What Do APN Psychotherapists Do (including Their Typical Day At Work)

Job Description

APN Psychotherapists provide advanced nursing care for patients with psychiatric disorders. May provide psychotherapy under the direction of a psychiatrist. They also monitor patients’ medication usage and results.

Other tasks include:

• Document patients’ medical and psychological histories, physical assessment results, diagnoses, treatment plans, prescriptions, or outcomes.
• Diagnose psychiatric disorders and mental health conditions.
• Evaluate patients’ behavior to formulate diagnoses or assess treatments.
• Distinguish between physiologically and psychologically based disorders and diagnose appropriately.
• Assess patients’ mental and physical status based on the presenting symptoms and complaints.
• Educate patients and family members about mental health and medical conditions, preventive health measures, medications, or treatment plans.

We asked APN Psychotherapists how satisfied they are with their job. Here is what they said.

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74% of them said they were satisfied with their job and 82% said they find that their job makes the world a better place or helps to make someone else’s life better.

Typical Day At Work

On a daily basis, APN Psychotherapists monitor patients’ medication usage and results. They write prescriptions for psychotropic medications as allowed by state regulations and collaborative practice agreements.

A typical day for an Advanced Practice Psychiatric Nurse will also include:

• Document patients’ medical and psychological histories, physical assessment results, diagnoses, treatment plans, prescriptions, or outcomes.
• Distinguish between physiologically and psychologically based disorders and diagnose appropriately.
• Diagnose psychiatric disorders and mental health conditions.
• Evaluate patients’ behavior to formulate diagnoses or assess treatments.
• Assess patients’ mental and physical status based on the presenting symptoms and complaints.

We asked some APN Psychotherapists a few questions to find out what else does their work day look like. Here is what we found.

	Do you have telephone conversations everyday in this job?	86% said yes
	How important is it to work in a team in this job?	48% said very important
	Do you have group discussions everyday in this job?	97% said yes
	Do you talk or work with customers everyday in this job?	45% said yes
	Do you have to deal with angry customers everyday in this job?	28% said yes
	Do you have to make decisions everyday in this job?	57% said yes

Other responsibilities

Besides their typical day, APN Psychotherapists also develop, implement, or evaluate programs such as outreach activities, community mental health programs, and crisis situation response activities. They may also participate in treatment team conferences regarding diagnosis or treatment of difficult cases.

On a weekly to monthly basis, APN Psychotherapists Participate in activities aimed at professional growth and development including conferences or continuing education activities. They might also Teach classes in mental health topics such as stress reduction.

In addition, they Conduct individual, group, or family psychotherapy for those with chronic or acute mental disorders.

Although specific duties may vary, many of them Consult with psychiatrists or other professionals when unusual or complex cases are encountered.

To some APN Psychotherapists, it is also their responsibility to Develop practice protocols for mental health problems based on review and evaluation of published research.

Working life

More than 40 hours per week

Regular schedule like a 9 to 5

In a typical work week as an Advanced Practice Psychiatric Nurse, you can expect to work more than 40 hours per week.

Is this right for me

People who are suitable for this job tends to like working with, communicating with, and teaching people. They like helping or providing service to others..

They also like working with ideas, and require an extensive amount of thinking. They like searching for facts and figuring out problems mentally.

You can read more about these career personality types here.

Explore other careers

http://www.bls.gov/OOH/healthcare/registered-nurses.htm

http://www.nursingworld.org/

http://www.asrn.org/

https://www.discovernursing.com/