AI exposure: Advanced Practice Psychiatric Nurses
Assess, diagnose, and treat individuals and families with mental health or substance use disorders or the potential for such disorders. Apply therapeutic activities, including the prescription of medication, per state regulations, and the administration of psychotherapy.
Reading this score
computedAdvanced Practice Psychiatric Nurses is one of the unusual cases where capability and friction are both high. Current systems can produce a great deal of this work, with average capability across its tasks at 2.0 out of 4. Only 20.0% of the weighted task load comes out as exposed, because 33.0% of it runs into something structural. Jobs in this band tend not to disappear. They change shape, and the person stays.
What holds the line here is verification cost. Across this occupation's 24 tasks it averages 2.69 out of 3, the highest of the five friction dimensions. In plain terms, checking the output costs more than producing it. Where an undetected error is expensive, dangerous or irreversible, the economics change. Someone has to verify the work, and verifying can cost as much as doing it. This is the friction most likely to fall as tools for checking improve.
The most exposed thing this job does is Document patients' medical and psychological histories, physical assessment results, diagnoses,..., at 53.3%. The least is Direct or provide home health services, at 0.0%. A gap of 53.3% between two parts of the same job is the reason this index publishes at task level. An occupation-wide number would have hidden both.
Within healthcare practitioner and technical occupations, this one is more exposed than most. The median across the 89 roles in the group is 18.4%, and only 36 of them score higher than this. Occupational families are not uniform, and the spread inside them is often wider than the gap between them.
What would move this score. Of 24 tasks, 6 are currently banded exposed, 12 assisted and 6 untouched. For that distribution to shift materially would take a change in who is permitted to sign the work, which is a question for regulators rather than for engineers. The score is re-computed every quarter against a fresh capability reference, and the change is published rather than quietly applied.
Where the score comes from
judgedEvery task is scored through the standardised work activities it maps to. These are this occupation’s averages on the six rubric dimensions. Capability is what AI can do; the other five are what stands in the way.
| Dimension | Mean | Scale |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | 1.96 | 0-4 |
| Embodiment | 0.98 | 0-3 |
| Presence | 1.77 | 0-3 |
| Accountability | 2.67 | 0-3 |
| Context | 1.92 | 0-3 |
| Verification cost | 2.69 | 0-3 |
What this means in practice
Roles in this band tend to change shape rather than disappear. The output gets drafted faster and the person moves toward review, judgment and accountability. The useful question is not whether to use these tools but who is trusted to sign off on what they produce.
Task by task
24 tasks, O*NET 31.0| Task | Exposed | Assisted | Untouched | Importance | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Document patients' medical and psychological histories, physical assessment results, diagnoses, treatment plans, prescriptions, or outcomes. | 53.3% | 46.7% | 0.0% | 4.87 | exposed |
| Develop, implement, or evaluate programs such as outreach activities, community mental health programs, and crisis situation response activities. | 45.0% | 30.0% | 25.0% | 3.29 | exposed |
| Interpret diagnostic or laboratory tests, such as electrocardiograms (EKGs) and renal functioning tests. | 40.0% | 35.0% | 25.0% | 3.86 | exposed |
| Evaluate patients' behavior to formulate diagnoses or assess treatments. | 30.0% | 45.0% | 25.0% | 4.83 | assisted |
| Develop and implement treatment plans. | 30.0% | 45.0% | 25.0% | 4.70 | assisted |
| Participate in activities aimed at professional growth and development, including conferences or continuing education activities. | 30.0% | 20.0% | 50.0% | 4.39 | exposed |
| Monitor the use and status of medical and pharmaceutical supplies. | 30.0% | 20.0% | 50.0% | 3.67 | exposed |
| Teach classes in mental health topics, such as stress reduction. | 26.7% | 23.3% | 50.0% | 2.76 | exposed |
| Distinguish between physiologically- and psychologically-based disorders, and diagnose appropriately. | 25.0% | 50.0% | 25.0% | 4.77 | assisted |
| Diagnose psychiatric disorders and mental health conditions. | 20.0% | 55.0% | 25.0% | 4.87 | assisted |
| Develop practice protocols for mental health problems, based on review and evaluation of published research. | 20.0% | 30.0% | 50.0% | 3.59 | assisted |
| Refer patients requiring more specialized or complex treatment to psychiatrists, primary care physicians, or other medical specialists. | 16.7% | 33.3% | 50.0% | 4.17 | assisted |
| Educate patients and family members about mental health and medical conditions, preventive health measures, medications, or treatment plans. | 13.3% | 36.7% | 50.0% | 4.87 | assisted |
| Monitor patients' medication usage and results. | 13.3% | 36.7% | 50.0% | 4.86 | assisted |
| Collaborate with interdisciplinary team members, including psychiatrists, psychologists, or nursing staff, to develop, implement, or evaluate treatment plans. | 13.3% | 36.7% | 50.0% | 4.32 | assisted |
| Consult with psychiatrists or other professionals when unusual or complex cases are encountered. | 13.3% | 36.7% | 50.0% | 4.22 | assisted |
| Participate in treatment team conferences regarding diagnosis or treatment of difficult cases. | 13.3% | 36.7% | 50.0% | 4.04 | assisted |
| Assess patients' mental and physical status, based on the presenting symptoms and complaints. | 10.0% | 40.0% | 50.0% | 4.91 | assisted |
| Write prescriptions for psychotropic medications as allowed by state regulations and collaborative practice agreements. | 8.3% | 16.7% | 75.0% | 4.86 | untouched |
| Conduct individual, group, or family psychotherapy for those with chronic or acute mental disorders. | 3.3% | 21.7% | 75.0% | 4.41 | untouched |
| Provide routine physical health screenings to detect or monitor problems such as heart disease and diabetes. | 3.3% | 21.7% | 75.0% | 3.57 | untouched |
| Administer medications, including those administered by injection. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.56 | untouched |
| Treat patients for routine physical health problems. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.50 | untouched |
| Direct or provide home health services. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.50 | untouched |
Task text and importance ratings sourced from O*NET 31.0. Shares computed. The occupation score is the importance-weighted mean.
Occupations either side of this one
The four closest scores in the same occupational family, then the four closest anywhere in the index.
Read this carefully. Exposure is not displacement. A high score means current AI systems can produce this work, not that anyone will stop paying a person to do it. Adoption depends on economics, regulation and inertia that this index deliberately does not model. How the score is built.