Mental health nurse

Mental health nurses are qualified medical experts who work as part of a multi-disciplinary team, made up of psychiatrists, occupational therapists, and other healthcare professionals. 

They deliver clinical treatment and care for a variety of patients, so they need to have medical expertise combined with strong interpersonal skills. They talk to patients about their problems and assess them to help establish the best way to care for them. A huge part of a mental health nurse’s job is to build trusting relationships with patients, as well as responding to their physical and emotional needs. Every patient is different, so it’s about what’s right for the individual. 

The biggest employer is the NHS, but there are also private practices. 

You can be based in a hospital or the community.

In a hospital you might work in a:

• psychiatric intensive care unit
• psychiatric ward
• outpatient unit
• specialist unit dealing with eating disorders

In the community you could work at a: 

• GP surgery
• prison
• community healthcare centre
• residential centre
• patient’s own home

Mental health nurses working in the NHS will usually start on band 5, which goes from £24,214 to £30,112, and you’ll do 37.5 hours per week as standard. You might work in a shift pattern if you work in a residential setting. With further experience, training, and qualifications, mental health nurses can move into more senior posts with higher salary bands.

If you work in the private or voluntary sectors, or another public sector organisation, your pay and benefits will vary.

As you progress through your career there are plenty of options.

You can specialise in an area such as:

• alcohol or substance misuse
• forensic psychology
• psychotherapeutic interventions 
• working with offenders
• working with children and adolescents
• trans-cultural psychiatry (looking at how mental disorders and their treatment can be influenced by cultural and ethnic factors)

You could also move to work in management, teaching or clinical research.

Part of a mental health nurse’s role is to assess patients and make decisions about the best course of action to provide the most effective care and treatment. Some decisions can be relatively simple, but others may be very complex.

To be a successful mental health nurse, you’ll need excellent communication skills – with the patient, their family, and your colleagues. 

You’ll need the ability to listen to patients and their families, to understand their needs and plan the right care and treatment. But this isn’t always straightforward. Patients with mental health problems can’t always tell you what the problem is, so you also need to be good at picking up subtle cues and noticing their behaviour. 

Mental health nurses care for people from the very young to the very old, and from every section of our society. Each patient is affected differently by a range of conditions, so you need to be able to adapt the care and treatment you give.

Patients can also be unpredictable, so it’s important to react quickly and use good judgement to manage the situation. 

You need to be able to deal with the emotions you’ll encounter every day. You need to stay professional, and maintain positive mental and physical health, both for yourself and so you can provide the best care to your patients.

A mental health nurse works as part of a multi-disciplinary team alongside a lot of other qualified medical professionals, so that patients get the best all-round care and treatment. 

The multi-disciplinary team includes:

• GPs
• psychologists
• social workers
• psychiatrists
• occupational therapists
• arts therapists 
• healthcare assistants

Each mental health nurse offers different experiences, skill sets, and resources that lead to better overall health outcomes for patients.

To become a learning disability nurse you’ll need to train and study at a degree level in a course approved by the Nursing & Midwifery Council. Some degree courses let you study another area of nursing alongside learning disability nursing.

You may be able to join a nursing degree on the second year of a course if you already have a degree in:

• a health-related subject
• psychology
• life sciences
• social work

Full-time courses usually take three years.

You can find a learning disability nursing course to suit you using the NHS’ Course Finder tool.

Entry requirements

You'll usually need: 

• five GCSEs 9 to 4 (A* to C), including English, maths, and a science
• two or three A levels, including a science, or a Level 3 diploma or Access to higher education in health, science or nursing

You may be able to do a degree apprenticeship in nursing if you work in a healthcare setting like a hospital. The apprenticeship takes around four years and is a mix of academic study and on-the-job training. You must be supported by your employer to take this route.

Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

• four or five GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), and college qualifications like A levels for a degree apprenticeship

You may be able to qualify through an 18-month learning disability nursing conversion course if you're already a registered nurse in a different branch. You'll need to speak to your employer if you want to do this.