Up to 21.5 Pharmacology Contact Hours at CPI
Register today for the APNA 21st Annual Clinical Psychopharmacology Institute (CPI) this June 8-11, at the Hyatt Regency Reston in Reston, VA or via virtual livestream. CPI prioritizes the integration of psychopharmacology and neuroscience into clinical practice, offering the scientific base for treatment decisions and addressing the context of care within the nurse/consumer/family relationship. Learn more and register.

What to do with what you know…
Your knowledge is indispensable, and your IDEAS are worth sharing! Your peers will thank you for bringing your expertise to the table at the APNA 37th Annual Conference. What to expect when your abstract is accepted for presentation.

PMH Nursing Workforce: APNA Conversations with HRSA
As the need for services continues to grow, workforce issues are top of mind for APNA members. APNA outreach regarding the psychiatric-mental health nursing workforce recently included conversations with the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). Here’s what was discussed.

Apply Now for the 2023 APNA Board of Directors Student Scholarship
On the path to a career in psychiatric-mental health nursing or know a student who is? The APNA Board of Directors Student Scholarship provides up to 30 pre-licensure/undergraduate and graduate nursing students with: 

• 1-year complimentary membership in APNA
• Registration, travel, and lodging to attend the APNA 37th Annual Conference 
• Exposure to a nationwide network of experienced PMH nurses

The deadline for scholarship applications is Tuesday, April 4. Learn more and apply.

APNA National Call for Nominations is Now Open
Nominate yourself for a position on the APNA Board of Directors or Nominating Committee to hone your leadership skills, make lasting contributions to psychiatric-mental health nursing, and form rewarding relationships with colleagues! If you’re interested, email Executive Director Lisa Nguyen at inform@apna.org by Wednesday, April 5.

Webinar Recording: Opportunities to Eliminate Nursing School Debt
This February 8 webinar, jointly provided by APNA and the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), provided information about the Nurse Corps Loan Repayment and National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Programs. View webinar recording.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is announcing Notices of Funding Opportunity for two grant programs aimed at preventing substance misuse and treating substance use disorder (SUD) among pregnant and postpartum women in the U.S. The grant opportunities total about $17 million and align with the Biden-Harris Administration’s efforts to address the nation’s addiction and overdose crises. Full Story

BeiGene has released a report highlighting the challenges cancer patients and caregivers face in managing mental and emotional well-being. The report and the newly launched CancerandMentalHealth.com website are part of the company’s comprehensive Talk About It: Cancer and Mental Health program, designed to elevate the important intersection of mental health and cancer care. Full Story

Determining how long beta-amyloid plaques have been building up in a person’s brain may help predict the course of their Alzheimer’s disease, according to recent NIA-funded research. Published in Brain, the study compared three methods of estimating amyloid onset — the age at which amyloid begins accumulating in the brains of people with preclinical dementia — and modeling the progression of amyloid accumulation. The researchers found the methods to be equally effective and used them to assess common risk factors that influence amyloid accumulation, including age, sex, and presence of the APOE e4 allele, a version of the APOE gene that increases an individual’s risk of developing Alzheimer’s. They also investigated whether these factors, along with age, affect the time between amyloid onset and when Alzheimer’s symptoms first appear. Full Story

A network of neural connections is linked to six psychiatric disorders: schizophrenia, bipolar disorder (BD), depression, addiction, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and anxiety, new research shows. Investigators used coordinate and lesion network mapping to assess whether there was a shared brain network common to multiple psychiatric disorders. In a meta-analysis of almost 200 studies encompassing more than 15,000 individuals, they found that atrophy coordinates across these six psychiatric conditions all mapped to a common brain network, reported MedScape. Full Story

Nearly 3 in 5 (57%) U.S. teen girls felt persistently sad or hopeless in 2021—double that of boys, representing a nearly 60% increase and the highest level reported over the past decade, according to new CDC data. Full Story

The Department of Veterans Affairs announced the 10 winners of Mission Daybreak, a $20 million grand challenge aimed at developing innovations to reduce Veteran suicides. During this challenge, VA received more than 1,300 innovation submissions from Veterans, Veteran Service Organizations, community-based organizations, health technology companies, startups, and universities – with solutions ranging from lethal means safety concepts, to targeted virtual care programs, to other promising suicide prevention solutions that offer healing and recovery to Veterans. Full Story

Often nurse practitioners (NPs) are great at taking care of everyone but themselves. In fact, Medscape’s Nurse Practitioner Burnout & Depression Report 2022 found that six out of 10 NPs are burned out, and close to four in 10 are depressed. The report found that some NPs rely on maladaptive coping skills such as isolation, drinking, and binge eating to manage burnout. Others turn to healthier coping strategies like exercise, meditation, or talking to family members and friends. But less than 20% seek help from an outside source. Full Story

Reps. Paul D. Tonko (D-NY) and Chris Smith (R-NJ) recently introduced bipartisan legislation aimed at prioritizing research on Alzheimer’s disease and supporting scientists in the development of treatments and potential cures, reported The Record. The two bills are H.R. 619, the National Alzheimer’s Project Act Reauthorization Act, which reauthorizes the National Alzheimer’s Project Act through 2035 to provide a roadmap for federal efforts in responding to Alzheimer’s and dementia, and H.R. 620, the Alzheimer’s Accountability and Investment Act that ensures scientists speak directly to Congress on resources they need to effectively treat the disease. Full Story

Nurse.org recently published 11 Key Takeaways For Nurses from President Biden's State of the Union address. Full Story

The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) has announced that there is no longer a requirement for an X-Waiver (or DATA 2000 Waiver) to prescribe buprenorphine for the treatment of opioid use disorders (OUD), if the practitioner:

• Holds an active DEA license to prescribe controlled substances
• Is allowed to prescribe under their state nursing practice act and regulation

All practitioners who have a current DEA registration that includes Schedule III authority, may now prescribe buprenorphine for OUD if permitted by applicable state law. Limits to the number of patients for which a practitioner can prescribe buprenorphine for OUD have also been removed. The DEA and SAMHSA are developing further guidance and new training requirements will be issued in June. APNA is monitoring this issue and will continue to keep you updated of any developments. Click here to learn more.

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.