What is a Mental Health Nurse?

A Mental Health Nurse is a qualified professional who supports people experiencing emotional distress, mental illness, or difficulties with wellbeing. In education and community settings, they often work with young people who are unable to attend school due to anxiety, trauma, or neurodivergent needs.

They focus on promoting mental health, preventing crisis, and supporting recovery through relational, therapeutic, and practical interventions.

Mental Health Nurses working with young people might:

• Visit children at home who are not in school.
• Build supportive, trusting relationships through activity and conversation.
• Offer tailored mental health strategies based on individual needs.
• Work with parents and carers to reduce anxiety and distress.
• Liaise with other services (e.g. CAMHS, social care, schools).

They often act as a bridge between health, education, and family life.

Mental Health Nurses are:

• Degree-trained and registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC).
• Required to complete CPD and specialist training.
• And often have additional training in:
  • Trauma-informed practice.
  • Autism and PDA.
  • Sensory regulation.
  • Crisis prevention and de-escalation.

Mental Health Nurses are often well-placed to:

• Support PDAers who are out of school or disengaged from education.
• Build confidence and trust through non-pressured, interest-led engagement.
• Help families understand anxiety and demand avoidance.
• Offer creative strategies to support wellbeing and reduce overwhelm.

They provide continuity and calm in systems that can feel rigid or unsafe.

The Mental Health Nurses we spoke to described using the following approaches:

• Low-demand, relationship-first engagement, sometimes meeting outdoors or through shared activities.
• Flexibility in how and when they meet, working around the young person’s energy and regulation.
• Sensory-informed sessions, keeping the environment calm and non-threatening.
• Avoiding pressure to perform or speak, letting connection grow naturally.
• Educating other professionals about PDA and advocating for more tailored support plans.
• Helping families and schools understand anxiety as the root of behaviour.

They focus on co-regulation, empathy, and understanding-not control or compliance.

The Mental Health Nurses we spoke to told us that they can:

• Offer practical help in overwhelming situations.
• Reduce the need for crisis services or hospital referrals.
• Build bridges between systems and people.
• Be a calm, consistent presence during difficult times.

PDAers and their families often tell us how confusing and unsettling it can be to meet new professionals – especially when it’s not clear what their job is or what good support looks like. That’s why we asked professionals themselves to tell us, in their own words, what they do. You’ll find their honest, personal answers in the ‘What professionals do’ section of our site.

This is a growing resource, so if you don’t see the role you’re looking for yet, you could ask the person you’re working with to fill in this short form.

Please note: these insights come from individual professionals, not official organisations, so you might find some variation in how people describe their roles. If you’re wondering whether a service you’ve been offered is the right fit, our guides to finding helpful support can help.