Member Profile: Jaclene A. Zausniewski, PhD, RN-BC, FAAN
APNA would like to extend a very heartfelt CONGRATULATIONS to Jaclene A. Zausniewski, the Hildegard Peplau Award winner in this year's ANA National Awards Program. This award was established by the ANA in 1990 to honor a nurse who has made significant contributions to nursing practice over a lifetime through scholarly activities, clinical practice, and policy development, specifically directed towards the psychosocial and psychiatric aspects of nursing care delivery. Read more about Jaclene and this honor.

DSM-V Draft Criteria
The American Psychiatric Association is seeking your comments on proposed criteria for the fifth edition of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), the standard classification of mental disorders used by mental health and other health professionals for diagnostic and research purposes. Proposed DSM-5 draft criteria will be available for review and comment at www.DSM5.org. APNA will generate an organizational response that will be coordinated through the APNA Institute on Mental Health Advocacy, Co-Chaired by Christine Tebaldi and Margaret Halter. APNA requests that you also share your comments for incorporation into our organizational response. Please share your comments via email to Tandi-Jo Lantrip at tlantrip@apna.org. Please respond to APNA by April 2, 2010 to allow sufficient time to gather all members input by the APA deadline later that month. Click here for more information.

APNA Annual Awards
The APNA Annual Awards recognize APNA members who demonstrate excellence in psychiatric mental health nursing practice, education, research, leadership, community efforts, and more. Ensure that your colleagues are recognized for their efforts and nominate them for an award this year -- The deadline for nominations is April 19, 2010. To stimulate your thoughts about who you want to nominate, here is information on 2009's Annual Award winners. Go to www.apna.org/AnnualAwards for a listing of the possible awards and to download a nomination form.

ANA Call for Public Comments
The American Nurses Association has posted draft documents of several statements and guidebooks for nursing. Of particular interest to APNA members are the statements "Doctorate of Nursing Practice: Advancing the Nursing Profession" and "Nurses' Role in Ethics and Human Rights: Protecting and promoting individual worth, dignity, and human rights in practice settings." Also available for comment is "Principles of Documentation," part of the ANA "Principles for Practice" package. Comments are due by April 9, 2010. Click here for more information.

8th Annual Clinical Psychopharmacology Institute
The theme for this year's CPI conference is Psychopharmacology 2010: Translating Science and Transforming Practice. It will focus on complex clinical issues and is appropriate for generalist and advanced practice psychiatric nurses - especially those who administer and/or prescribe medications. This institute addresses the interaction of health issues, mental disorders, ethno-psychopharmacological treatment and care. Complex health issues like substance use disorders, suicide and depression, mood disorders, geriatric issues, polypharmacy, etc will be discussed. Register early and save $50 off of the Regular Registration rates. For registration information, click here. Visit www.apna.org/CPI for details on the program and confirmed faculty.

RN-PMH Council: Call for Volunteers
APNA represents all facets of Psychiatric Mental Nursing. Input from the nurses who work at the bedside is essential to fully understand the issues within our profession. The APNA RN-PMH Council is tasked with identification of issues, gathering of pertinent information to better understand these issues, and development of recommendations to the Board of Directors on projects or positions that APNA should undertake. We are currently soliciting volunteers who will serve on the RN-PMH Council Steering Committee. It will take less than 10 minutes to fill out the survey and we look forward to hearing from you. Click here to volunteer!

2010 APNA Janssen Student Scholarship
Graduate and undergraduate nursing students from across the United States are invited to apply and Deans and Directors of nursing schools are invited to nominate one or more students from their school for the 2010 APNA Ortho-McNeil Janssen Scientific Affairs, LLC Student Scholarship Program. This scholarship includes registration, travel and lodging expenses to attend the APNA 24th Annual Conference, October 13-16, 2010, in Louisville, KY. A stipend for meals and expenses is also provided. In addition, winners will receive one year complimentary membership in the APNA. For eligibility criteria, necessary forms, and the link to submit, go to www.apna.org/StudentScholars.

New Members: Click here for a listing of new APNA members since Oct 2009.

President Obama signed the Affordable Health Care for America Act on Mar. 23, during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House. Despite the president's signature, the legislative work on the measure is not over, nor is the intense partisan fight over it, reported the New York Times on the Web. Republicans are already vowing to repeal the bill. The Senate will take up a package of changes to the measure under the parliamentary procedure known as reconciliation. Full Story

On Mar. 10 the Senate voted in favor of extending the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) increase for an additional six months, to June 30, 2011. The FMAP increase, originally enacted in the 2009 economic recovery bill, provides fiscal relief to states by increasing the federal share of support for states' Medicaid programs through Dec. 30, 2010. The extension of the FMAP increase, which was included in legislation to extend certain tax breaks, must now be approved by the House before it can be sent to President Obama for his signature, according to the National Council. Full Story

The Wisconsin state Senate recently passed legislation requiring mental health coverage in employer provided health insurance, reported Wisconsin Radio Network. Full Story

Enrollment in doctoral nursing programs increased by more than 20% this year, signaling strong interest among students in careers as nursing scientists, faculty, primary care providers, and specialists, according to new survey data released by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN). Final results from AACN's 2009 annual survey confirm that enrollments in all types of baccalaureate and higher degree programs continue to trend upward. Though nursing schools have been able to expand student capacity, the latest data show that more than 54,000 qualified applications to professional nursing programs were turned away in 2009, including more than 9,500 applications to master’s and doctoral degree programs. Full Story

Health professions faculty from disadvantaged backgrounds can receive as much as $40,000 towards repayment of their student loans in exchange for educating tomorrow's clinicians. Individuals selected to participate in the program agree to serve on the faculty of an accredited health professions college or university for 2 years. The Government pays up to $40,000 of the participant's student loans and provides funds to offset the tax burden. For more information visit the Health Resources and Services Administration's website by clicking here.

The Annapolis Coalition on the Behavioral Health Workforce and The Hitachi Foundation will begin a national search to identify exceptional workforce practices affecting direct support workers in the behavioral health field. A "Call for Nominations" will be issued by the Annapolis Coalition on March 31, 2010. This search will culminate in recognition of a few outstanding behavioral health organizations that are having a positive impact on their front-line employees, on their clients, and on their own viability as business entities. During the coming months, The Annapolis Coalition will reach out to a broad range of employer organizations to identify those that demonstrate success across three criteria. Click here for more information.

The Sigma Theta Tau International Foundation for Nursing and Assessment Technologies Institute (ATI) announce a US $6,000 co-sponsored grant to support research that encourages the appropriate use of standardized assessments at the end of a nursing program. This grant will be awarded as part of STTI's co-sponsored partner grants program. Nurses who meet certain criteria are encouraged to apply by July 1, 2010. For more information click here.

The University of Rhode Island's College of Nursing is collaborating with Bradley Hospital of East Providence, RI to create a new master's degree specializing in children and adolescent mental health nursing. Full Story

The Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) recently released its plan to transform the mental health system by making access to psychiatric care more equitable across Minnesota and providing a stronger and more coordinated continuum of care to meet individual needs, reported KARE11.com. Full Story

Beyond the clinical contributions they make to improving the lives of individuals experiencing the most severe mental and addictive disorders, inpatient psychiatric facilities nationwide add substantially to the economic well-being of the U.S. according to a report The Economic Impact of Inpatient Psychiatric Facilities: A National and State-level Analysis, conducted for the National Association of Psychiatric Health Systems (NAPHS). This is the first such study to explore the total economic contributions of both psychiatric hospitals and residential treatment centers. Full Story To view the report, click here.

A panel of mental health experts spoke at a Congressional staff briefing in Washington, DC to urge the federal government to assist states that are facing deep cuts to their public mental health safety net systems. The briefing, hosted by Congresswoman Grace Napolitano (D-CA), was organized by the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors (NASMHPD) and the National Council. A recent survey by NASMHPD found that states have been forced to cut mental health agency budgets by a combined total of $1.6 billion over the last three fiscal years. The speakers concluded that federal assistance is urgently needed to serve an increasing number of some of the nation’s most vulnerable citizens, and requested federal assistance to:

   • Extend the current higher federal match for Medicaid in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).
   • Provide a $100 million increase in funding for the Mental Health Block Grant, the only federal program available to help public      mental health agencies recover state and county service dollars lost during the current fiscal crisis.
   • Reject proposed reductions in HUD Section 811 funds for supportive housing.