What does a Mental Health Nurse Practitioner do?

Mental health nurse practitioners work with people with high and low prevalence mental health disorders, including mental illnesses or psychological distress.

Services

Mental Health Nurse Practitioners may:

• Identify patient goals and interventions required to achieve them
• Provide a comprehensive mental status assessment
• Contribute to the development of a General Practice Mental Health Care Plan
• Contribute to case conferences
• Assist patients’ families and carers to provide care and support
• Provide psychological education
• Provide counselling and psychological interventions

Patients may be referred to a mental health nurses for:

• Medication education, management and compliance monitoring
• Liaison point between GPs and psychiatrists
• Support and interventions post discharge from a mental health service
• Monitoring of mood, suicidality and self-harm tendencies
• Counselling to manage and contain psychological distress
• Home visiting