Mental Health Nurse

Typical responsibilities include:

• Assessing and planning nursing care, including some physical health care
• Giving advice and arranging support for patients, relatives, and carers
• Administering medication and monitoring effect
• Working with patients on a personalised safety plan to reduce their risk of harm, either to themselves or to others
• Offering mentorship to student nurses and junior colleagues
• Monitoring for signs of deterioration in both physical and mental state 

Valuable personal qualities of a Mental Health Nurse:

• Be able to listen without judgement.
• Have self-awareness.
• Be skilled in being alongside distress, anger, fear, and vulnerability.
• Adopt a flexible communication style.
• Be respectful.
• Be available.
• Be honest.
• Be kind.

Obtaining an undergraduate university degree is the primary path to becoming a Registered Mental Health Nurse. You can apply for full-time undergraduate nursing programmes through UCAS. This course usually takes 3 years to complete and involves a combination of academic study and placements in clinical settings. Application requirements vary, but you are likely to need at least two (typically three) A levels or the equivalent (for example a T-Level in Health). You will also need at least five GCSEs with a minimum grade of C or 4, including English, Maths, and a science subject. Eligible university graduates of relevant subjects may instead choose to study a postgraduate nursing programme, usually lasting 2 years. Contact the university for exact entry requirements and eligibility criteria.

If choosing to study mental health nursing at university, you may be eligible to receive at least £6,000 a year towards your studies as part of the Learning Support Fund. Your personal circumstances may mean you could receive more. Find out more about the Learning Support Fund. 

There are also other routes into mental health nursing roles, such as the Registered Nurse Degree Apprenticeship or the Registered Nursing Associate Apprenticeship. Nursing apprenticeships combine on-the-job training with classroom learning. Nursing apprenticeships are available through some local NHS organisations, and numbers are expected to grow. Find local apprenticeship vacancies here.

Your standard working week will be around 37.5 hours. In some roles, such as when working on a ward, this may mean working a shift pattern that includes nights, evenings, weekends, and bank holidays. However, there are many other roles where you may work office hours Monday – Friday, such as in a community mental health team like an Assessment and Treatment Service. Many NHS organisations also offer flexible working arrangements, which means you can negotiate hours to suit your needs.

As a mental health nurse, you’ll be paid on the Agenda for Change (AFC) pay system, typically starting at band 5. Experienced mental health nurses may progress to band 6, with ward managers and team leads often progressing to band 7.

From 2023, as part of a ‘guaranteed employment model’ pilot with Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (SPFT) and the University of Brighton, student mental health nurses from the university are guaranteed a job with SPFT at the end of their studies. This means, providing students achieve their qualification and register with the Nursing and Midwifery Council, there will be no uncertainty about finding a job at the end of the course.

Once you have qualified as a mental health nurse, there are a wide range of development opportunities available. 

Some nurses specialise in working with children and adolescents, with older adults, in perinatal services, or with people with eating disorders. You may choose to work on a ward in a hospital, in patient’s homes within the community, at an outpatient clinic, in urgent or emergency care such as in A&E, or even in prison and police services. Some mental health nurses develop their career further by becoming non-medical prescribes, or by training to deliver therapies such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) or Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT). Some mental health nurses also train to become Approved Mental Health Practitioners (AMHPs) in order to conduct assessments under the Mental Health Act. Other mental health nurses may choose to progress into management, teaching or clinical research roles.

Nurses have a statutory responsibility to keep up to date with current knowledge and maintain clinical supervision through Continuing Professional Development (CPD). The NHS offers a wide range of training and development options to support this. You can find examples of further training on this website.

Graphic from HEE Mental Health Nursing Competence and Career Framework, 2020.