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Mental Health Nursing

What Mental Health Nursing Majors Need to Know

Coursework for Mental Health Nursing build a specific mix of knowledge, skills, and abilities — derived from O*NET surveys of workers in occupations that Mental Health Nursing graduates commonly enter.

Knowledge Areas

According to O*NET, a major in Mental Health Nursing emphasizes the following knowledge areas:

• Medicine and Dentistry — Importance 4.6 / 5; level 4.9 / 7.
• Psychology — Importance 4.5 / 5; level 6.0 / 7.
• English Language — Importance 4.3 / 5; level 4.7 / 7.
• Customer and Personal Service — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 5.4 / 7.
• Therapy and Counseling — Importance 3.9 / 5; level 4.8 / 7.

^{Importance is rated 1–5; level is 1–7. Source: ONET Online — weighted across related occupations.*}

Skills

The skill set emphasized by a Mental Health Nursing program reflects the day-to-day work of related occupations:

• Social Perceptiveness — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 4.4 / 7.
• Active Listening — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 4.3 / 7.
• Speaking — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.2 / 7.
• Critical Thinking — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.1 / 7.
• Reading Comprehension — Importance 4.0 / 5; level 4.5 / 7.

Abilities

Abilities most relevant to Mental Health Nursing careers — again drawn from O*NET surveys of related occupations:

• Problem Sensitivity — Importance 4.2 / 5; level 4.8 / 7.
• Oral Expression — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 4.5 / 7.
• Deductive Reasoning — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 4.1 / 7.
• Oral Comprehension — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 4.8 / 7.
• Written Comprehension — Importance 4.1 / 5; level 4.5 / 7.

Common Job Activities

Day-to-day, Mental Health Nursing graduates report doing:

Activity	Frequency / Importance
Assisting and Caring for Others	4.8 / 7
Documenting/Recording Information	4.6 / 7
Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge	4.6 / 7
Getting Information	4.6 / 7
Making Decisions and Solving Problems	4.6 / 7
Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships	4.5 / 7
Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates	4.4 / 7
Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events	4.3 / 7
Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work	4.3 / 7
Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards	4.3 / 7

Technology Skills Used on the Job

Most frequently-cited tools used by Mental Health Nursing professionals:

Tool / Software	Category	In-Demand
Microsoft Office software	Office suite software	✓
Microsoft Word	Word processing software	—
Microsoft Excel	Spreadsheet software	—
Microsoft Outlook	Electronic mail software	—
Microsoft PowerPoint	Presentation software	—
eClinicalWorks EHR software	Medical software	—
Microsoft Access	Data base user interface and query software	—
Medical condition coding software	Medical software	—
MEDITECH software	Medical software	—
Web browser software	Internet browser software	—
Microsoft SharePoint	Document management software	—
Epic Systems	Medical software	—

^{Source: ONET Online technology skills, weighted across related occupations.*}

Sample Job Titles

Real job postings for Mental Health Nursing graduates include:

• Pediatric Oncology Nurse
• Psychiatric RN (Psychiatric Registered Nurse)
• Nurse
• Staff Nurse
• Registered Nurse (RN)
• PACU RN (Post Anesthesia Care Unit Registered Nurse)
• Charge Nurse
• Telephone Triage Nurse
• Special Duty Nurse
• Nurse Clinician
• Endoscopy Registered Nurse (Endoscopy RN)
• Surgical RN (Surgery Registered Nurse)
• Field Nurse
• Circulating Nurse
• Registered Private Duty Nurse

What Can You Do With a Mental Health Nursing Degree?

Graduates with a degree in Mental Health Nursing commonly enter the following occupations:

Occupation	Job Growth	Median Salary	25th–75th Pctile
Registered Nurses	10.2%	$105,741	$83,923–$127,558
Nurse Practitioners	3.3%	$147,651	$118,713–$176,588
Clinical Nurse Specialists	12.3%	$52,889	$43,554–$62,224
Advanced Practice Psychiatric Nurses	0.0%	$143,854	$116,411–$171,298
Nursing Instructors and Teachers, Postsecondary	5.7%	$69,718	$58,585–$80,852
Critical Care Nurses	14.4%	$65,103	$50,966–$79,241
Acute Care Nurses	4.1%	$56,247	$48,254–$64,241

^{Job-growth = projected employment change for the parent occupation. Source: ONET / BLS Employment Projections.*}

Education Typically Required

Across the occupations open to Mental Health Nursing graduates, the typical level of education actually held by current workers is distributed as:

Education Level	Share of Workers
Master’s degree	44.5%
Bachelor’s degree	24.3%
Doctoral degree	10.0%
Associate’s degree (or other 2-year)	8.9%
Postsecondary certificate	7.8%
First professional degree	1.4%
Post-doctoral training	1.4%
Post-master’s certificate	1.3%
High school diploma or equivalent	0.3%
Post-baccalaureate certificate	0.2%

^{Source: ONET Online education / training / experience requirements.*}

How Much Do Mental Health Nursing Graduates Earn?

The U.S. Department of Education tracks median earnings of Mental Health Nursing graduates 1, 4, and 5 years after completion. Wages typically rise steadily as graduates gain experience and move into mid-career roles.

Years Out	Median Earnings
1 year	$83,453
4 years	$80,149
5 years	$90,156

By year 5 out, median earnings rise to $90,156 — roughly 8% above the 1-year mark.

^{Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, field-of-study earnings tracker.}

Online Mental Health Nursing Programs

Online study is reported by IPEDS for Mental Health Nursing. The table below shows how many graduates earned at least some of their coursework online (Distance-Ed Available) versus completing the entire program online (Distance-Ed Only).

Award Level	Distance-Ed Available	Distance-Ed Only
Master’s	35	8
Doctoral (Research)	2	2

^{Distance-Ed Only = degrees completed entirely online; Distance-Ed Available = degrees including at least some online coursework. Source: IPEDS Completions by Distance Education status.}

Is a Degree in Mental Health Nursing Worth It?

On the earnings side, the federal earnings tracker, Mental Health Nursing graduates earn a median of $80,149 four years after completion — roughly 111% above the national median for workers with only a high school diploma (~$38,000).

^{ROI estimate compares the program’s 4-yr median earnings against the 2023 BLS CPS median earnings for high-school-only workers. Source: U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard + BLS Current Population Survey.}

Related Programs

You may also be interested in these closely related fields of study:

Program	Annual Degrees Awarded
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing	311,372
Registered Nursing/Registered Nurse	256,965
Family Practice Nurse/Nursing	14,847
Nursing Practice	9,206
Nursing Administration	7,911
Nursing Science	4,245
Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing, Other	4,125
Adult Health Nurse/Nursing	2,457
Nurse Anesthetist	1,960
Public Health/Community Nurse/Nursing	1,505
Geriatric Nurse/Nursing	641
Critical Care Nursing	596

References

The racial-ethnic minorities count is calculated by taking the total number of students and subtracting white students and international students. This number is then divided by the total number of students to obtain the racial-ethnic minorities percentage.

• College Factual
• National Center for Education Statistics (IPEDS)
• O*NET Online
• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
• U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard

More about our data sources and methodologies.