Description
Direct and advance psychiatric nursing care across inpatient, outpatient, and emergency behavioral health settings. Provide expert assessment and treatment, guide staff practice, and ensure adherence to evidence-based mental health protocols, safety standards, and regulations.
- • Coordinate or conduct educational programs on psychiatric assessment, de-escalation, and trauma-informed care.
- • Perform comprehensive mental health assessments, including mental status and suicide risk evaluations.
- • Evaluate the quality and effectiveness of psychiatric nursing practice and behavioral health systems.
- • Provide direct care by conducting psychiatric evaluations, ordering tests, and prescribing psychotropic medications where authorized.
- • Deliver specialized care within subspecialties such as child/adolescent, geriatric, substance use, or crisis stabilization.
- • Maintain behavioral health policies, procedures, and seclusion/restraint and infection control standards.
- • Collaborate with psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, and community agencies to coordinate care.
- • Develop behavioral health nursing philosophies, goals, policies, and procedures.
- • Develop, implement, or evaluate standards of psychiatric nursing across inpatient, partial hospitalization, and integrated care settings.
- • Develop and update individualized care plans, safety plans, and relapse-prevention strategies.
- • Make clinical recommendations to providers, payers, patients, and organizations regarding psychiatric care.
- • Plan, evaluate, or modify psychopharmacologic and psychotherapeutic regimens based on ongoing assessments.
- • Provide patients and families with information to make informed mental health treatment decisions.
- • Instruct nursing staff in suicide prevention, therapeutic communication, and use of screening tools.
- • Direct or supervise nursing care within the therapeutic milieu and group programming.
- • Identify training needs and conduct simulations or drills for psychiatric emergencies.
- • Stay current with psychiatric nursing evidence, guidelines, and regulations.
- • Monitor and evaluate patients’ psychiatric status and medical comorbidities with interdisciplinary teams.
- • Participate in behavioral health research or quality improvement, including protocol and compliance reviews.
- • Coordinate discharge and aftercare planning, including linkage to community and recovery supports.
- • Prepare clinical documentation and reports on psychiatric assessments, interventions, and outcomes.
- • Write nursing orders and standing protocols for behavioral health units.
- • Provide consultation to emergency, inpatient, or primary care teams on behavioral health issues.
- • Develop and maintain behavioral health policies and patient care standards based on evidence.
- • Design and implement evaluation programs to measure psychiatric nursing quality and outcomes.
- • Design patient education programs on diagnoses, medications, coping skills, and safety planning.
- • Lead behavioral health compliance with accreditation and regulatory requirements, including seclusion/restraint.
- • Chair or participate in behavioral health committees and workgroups.
- • Teach group or individual psychoeducation to support informed treatment decisions.
- • Coach and mentor nursing staff to advance psychiatric competencies and professional growth.
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Tasks & skills:
O*NET occupational data (work activities, skills, knowledge).
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Last reviewed: Jan 2026
