President’s Message: Know the Power of Diversity
How often do you or those you serve experience stereotyping, stigmatization, prejudice, or discrimination? Many of us might answer, “Too often!” Keep Reading

Member News
7 members made the news this month for their work. Find Out More

Emerging Theories on the Pathophysiology of Psychiatric Disorders
APNA member Lyons Hardy shares a preview of fresh alternatives to outdated theories, which she’ll present at the APNA Clinical Psychopharmacology Institute this June. Get a sneak peek

Patricia Mulvaney Roth’s Advice on Crafting an Abstract
Patricia Mulvaney-Roth, DNP, MSN, APRN, PMHCNS-BC, AGCNS, Chair of the APNA Scholarly Review Committee, says there is one thing strong abstracts have in common: See what it is

Review by an APNA Member: “Understanding the Brain Behavior Connection”
APNA member Roshanda Bridgraj, RN, BSN, PMH-BC, CARN recently completed this online APNA Certificate Program. Here’s what she thought

Psychiatric Nursing Workforce Survey: Results and Implications
A new APNA member-authored publication in JAPNA details the national survey of PMH-RNs and PMH-APRNs that gathered data on their demographic, educational, and practice characteristics. Curious about the findings?  Explore the results. And don’t forget about APNA’s data and stakeholder reports on this survey, available here.

Board of Directors Column on Inclusive Health Care in Newest Issue of JAPNA
In his latest column APNA President Zim Okoli, speaks to inclusive health care: “For PMH Nursing, inclusive mental health care is always responsive to the patient perspective, recovery-oriented, trauma-informed, and sustains cultural humility…” Read More. For the newest research & scholarship, including articles on workplace violence, improving patient-centered care for veterans, and nursing leadership roles, start browsing the January/February issue of JAPNA.

Make space in your 2023 planner for APNA events!
Happy New Year, APNA! Mark your calendar for the Clinical Psychopharmacology Institute June 8-11 in Reston, VA and the APNA 37th Annual Conference October 4-7 in Lake Buena Vista, FL. See the full list of 2023 events

Sleep complaints by patients with a major depressive episode (MDE) may be a red flag signaling a higher risk for developing other psychiatric disorders, new research suggests. The researchers note that sleep disturbance is "one of the most common symptoms" associated with MDD and may be "both a consequence and a cause." Moreover, improving sleep disturbances for patients with MDE "tends to improve depressive symptom and outcomes," reported MedScape. Full Story

Virtual reality (VR)–based exposure therapy is as effective as traditional exposure therapy for combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Those with comorbid depression may particularly benefit most from its use, a study in Translational Psychiatry has found. The study also revealed that certain genetic markers seemed to hint at whether a person with PTSD would benefit from additional treatment with the cognitive enhancer D-cycloserine (DCS). Full Story

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) released the results of its annual National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), which shows how people living in America reported about their experience with mental health conditions, substance use, and pursuit of treatment in 2021. The 2021 NSDUH national report includes selected estimates by race, ethnicity, and age group. It is the most comprehensive report on substance use and mental health indicators that SAMHSA has released to date. Full Story

The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline received over 1.7 million calls, texts and chats in its first five months. That's nearly half a million more than made with the old 10-digit suicide prevention lifeline during the same period the year before. A recent NPR interview examines how effective the national mental health helpline has been so far. Full Story

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), is announcing Notices of Funding Opportunities (NOFOs) for five grant programs aimed at preventing substance misuse and treating substance use disorder (SUD) throughout the nation. The grant opportunities total about $73.4 million. Full Story

For the 21st consecutive year, nurses ranked #1 in Gallup's annual Most Honest and Ethical Professions Poll. The American public rated nurses the highest among a host of professionals, including medical doctors, pharmacists and high school teachers. Full Story

Telehealth for common mental health issues grew up to 20 fold in the first year of the COVID-19 Pandemic, more than compensating for a concurrent drop in in-person care for a number of conditions, a RAND Corporation study shows, reported HealthLeaders.com. Full Story

Veterans in acute suicidal crisis can now go to any VA or non-VA health care facility for emergency health care at no cost – including inpatient or crisis residential care for up to 30 days and outpatient care for up to 90 days. Veterans do not need to be enrolled in the VA system to use this benefit. Full Story

The Food and Drug Administration approved the Alzheimer's drug lecanemab developed by Eisai Co Ltd and Biogen Inc for patients in the earliest stages of the disease, reported Reuters. The drug, to be sold under the brand Leqembi, belongs to a class of treatments that aim to slow the advance of the neurodegenerative disease by removing sticky clumps of the toxic protein beta amyloid from the brain. Full Story

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Rykindo (risperidone extended-release injectable suspension for intramuscular [IM] use) for the treatment of schizophrenia in adults, and as monotherapy or as adjunctive therapy to lithium or valproate for the maintenance treatment of bipolar I disorder in adults, reported MPR. Rykindo, an atypical antipsychotic, is intended for intramuscular injection once every 2 weeks. Full Story

The Nurse Corps Loan Repayment Program is now accepting applications. The program provides loan repayment to nurses in exchange for a minimum two-year full-time service commitment, at an eligible health care facility with a critical shortage of nurses or an eligible school of nursing. Click here to learn more and apply.

Hospice and behavioral health care could increasingly intersect in coming years as demand for specialized care grows, reported Hospice News. In some respects, the two sectors are already inextricably linked, given the holistic nature of hospice care, including attention to patients’ psychosocial and spiritual needs as well as bereavement support for families. But the prevalence of mental health conditions and related concerns like isolation and substance abuse mean that hospice and behavioral health providers may need to find more ways to integrate their services. Full Story

People with disordered eating should also be evaluated for mood disorders and food insecurity and vice versa, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association. The purpose of the study was to compare the prevalence of food insecurity, depressive symptoms, anxiety, and loneliness among young adults (aged 18–35 years) who screened positive for binge-spectrum eating disorders (i.e., binge eating disorder and bulimia nervosa), those with subthreshold forms of these disorders, and individuals who did not screen positive for these conditions. Read More

The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 includes initiatives focused on encouraging implementation of the evidence-based Collaborative Care Model (CoCM), enforcing mental health parity and bolstering the psychiatric workforce. Full Story JDSupra published a summary of the key healthcare provisions of the Act. Click here to read more.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), announced new actions to reduce the inappropriate use of antipsychotic medications and to bring greater transparency about nursing home citations to families. Beginning this month, CMS will conduct targeted, off-site audits to determine whether nursing homes are accurately assessing and coding individuals with a schizophrenia diagnosis. Full Story

New York governor Kathy Hochul announced a comprehensive $1 billion plan to overhaul New York's continuum of mental health care and drastically reduce the number of individuals with unmet mental health needs throughout the state. The multi-year plan includes increasing operational capacity by 1,000 beds for inpatient psychiatric treatment, creating 3,500 units of housing to serve New Yorkers with mental illness, increasing insurance coverage for mental health services, dramatically expanding outpatient services, and creating systemic accountability for hospital admissions and discharges to better address the needs of individuals suffering with mental illness. Full Story

A new document on seclusion and restraint written by the Patient Safety Work Group (PSWG) of the APA Council on Quality Care outlines practical considerations for using seclusion and restraint and is intended to help guide their use based on patient experience/preference and clinical considerations. Full Story

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has awarded nearly $245 million in Bipartisan Safer Communities Act funding – $185.7 million from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and nearly $60 million from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) – to support youth mental health, help the health care workforce address mental health needs, and fund other critical mental health supports. Full Story

Click here to see letters APNA has signed on to as a part of its participation in coalitions that further policy for nursing and mental health.

The American Psychiatric Nurses Association is accredited as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.