Family and psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners (PMHNP) play a critical role in mental Mental Healthcare Management.
Their availability helps close the mental health care gap, ensuring we all have access to vital support to overcome major mental health crises. Growing demand for health care providers has increased the need for different levels of care, with the psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner helping to fill that need.
In today’s blog post, we look at their role in providing comprehensive care.
What is the Role of the Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner?
PMHNPs role acts as educators who help facilitate effective care and understanding of mental illness and treatments.
They act as a positive presence to help support patients and family members while supporting medical peers in patient care. They are skilled, highly educated healthcare professionals specializing in mental health treatment, playing a critical role in establishing long-lasting patient relationships that improve outcomes.
They are critical to tracking patient progress and provide the following services:
- Patient intake screening
- Mental illness diagnosis and treatment plans
- Patient case management
- Educating patients on self-care
- Overseeing and monitoring psychotropic medication
- Psychotherapy
- Integrative therapy interventions
- Crisis intervention
- Psychiatric rehabilitation
- Referrals to other healthcare providers
- Overseeing care coordination
Where do Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioners Work?
PMHNPs work in several different facilities offering Mental Healthcare Management, including:
- Hospitals
- ERs and urgent care clinics
- Nursing homes
- Addiction recovery facilities
- Community mental health centers
- Government agencies
- Inpatient and outpatient clinics
- Private practice
They assist patients of all ages, including children, teens, adults, and the elderly. Much like Family Health Psychiatry doctors, PMHNPs might choose to specialize in assisting specific age groups or patients with specific mental health issues.
What Official Care Can Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioners Provide?
Registered PMHNPs can diagnose, treat, order diagnostic tests, and prescribe medications to patients without physician oversight. As with other mental health care professionals, PMHNPs are educated to consider each patient’s symptoms to develop effective strategies to improve their quality of life and treatment outcomes.
Assessments rely on evaluating physical symptoms and health to rule out or identify underlying medical conditions and avoid risks related to possible side effects of medications. They also collaborate with other healthcare professionals and caregivers, such as family members or spouses, to develop effective treatment plans as part of a patient’s Mental Healthcare Management.
What Skills Do Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioners Have?
PMHNPs require compassion and sensitivity with strong communication skills. They also must be adept at critical thinking to successfully develop Mental Healthcare Management strategies. Their skills also include medical, social and administrative knowledge, such as:
- Respect for confidentiality
- Ability to manage delicate and urgent patient matters
- Strong collaborative skills to interact with colleagues, physicians, staff, and patients
- Problem and priority-setting skills
- Ability to pivot to meet changing patient needs
- Knowledge of medical science
- Neurobiology of psychiatric disorders
- Critical treatment methods
- Management of psychiatric conditions
They also require basic administrative skills to use electronic medical records and effectively track and measure patient progress to develop effective treatment plans.
What Kind of Education Do Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioners Need?
PMHNPs are advanced practice licensed RNs that have completed a graduate program such as a master’s or doctorate in mental health. This includes several competencies, including:
- Neurological development
- Anatomy and physiology
- Clinical screening
- Risk assessment
- Treatments
- Pharmaceuticals
- Psychotherapy theories
- Patient rights
- Standards of care
What is the Difference Between PMHNPs and Psychiatric Nurses?
Psychiatric nurses assist patients by administering medications, helping with daily activities, observing behavior of patients under their care to report to overseeing mental health care professionals, and general care. They can only practice as an RN with physician oversight. PMHNPs, on the other hand, are involved in the actual diagnosis of patients as well as the provision and oversight of treatments.
This includes competence in prescribing and monitoring medication, completing comprehensive mental health assessments, conducting individual, family, and group psychotherapy, knowledge of a wide variety of clinical modalities and theories, and proper approaches for specified psychiatric/mental health conditions.
As licensed specialists, PMHNPs have the skills and education to help children and adults through effective Mental Healthcare management. They can identify symptoms related to dysfunctions in the brain and provide comprehensive treatment options.
They understand the complexities of mental health issues and the importance of interactions between family members and caregivers to help facilitate the necessary home treatments to improve outcomes. In addition, they offer an essential role in filling the gap in the care of patients, sharing valuable knowledge, and providing a critical contribution to the community’s well-being.
The Chicago Mind Solutions Difference
Chicago Mind Solutions works with individuals, offering neuropsychological testing and non-invasive treatment for many mental health conditions. For more information about our treatments and teletherapy options, please contact us at (224) 723-5050 or email info@chicagomindsolutions.com.
