The Future of Psychiatric Nursing and Integrated Behavioral Health

Psychiatric nursing is a promising career choice for nurses who enjoy working directly with patients and helping to improve behavioral and mental health outcomes. This nursing specialty has great benefits, a promising job outlook, and flexible travel opportunities. 

If you’re an aspiring or current nursing professional with distinct empathy, clear communication skills, and effective problem-solving, psychiatric nursing may be a great specialty to consider. There is a wide range of facilities and locations in need of psychiatric nursing support, and the field of behavioral health is significantly growing. This specialty is a fulfilling career choice in increasingly high demand.

What Does a Psychiatric Nurse Do?

Psychiatric nurses are specialized practitioners in both physical and mental health care. You can specialize in psychiatric nursing with a nursing degree and work at many types of healthcare facilities. Patient populations can include many different age groups as well as helping individuals with depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, substance abuse, and eating disorders.

Responsibilities as a psych nurse might include:

• Evaluating patient needs: Psych nurses help more with daily living activities compared to therapists, psychiatrists, and other members of a behavioral health team. They interact directly with patients to manage conditions, side effects, or other challenges.
• Creating treatment plans: With firsthand patient experience and observations, psychiatric nurses work with a behavioral health team to develop the right treatment plan for patients. Their involved routines and direct relationships with patients are imperative to creating treatment plans that effectively take in the whole picture of a patient’s situation.
• Providing counseling services: A psychiatric nurse can provide guidance and educational support as they help patients navigate physical and mental health challenges. They are also a trusted source of support to patient families and loved ones.
• Managing and administering medications: As part of managing symptoms and supporting patient treatment plans, psychiatric nurses help to administer medications and manage patient schedules.

Some nurses choose to earn an advanced degree and become psychiatric nurse practitioners. As a psychiatric NP, your responsibilities would expand to more clinical autonomy, including assessing mental and physical health needs, diagnosing disorders, and treating patients. According to the American Psychiatric Nurses Association, this nursing career path enjoys strong compensation and career flexibility due to a high demand for behavioral and mental health care services. 

Benefits and Challenges of Psych Nursing

The demand for psychiatric nurses is growing significantly. Almost one in every five adults in the U.S. lives with a mental health condition, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. This growing need for behavioral and mental health care has resulted in an increased demand for qualified providers to help manage behavioral health. You can be sure to have a variety of options to choose from when pursuing a career in psychiatric nursing, along with these other benefits of the specialty.

Benefits of Working in Psych Nursing

• Positive impact: A compassionate nature and empathetic care are invaluable in patient relationships. The ability to play a positive caretaking role in patient relationships is uniquely distinct across psychiatric nursing, and that positive impact can also significantly increase job satisfaction and help prevent burnout.
• Job security: While nursing is already a secure job choice, psychiatric nursing is in even more demand than other specialties. The demand, scope, and opportunities for psychiatric nurses have increased even more since the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Job options: Multiple facility types need psychiatric nurses on staff, which can help you find the right position for your situation and preferences. There’s a need for psychiatry support throughout hospitals, emergency rooms, schools, long-term care homes, correctional facilities, private clinics, telehealth organizations, and more.
• Work hours: Many facilities requiring psychiatric nursing support offer schedule stability and more predictable work hours than some other shifts. For some, these hours may be a great alternative to 12-hour work shifts offered across other nursing specialties.
• Collaboration: As a psychiatric nurse, many professionals will depend on you as an interdisciplinary resource in patient management. You will be a bridge between therapists, social workers, psychiatrists, family members, and more to give the best patient care possible.

Challenges of Working in Psych Nursing

A few challenges are sometimes assumed to exist within psychiatric healthcare but they are often the result of stigmas or are no more prevalent in psychiatric nursing than across the nursing industry as a whole.

• Burnout: Positions within the healthcare industry are in high demand, and burnout prevention is more important than ever. The patient relationships within psychiatric care may also present a strong need to proactively avoid compassion fatigue. 
• Unique patient needs: The mental health needs of patients can often come with unique roadblocks, such as patient denial or uncooperative behavior. But, bringing compassion and understanding to the patient relationship will help you navigate each patient’s situation.
• Unpredictability: The research behind mental health diagnoses and behaviors is still evolving. Navigating this ever-changing field requires adapting to unpredictable behaviors or newly developed best practices.

The list of benefits of a career in psychiatric nursing is growing, as is the need for more nurses and healthcare professionals to fill those positions. The challenges that may arise from the field are being met with research and resources to continue to navigate behavioral health effectively for both patients and providers. 

Travel Psychiatric Nursing Jobs

Travel opportunities within the nursing field, and psychiatric nursing in particular, are abundant and growing. Whether you’re looking for your next psych nurse job or a travel position, there are many travel nursing opportunities available to consider. 

If you’re interested in a psychiatric nursing travel opportunity, check out these five steps to becoming a travel nurse. Many facilities across the country need travel nursing support from psych nurses. Traveling as a nurse is a great way to expand your skills, see different parts of the country, and work in new healthcare facilities.

Psychiatric Nursing Jobs at SHC

The complex world of mental illness and psychiatric nursing can be challenging, but with a growing need for nurses and an increase in professional support and resources, this specialty may be the right fit for your nursing career. Promoting mental health and wellness while providing patients with medication management, therapy, crisis intervention, and effective case management can be a genuinely rewarding career path.

Supplemental Health Care was founded by two psychiatric travel nurses, and now, SHC is the longest-tenured and most experienced staffing company in behavioral and mental health workforce solutuions. You can contact our recruiting team to learn more about a variety of available opportunities in behavioral health and more. Find your next position at SHC as a leader in integrated behavioral health today – use our tech-enabled mobile app to quickly apply and search for jobs across the country.