Healthcare Practitioners and Technical · Holland code SIC
Advanced Practice Psychiatric Nurses
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 called: Advanced Practice Psychiatric Nurse, PMHNP (Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner), Psychiatric Clinical Nurse Specialist (Psychiatric CNS), Psychiatric NP (Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner), Adult Psychiatric Mental Health APRN (Adult Psychiatric Mental Health Advanced Practice Registered Nurse), APN (Advanced Practice Nurse), Board Certified Psychiatric Mental Health Clinical Nurse Specialist (BC PMH-CNS), Psychiatric APN (Psychiatric Advanced Practice Nurse).
O*NET 29-1141.02
At a glance
- US median annual pay
- $97,550
- Middle half earn $80,330 to $112,350. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
- Most common education
- Master's Degree
- 87% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
- Preparation needed
- Job Zone 5 of 5
- Extensive preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.
- US employment outlook, 2024 to 2034
- +5% · Faster than average
- 3,391,000 jobs in 2024, projected 3,557,100. BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, which groups this with similar roles as "Registered nurses".
What the work involves
The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.
- Assess patients' mental and physical status, based on the presenting symptoms and complaints.
- Diagnose psychiatric disorders and mental health conditions.
- Document patients' medical and psychological histories, physical assessment results, diagnoses, treatment plans, prescriptions, or outcomes.
- Educate patients and family members about mental health and medical conditions, preventive health measures, medications, or treatment plans.
- Write prescriptions for psychotropic medications as allowed by state regulations and collaborative practice agreements.
- Monitor patients' medication usage and results.
- Evaluate patients' behavior to formulate diagnoses or assess treatments.
- Distinguish between physiologically- and psychologically-based disorders, and diagnose appropriately.
Skills and knowledge it leans on
Skills
- Active Listening4.4 / 5
- Speaking4.1 / 5
- Reading Comprehension4.0 / 5
- Writing4.0 / 5
- Critical Thinking4.0 / 5
- Monitoring4.0 / 5
Knowledge areas
- Psychology5.0 / 5
- Therapy and Counseling4.7 / 5
- English Language4.6 / 5
- Medicine and Dentistry4.5 / 5
- Biology4.3 / 5
- Sociology and Anthropology4.1 / 5
Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.
Who tends to enjoy it
How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.
- Realistic26
- Investigative82
- Artistic30
- Social85
- Enterprising17
- Conventional39
The same work abroad
Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.
European occupation titles (ESCO)
- advanced nurse practitioner · DE Akademischer Krankenpfleger/Akademische Krankenschwester · FR infirmier de pratique avancée/infirmière de pratique avancée
- nurse responsible for general care · DE Krankenpfleger Allgemeine Krankenpflege/Krankenschwester Allgemeine Krankenpflege · FR infirmier de soins généraux/infirmière de soins généraux
- specialist nurse · DE Fachkrankenpfleger/Fachkrankenschwester · FR infirmier spécialiste/infirmière spécialiste
- psychotherapist · DE Psychotherapeut/Psychotherapeutin · FR psychothérapeute
Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)
- Registered community nurses (2232)70,400 employed
- Registered specialist nurses (2233)82,300 employed
- Registered nurse practitioners (2234)91,500 employed
Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.
Pay across Europe, for the whole group
Median annual earnings of all employees in “Professionals”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.
| Country | Median pay |
|---|---|
| Belgium | €61,714 |
| Germany | €59,529 |
| Ireland | €56,877 |
| Austria | €55,374 |
| Netherlands | €53,595 |
| Sweden | €43,567 |
| France | €41,515 |
| Spain | €35,735 |
| Italy | €33,649 |
| Portugal | €26,072 |
| Poland | €14,380 |
Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.
Exposure to AI
This occupation sits in the middle third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of +0.23. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.
Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.
Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (29-1141).
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