Mental health nurses work in hospitals and the community, to support people with a range of mental health issues.
£23,023 Starter
to£43,041 Experienced
37 to 38 a week
evenings / weekends / bank holidays on shifts
You can get into this job through:
You can do a degree in mental health nursing approved by the Nursing & Midwifery Council.
You may be able to join a nursing degree on the second year of a course if you already have a degree in:
Full-time courses usually take 3 years.
You'll usually need:
You may be able to do a degree apprenticeship in nursing if you work in a healthcare setting like a hospital.
The apprenticeship takes around 4 years and is a mix of academic study and on-the-job training in the workplace.
You must be supported by your employer to take this route.
You'll usually need:
You'll find it helpful to get some paid or voluntary experience in healthcare, or with a charity that offers mental health services, before you apply for nurse training.
You may be able to qualify through an 18-month mental health nursing conversion course if you're already a registered nurse in a different branch. You'll need to speak to your employer if you want to do this.
you'll need to register with the Nursing & Midwifery Council
You'll find more advice about working and training in nursing from the Royal College of Nursing and Health Careers.
You'll need:
You'll need to:
Your daily duties may include:
You could work at a health centre, at an adult care home, in an NHS or private hospital, at a client's home, at a GP practice or in a prison.
Your working environment may be emotionally demanding.
You may need to wear a uniform.
With experience you could progress to sister or ward manager and be responsible for running a ward or team of nurses in the community. You could go on to become matron or director of nursing.
With further study and experience you could become an advanced nurse practitioner (ANP), clinical nurse specialist (CNS) or nurse consultant. Consultants work directly and independently with patients, carry out research and develop and give training.
You could also train in health visiting, become self-employed or work overseas.
We can't find any apprenticeship vacancies in England for a Mental health nurse right now.
The Find an apprenticeship service can help you with your search, send alerts when new apprenticeships become available and has advice on how to apply.