Advanced Practice Psychiatric Nurses Career, Salary and Skills

Advanced Practice Psychiatric Nurses have a BLS-reported national median annual wage of $97,550 based on the 2025 OEWS dataset, with reported national employment of 3,379,720. Wage data is published for 433 locations.

Occupation description

Assess, diagnose, and treat individuals and families with mental health or substance use disorders or the potential for such disorders. Apply therapeutic activities, including the prescription of medication, per state regulations, and the administration of psychotherapy.

O*NET code

29-1141.02

Job zone

5

Typical education

Master's Degree

Experience

Over 1 year, up to and including 2 years

National salary and employment

Median annual

$97,550

Hourly median

$46.90

Employment

3,379,720

Data year

2025

National salary distribution

$68,940
10th
$80,330
25th
$97,550
Median
$112,350
75th
$137,470
90th

Top skills

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Typical tasks

  • Assess patients' mental and physical status, based on the presenting symptoms and complaints.
  • Diagnose psychiatric disorders and mental health conditions.
  • Document patients' medical and psychological histories, physical assessment results, diagnoses, treatment plans, prescriptions, or outcomes.
  • Educate patients and family members about mental health and medical conditions, preventive health measures, medications, or treatment plans.
  • Write prescriptions for psychotropic medications as allowed by state regulations and collaborative practice agreements.
  • Monitor patients' medication usage and results.
  • Evaluate patients' behavior to formulate diagnoses or assess treatments.
  • Consult with psychiatrists or other professionals when unusual or complex cases are encountered.
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Technology

  • AUDIT-C
  • Beck Anxiety Inventory
  • Beck Depression Inventory
  • Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale BPRS Nursing Modification
  • California Verbal Learning Test
  • Category Fluency Test
  • Children's Depression Inventory
  • Controlled Oral Word Association Task
  • Electroconvulsive therapy equipment
  • Epic HER
  • Geriatric Depression Scale
  • Google Meet
  • Hendrich Falls Risk Model
  • Invivo Data EPX ePRO Management System
All technology →

Advanced Practice Psychiatric Nurses salary by location

Areas with the highest reported employment for this occupation.

All 433 locations →

Related careers

Career and skills data: O*NET 31.0 (onetcenter.org). Salary and employment data: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS, 2025 (bls.gov/oes). Figures are published survey estimates, not real-time market data.