How to become A Psychiatric Advanced Practice Registered Nurse

A Florence Nightingale in spirit - that is the essence of a Psychiatric Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner who helps people with challenging mental health issues manage their complex physical and emotional needs.

• Adult Psychiatric Mental Health Practitioner
• Advanced Practice Nurse Psychotherapist
• Psychiatric Clinical Nurse Specialist
• Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse

What do Psychiatric Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioners (ARNP) do?

A Psychiatric Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner (ARNP) would typically need to:

• Assess, diagnose, and treat individuals and families with mental health or substance use disorders or the potential for such conditions
• Perform a mental health assessment to evaluate patient functioning and capabilities; record patient medical histories
• Order diagnostic tests; interpret data or images to diagnose medical conditions and to determine the needs or treatment plans of patients
• Explain medical procedures, test results, and treatment plans to patients or family members; prescribe medication; administer intravenous medication
• Facilitate counselling, motivational interviews, and supportive therapy; teach patients coping skills; work as a liaison between the psychiatrist and the patient’s family
• Monitor patient progress and response to treatment over their lifespan; refer patients to other healthcare practitioners or health resources
• Design and develop public or employee health programs; teach health management courses; maintain an inventory of medical supplies or equipment
• Work with policymakers and trade groups in setting psychiatric patient care and ethical standards; conduct research or provide peer review for scholarly publications

Most Psychiatric ARNPs work in all healthcare settings, including hospitals, physicians’ offices, urgent care clinics, or long-term care facilities. You may also choose to work in nursing education or healthcare policy environments.

However, the community setting is the most common one, with the patients living at home and receiving care from local mental health facilities. Your work will bring you into regular contact with patients, their families, health organisations, other healthcare providers, insurance companies, and the larger community.

Most Psychiatric ARNPs work full-time. In a hospital setting, this might mean a 16-hour workday or three 12-hour shifts. Community-based mental health facilities may offer a more predictable work schedule.

You may have a better chance at keeping regular working hours when you own the practice, but the fact of the matter is that regardless of the kind of employment, you will need to be prepared to respond to a crisis at all hours of the day or night and stay on duty until the situation is resolved.

Schools and colleges that cater to people with mental health and developmental disabilities find it essential to employ a Psychiatric ARNP. Finding a new job might seem challenging. ARNPs can boost their job search by asking their network for referrals, using job search platforms, leveraging social media, and inquiring at staffing agencies.

Psychiatric Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioners are generally employed by:

• Inpatient & Outpatient Community Mental Health Clinics
• Hospital-Based Psychiatric Units
• Government Mental Health Hospitals
• Jails & Prisons
• Private Practice Psychiatric Offices
• Veteran Hospitals
• Substance Abuse & Addiction-Recovery Facilities
• Private Group Practice
• Primary Care Centres
• Educational Institutions
• Home Healthcare Facilities

The International Society of Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurses (ISPN) supports Psychiatric ARNPs to “promote mental health care, literacy and policy worldwide.” It provides unparalleled networking and educational opportunities. It offers all the certification courses members will need throughout their professional careers.

Affiliated ARNPs may attend conventions, seminars, and dinners frequented by peers, mentors, and other industry leaders. The events help them learn about the newest breakthroughs and latest developments in the field, including plum jobs.

• A complex and challenging job that requires the acquisition and regular practice of crucial skills to provide appropriate care to a needy and often unhappy population
• The need to be able to get patients to be honest about their health issues while remaining professional at all times
• The constant risk of injury from violent patients or those who are developmentally delayed and lack control over their bodies or emotions
• The high probability of an irregular, long and intense work schedule

Most nursing programs offer a clinical rotation in psychiatric nursing; it allows you to gain first-hand experience of the career.

Paid internships under the supervision of registered nurses and professors will give promising Psychiatric Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioners the practical expertise, connections, and professional recommendations necessary to get an entry-level job after graduation. You get to interact directly with patients and evaluate their condition while carrying out basic patient care tasks. Employers prefer candidates with at least two years of work experience as a Registered Nurse.

One of the best introductions to a career in mental health is to vol­unteer at a local hospital, clinic, or nursing home. Working with a diverse range of clients helps you understand different behaviours, situations, and problems you may encounter during your practise as a Psychiatric ARNP.

As in any career, reading as much as possible about the profession, talking with a high school coun­selor, and interviewing those working in psychiatric nursing are other important ways to explore your interest.

Most Psychiatric Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioners hold a master’s degree in a holistic biopsychosocial model of psychiatric-mental health nursing. Some Psychiatric ARNPs will get a doctorate to practise at a more advanced level.

Make sure your focus is on psychology, sociology, anthropology, biology, chemistry and mathematics in high school. English and speech classes will help you develop your research, writing, and oral communication skills.

You will require board certification to obtain a license to practice. The requirements may vary by location. Check with your local regulatory body for exact details.

You may obtain accredited certification in a subspecialty such as child & adolescent mental health nursing, gerontological-psychiatric nursing, forensics, or the treatment of substance use disorders. Usually, applicants need around 2,000 hours of clinical practice as a mental health nurse, 30 hours of continuing education in mental health nursing, and two years experience as a psychiatric mental health nurse.

Performance, experience, and acquisition of professional qualifications drive the career progression of Psychiatric Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioners. Increasing demand for caring mental health nursing professionals will ensure you have wide-ranging opportunities to practice your profession either as a traditional nurse or a travelling healthcare provider.

You may be asked to step into roles with increasing autonomy and leadership, such as a Chief Nursing Officer. You may focus on clinical research, research on health systems and outcomes, and research on nursing education.

You may be asked to step into roles involving the creation and enhancement of health policies. You may also choose to set up private practice and play a more direct role in improving their mental health.

Candidates who have obtained deep insight into nursing leadership, healthcare informatics, and the cultural aspects of healthcare will have the best job prospects.

Continuing professional development (CPD) is essential in the healthcare sector for public wellbeing and career progression. It is mandatory for renewing your license and advanced practice certification. The requirements may vary across locations, but the most common ones include a combination of specified clinical practise hours and continuing education contact hours.

CPD also embraces several new learning objectives, educational methodologies, and novel technological developments, especially in education, management, and IT.

Mental Health Conditions - An Overview

Mental illnesses like schizophrenia and bipolar affective disorder are long-term conditions; depression or anxiety may also result from stressful life situations such as bereavement or divorce.

Some people become mentally unwell due to substance abuse or may abuse substances as a maladaptive coping mechanism for their pre-existing symptoms. There may be patients who self-harm or engage in other risky behaviour. People diagnosed with post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD) or eating disorders will also need your help.

All or One

As a Psychiatric ARNP, you may work with people from diverse backgrounds, or you may specialise and work with one specific group of individuals such as children & young adolescents, adults with psychiatric disorders, prison inmates, or people with a particular condition such as PTSD.

Psychiatric Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioners can make up to 85% of what psychiatrists bill, depending on private practice and insurance reimbursement.

Psychiatric Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioners take a genuine desire to help and care for others to the next level. With a touch, a smile, a kind word, and skilful care, they turn around the lives of innumerable patients with challenging mental health conditions.

"Nursing is an art: and if it is to be made an art, it requires an exclusive devotion as hard a preparation as any painter's or sculptor's work; for what is the having to do with dead canvas or dead marble, compared with having to do with the living body, the temple of God's spirit?” - Florence Nightingale.