CAREER PATHS
What Is the Highest-Paid Nurse Practitioner Specialty?
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EveryNurse Staff
- Last Updated: 09/12/2021
According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, nurse practitioners on average earn $55.05 per hour or $114,510 annually. Salaries differ by geographic location and area of specialization, but one specialty outearns the rest no matter your location. This specialty is not only the highest-paid but is the most in-demand around the country. With excellent pay and great job opportunities, what is this mysterious specialty? It is none other than Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioners (PMHNP).
How Much Do Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioners Make?
According to the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners (AANP), PMHNPs make an average $137,000 per year, including base salary, productivity incentives, and bonus pay. This salary may differ depending on the state of practice and years of experience. Currently, due to the dire need for PMHNPs, many employers are offering substantial sign-on bonuses as well.
Additional benefits that PMHNPs may receive include:
- Retirement options
- Health, vision, and dental insurance
- Relocation assistance
- Paid time off
- Loan repayment assistance
- License reimbursement
What Is a PMHNP?
According to the AANP, PMHNPS are advanced practice registered nurses who “assess, diagnose, and treat the mental health needs of patients.” This may seem like a simple definition, but what PMHNPs do is anything but simple. Not only is psychiatric and mental health care provided for individuals, but they also provide care for families, groups, and communities as a whole.
PMHNPs deliver care for a wide variety of mental health diagnoses including, but not limited to:
- Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder
- Depression
- Substance use and abuse
- Anxiety
- Mood disorders
- Eating disorders
- Personality disorders
- Post-traumatic stress disorder
- Psychotic disorders
- Other disruptive behavior disorders
PMHNPs implement therapeutic interventions, including psychotherapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, and prescription medications. In addition to treating the aforementioned psychiatric disorders, PMHNPs can provide education and prevention strategies for some of these illnesses to those at risk. It is important to note that depending on the state of practice, PMHNPs have varying degrees of autonomy with physician oversight.
How Do You Become a Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner?
The road to becoming a PMHNP is similar to that of any of the nurse practitioner specialties. You must first become a registered nurse by completing a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) and passing the NCLEX-RN exam. After obtaining a BSN, a nurse can apply for a master’s or doctoral program specializing in psychiatric-mental health. It is important to note that some master’s and doctoral programs require that a nurse has a specific amount of experience in that specialty before application. Finally, after completing a master’s or doctoral program, a candidate must pass PMHNP boards through the American Nurses Credentialing Center. The final step is to apply for licensure and to maintain it with clinical practice and continuing education.
Where Do Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioners Work?
Similar to other nurse practitioners, PMHNPs can work in a variety of different practice settings. They can work in the following locations:
- Hospitals
- Primary care clinics
- Community health centers
- Schools
- Telemedicine
- Public health facilities
- Forensic health settings
- Prisons
- Substance use treatment programs
- Nursing homes
- Academia
The demand for PHMNPs is constantly growing due to the current mental health crisis in the United States. Additionally, out of the 325,000 licensed nurse practitioners, only 4.7% are PHMNPs which adds to the strain of the current PMHNPs. That is only 15,275 PMHNPs to care for the entire country!
According to the United States Department of Health and Human Services, the country needs more than 6,500 PHMNPs to fulfill the 5,766 vacancies in mental health professional shortage areas.
What Are the Pros of Being a Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner?
There are many benefits to being a PMHNP. In addition to having the highest annual salary, PMHNPs who work in facilities that are not open 24 hours typically have regular working hours with holidays and weekends off. The average patient load for a PMHNP is about 15 patients daily. The complex patient load can be intimidating, but there are options to refer patients to a psychiatrist if the care surpasses their scope of practice. Finally, PMHNPs have a thriving job market and will most likely maintain a flourishing job market for the foreseeable future.
What Are the Cons of Being a Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner?
As with any career, there can be many drawbacks to being a PMHNP. One of the core responsibilities is to manage potent medications with severe side effects, adverse reactions, and drug-drug interactions. Additionally, due to the complexity of mental health and psychiatric conditions, some patient treatment plans may be challenging to manage. If a PMHNP works at a 24-hour facility, they may be required to work long hours and overtime. Depending on where a PMHNP is employed, they may have to work with criminal offenders, and there can be many legalities that accompany these patients. Finally, some psychiatric diagnoses can cause patients to be violent or dangerous.
Final Thoughts
It is no secret that there is a mental health crisis in the United States and PMHNPs are in high demand. Several factors play a role in this high demand outside of the mental health crisis. There are few PMHNP programs available across the country, and the number of psychiatric and mental health patients is increasing exponentially. The combination of the demand of the actual job and the need for more PMHNPs creates the opportunity to be the highest-paid nurse practitioner specialty.
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