What degree do you need to be a psychiatric nurse?

You need a bachelor's degree in the science of nursing to be a psychiatric nurse. After you get your bachelor's degree, you must then pass the National Council Licensure Exam (NCLEX) to become a registered nurse in the state in which you wish to practice.

How To Become A Psychiatric Nurse: What It Is and Career Path

What is a psychiatric nurse and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted experts

Lisa Rebeschi Ph.D.,

Kim Raines

Psychiatric nurses coordinate, administer, and evaluate treatment protocols aimed at psychiatric difficulties. They attend to inpatient and outpatient psychiatric cases and report prominent changes in the symptoms of patients. Additionally, they evaluate the psychiatric states of patients to determine the treatment plans to deploy. The nurses administer psychotropic and similar medications to patients. They also supervise compliance with non-medicinal treatment methods. As a psychiatric nurse, you may have to restrain, console, and medicate uncontrollable patients. You will also conduct planned psychoeducation for families. You can find jobs in hospitals, physicians' offices, clinics, or at patients' homes.

Employers seek candidates with an associate's or bachelor's degree in a related discipline and years of relevant experience. Candidates must have a state license. To excel in this job, you need collaboration, interpersonal, resolution, problem-solving, resilience, critical thinking, and communication skills. The average salary for this role is $77,300 per year. It ranges between $70,700 to $87,300.

What general advice would you give to a Psychiatric Nurse?

Lisa Rebeschi Ph.D.

Associate Dean of the School of Nursing Professor of Nursing, Quinnipiac University

One of the suggestions for new graduates is the importance of self-care. We have long known of the demanding nature of the nursing practice. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has magnified the nursing role's critical importance and the unique contributions made by nursing professionals. As the healthcare environment is extremely complex and challenging, nurses must remember to advocate for themselves and prioritize self-care.

ScorePsychiatric NurseUS Average

Salary

5.1

Avg. Salary $64,922

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

10.0

Growth rate 6%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

6.4

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.44%

Asian 8.86%

Black or African American 11.67%

Hispanic or Latino 9.46%

Unknown 4.30%

White 65.27%

Gender

female 81.86%

male 18.14%

Age - 43

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 43

Stress level

10.0

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

9.1

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

7.8

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a psychiatric nurse

Explore psychiatric nurse education requirements

Most common psychiatric nurse degrees

Bachelor's

44.7 %

Associate

37.0 %

Master's

9.8 %

Start to develop specific psychiatric nurse skills

Skills	Percentages
Patients	24.60%
Mental Illness	11.21%
CPR	6.98%
Therapeutic Interventions	4.65%
Psychiatric Care	4.34%

Complete relevant psychiatric nurse training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New psychiatric nurses learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a psychiatric nurse based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real psychiatric nurse resumes.

Obtain the necessary licensing

Becoming a licensed psychiatric nurse usually require a college degree. However, you need to pass an exam to become a licensed psychiatric nurse in most of states. 43 states require psychiatric nurses to have license for their work. You can see the list of states below.

State	Education	Exam	License url
Alabama	Degree required	State exam required	Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN)
Alaska	Degree required	Third-party exam required	Nurse, Licensed Practical
Arkansas	Degree required	Third-party exam required	Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN)
California	Degree required	Third-party exam required	Licensed Vocational Nurse
Colorado	Degree required	Third-party exam required	Licensed Practical Nurse

Gain additional psychiatric nurse certifications

Psychiatric nurse certifications can show employers you have a baseline of knowledge expected for the position. Certifications can also make you a more competitive candidate. Even if employers don't require a specific psychiatric nurse certification, having one may help you stand out relative to other applicants.

The most common certifications for psychiatric nurses include Psychiatric-Mental Health Nursing (RN-BC) and Certified Nurse Assistant (CNA).

More About Certifications

Research psychiatric nurse duties and responsibilities

Organize and manage regular clinics involving external physicians, including ophthalmology, ENT, Med/Surg, orthopedics, and podiatry professionals.
Staff register nurse, acute medical rehabilitation unit.
Perform emergency triage differentiating psychiatric versus medical conditions.
Perform triage assessment, psychiatric evaluations, medication administration, psychotherapy and case management.

Prepare your psychiatric nurse resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your psychiatric nurse resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a psychiatric nurse resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable psychiatric nurse resume templates

Build a professional psychiatric nurse resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your psychiatric nurse resume.