As a registered mental health nurse (RMN), you provide support and medical care to adults, young people and children facing a range of mental health conditions. These conditions can leave people feeling stigmatised and discriminated against. Through your work, you will empower them and enable them to lead fulfilling lives.
Within this blog, we look in detail at the role and responsibilities of a mental health nurse, the different settings you can work within and the skills and qualities that make a great RMN. We also provide salary information along with details of Thornbury Nursing pay rates and the mental health nursing placements that we currently have available.
Mental health nurses are responsible for providing mental health treatment and care to adults, young people, and children in both hospital and community settings.
The role of a mental health nurse includes:
As an RMN, you are often required to think on your feet, as patients can sometimes be unpredictable. This means that it’s important to be adaptable and able to work under pressure.
RMNs work in a variety of settings. These include:
When working as an RMN in a hospital, you’ll typically be based in either a psychiatric unit, a specialist ward or an outpatient department. And your daily activities are likely to be focused on building relationships with your clients, their families and carers. Physical care will be part of the work, but it’s certainly not the only aspect of the job.
If you take on a community mental health nurse role, you’ll care for people outside of this hospital setting. Your responsibilities will depend on the environment in which you work, but will likely include reviewing, treating, and monitoring patients, while providing advice, information and support to patients and where necessary, their families or carers too.
RMNs who choose to work in agency roles can gain experience quickly in a variety of settings. This can be particularly beneficial for those looking to grow and develop, as well as those wanting to broaden their skill set.
Being a mental health nurse is a vocation full of challenges and great rewards. Along with having the right nursing qualifications, there are skills and qualities that are important to have as a mental health nurse.
Personality traits and skills that come in handy include:
For RMNs who choose to work with an agency, it’s also important to be flexible and adaptable. As an agency mental health nurse, you’ll often be working in new environments, with new teams and to new schedules, so it’s important to be able to embrace the variety that this type of role offers.
There are various reasons why people choose to specialise in mental health nursing. These often include the following:
Find more information about working with Thornbury Nursing here.
If you are looking to become a mental health nurse, there are a few different paths available:
In the NHS, a mental health nurse’s salary is determined by a banded pay scale called Agenda for Change. The Agenda for Change pay rates for 2023/24 are:
| Band | Starting hourly rate |
| Band 5 Newly qualified RMNs | £14.53 |
| Band 6 More experienced RMNs | £18.10 |
| Band 7 RMNs in a management position or working at a more senior level | £22.37 |
| Band 8 RMNs at consulting level | £26.06 |
Agency pay rates for RMNs tend to be significantly higher. For example, RMNs can earn up to £54.50/hour with Thornbury Nursing (plus more on Bank Holidays). This is in recognition of the high level of skill, experience, commitment and flexibility it takes to be an agency nurse.
If you would like to work as a registered mental health nurse with Thornbury and take advantage of our industry-leading pay rates and benefits package, please register here.
We are looking for exceptional nurses and midwives to join our team. Register with Thornbury to access high rates of pay, paid mileage and support with revalidation.
