; Sphygmomanometers |
| Facsimile machines — Fax machines |
| Intravenous infusion pumps for general use — Intravenous IV pumps |
| Mechanical stethoscopes or accessories — Mechanical stethoscopes |
| Medication or pill dispensers or accessories — Medication administration systems |
| Nebulizers or accessories — Nebulizers |
| Photocopiers |
Technology used in this occupation:
| Data base user interface and query software — Microsoft Access |
| Medical software — AUDIT-C; Beck Anxiety Inventory; Young Mania Rating Scale; Zung Depression Rating Scale |
| Spreadsheet software — Microsoft Excel |
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Knowledge
| 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. |
| Sociology and Anthropology — Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures and their history and origins. |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| Biology — Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment. |
| Philosophy and Theology — Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture. |
| Administration and Management — Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources. |
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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. |
| Monitoring — Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action. |
| Reading Comprehension — Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents. |
| Social Perceptiveness — Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do. |
| Speaking — Talking to others to convey information effectively. |
| Active Learning — Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making. |
| Critical Thinking — Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems. |
| Judgment and Decision Making — Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one. |
| Writing — Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience. |
| Service Orientation — Actively looking for ways to help people. |
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Abilities
| 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. |
| Deductive Reasoning — The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense. |
| 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. |
| Inductive Reasoning — The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events). |
| Written Comprehension — The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing. |
| 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). |
| Speech Recognition — The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person. |
| Written Expression — The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand. |
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Work Activities
| Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships — Developing constructive and cooperative working relationships with others, and maintaining them over time. |
| Assisting and Caring for Others — Providing personal assistance, medical attention, emotional support, or other personal care to others such as coworkers, customers, or patients. |
| Documenting/Recording Information — Entering, transcribing, recording, storing, or maintaining information in written or electronic/magnetic form. |
| Getting Information — Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources. |
| Making Decisions and Solving Problems — Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems. |
| Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge — Keeping up-to-date technically and applying new knowledge to your job. |
| Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates — Providing information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person. |
| Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work — Developing specific goals and plans to prioritize, organize, and accomplish your work. |
| Communicating with Persons Outside Organization — Communicating with people outside the organization, representing the organization to customers, the public, government, and other external sources. This information can be exchanged in person, in writing, or by telephone or e-mail. |
| Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards — Using relevant information and individual judgment to determine whether events or processes comply with laws, regulations, or standards. |
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Work Context
| Face-to-Face Discussions — How often do you have to have face-to-face discussions with individuals or teams in this job? |
| Telephone — How often do you have telephone conversations in this job? |
| Freedom to Make Decisions — How much decision making freedom, without supervision, does the job offer? |
| Structured versus Unstructured Work — To what extent is this job structured for the worker, rather than allowing the worker to determine tasks, priorities, and goals? |
| Contact With Others — How much does this job require the worker to be in contact with others (face-to-face, by telephone, or otherwise) in order to perform it? |
| Indoors, Environmentally Controlled — How often does this job require working indoors in environmentally controlled conditions? |
| Electronic Mail — How often do you use electronic mail in this job? |
| Importance of Being Exact or Accurate — How important is being very exact or highly accurate in performing this job? |
| Frequency of Decision Making — How frequently is the worker required to make decisions that affect other people, the financial resources, and/or the image and reputation of the organization? |
| Impact of Decisions on Co-workers or Company Results — How do the decisions an employee makes impact the results of co-workers, clients or the company? |
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Job Zone
| Title |
Job Zone Five: Extensive Preparation Needed |
| Education |
Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree). |
| Related Experience |
Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job. |
| Job Training |
Employees may need some on-the-job training, but most of these occupations assume that the person will already have the required skills, knowledge, work-related experience, and/or training. |
| Job Zone Examples |
These occupations often involve coordinating, training, supervising, or managing the activities of others to accomplish goals. Very advanced communication and organizational skills are required. Examples include librarians, lawyers, aerospace engineers, wildlife biologists, school psychologists, surgeons, treasurers, and controllers. |
| SVP Range |
(8.0 and above) |
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Education
Percentage of Respondents |
Education Level Required |
96   |
Master's degree |
| 4 |
Doctoral or professional degree |
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Interests
Interest code: SI
| Social — Social occupations frequently involve working with, communicating with, and teaching people. These occupations often involve helping or providing service to others. |
| Investigative — Investigative occupations frequently involve working with ideas, and require an extensive amount of thinking. These occupations can involve searching for facts and figuring out problems mentally. |
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Work Styles
| Concern for Others — Job requires being sensitive to others' needs and feelings and being understanding and helpful on the job. |
| Self Control — Job requires maintaining composure, keeping emotions in check, controlling anger, and avoiding aggressive behavior, even in very difficult situations. |
| Integrity — Job requires being honest and ethical. |
| Dependability — Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations. |
| Cooperation — Job requires being pleasant with others on the job and displaying a good-natured, cooperative attitude. |
| Stress Tolerance — Job requires accepting criticism and dealing calmly and effectively with high stress situations. |
| Initiative — Job requires a willingness to take on responsibilities and challenges. |
| Adaptability/Flexibility — Job requires being open to change (positive or negative) and to considerable variety in the workplace. |
| Independence — Job requires developing one's own ways of doing things, guiding oneself with little or no supervision, and depending on oneself to get things done. |
| Attention to Detail — Job requires being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks. |
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Work Values
| Relationships — Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to provide service to others and work with co-workers in a friendly non-competitive environment. Corresponding needs are Co-workers, Moral Values and Social Service. |
| Working Conditions — Occupations that satisfy this work value offer job security and good working conditions. Corresponding needs are Activity, Compensation, Independence, Security, Variety and Working Conditions. |
| Support — Occupations that satisfy this work value offer supportive management that stands behind employees. Corresponding needs are Company Policies, Supervision: Human Relations and Supervision: Technical. |
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Related Occupations
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Wages & Employment Trends
National
Median wages data collected from Registered Nurses.
Employment data collected from Registered Nurses.
Industry data collected from Registered Nurses.
| Median wages (2011) |
$31.71 hourly, $65,950 annual |
| Employment (2010) |
2,737,000 employees |
| Projected growth (2010-2020) |
Faster than average (20% to 28%)
|
| Projected job openings (2010-2020) |
1,207,400 |
| Top industries (2010) |
|
State & National
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics 2011 wage data
and 2010-2020 employment projections
.
"Projected growth" represents the estimated change in total employment over the projections period (2010-2020). "Projected job openings" represent openings due to growth and replacement.
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Sources of Additional Information
Disclaimer:
Sources are listed to provide additional information on related jobs, specialties, and/or industries.
Links to non-DOL Internet sites are provided for your convenience and do not constitute an endorsement.
- Registered Nurses
. Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor. Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2012-13 Edition.
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Bright Outlook