APNA News - The Psychiatric Nursing Voice

President's Message: Reducing the Use of Seclusion & Restraint
Partnering with individuals in ways that respect autonomy and integrate trauma-informed principles is critical to psychiatric-mental health nursing care. We understand well the importance of ensuring person-centered, trauma informed, and recovery-focused care. (Cont'd)

Member Profile: Joseph Griffey, 2013 APNA Board of Directors Student Scholar
Joe shares his experiences as a Board Student Scholar over the past year, including finding support from fellow psychiatric-mental health nurses when he truly needed it, attending the APNA Annual Conference last year in San Antonio, connecting with a mentor, and more! (Read More)

Member News: Psych Nurses in the Spotlight!
Pat Cunningham interviewed in podcast for Johnson & Johnson Nursing Notes; Carole Farley-Toombs featured in article on psychiatric urgent care; Wanda Hilliard featured in article on mental health crisis walk-in clinic; Michael Rice interviewed for psych nurse panel podcast; Grayce Sills awarded the first OSU Harding Hospital Grayce M. Sills Nurse of the Year Award; Gail Stuart's article on integration published in the SAMHSA-HRSA Center for Integrated Health Solutions e-Newsletter. (More Info)

Annual Conference: Registration is open!
Curious about what sorts of sessions you'll find at the Annual Conference this year? The APNA 28th Annual Conference program is now available online and registration is open! This year we'll have a whopping 3 keynote presentations, 30 pre-conferences, 64 concurrent sessions, 32 mini-concurrent sessions...all presented by psychiatric-mental health nurses and professionals. Plus, you'll have the opportunity to earn up to 130 continuing education contact hours total on-site and online after the conference! (Learn More & Register!)

Annual Awards: Psych Nurse Superstars
Congratulations to the recipients of the 2014 APNA Annual Awards! The recipients will be recognized in person at the APNA 28th Annual Conference, in a press release, in APNA News, and on the APNA website. We will share more about the recipients and their achievements throughout the summer and fall. (More Info)

APNA Psychopharmacology Institute: Recap
450 psychiatric-mental health nurses gathered in Reston, Virginia to swap experiences with colleagues from varying backgrounds, learn practical and evidence-based information, and earn up to 21.5 contact hours on-site! From the impact of SSRI and SNRI medications on sleep architecture to the current evidence of marijuana applications in medical care, the sessions covered a wide breadth of research and information relevant to psychiatric-mental health nursing practice. (Cont'd)

Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association: May/June Issue
The May/June issue of the Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association is now online. This issue includes original articles on aggression among psychiatric inpatients, informing PMH nursing practice with findings from Human Rights Authority Reports, and the psychological impact of the earthquake and tsunami which struck East Japan. (Access JAPNA)

Resource Roundup: New Resources in the APNA Resource Center

Integrated Care: Recent articles from SAMHSA on the role of nurses in the integrated care team
APRN Resources: 2012 HRSA National Sample Survey of Nurse Practitioners

APNA Advocacy: June Nursing Community Letters to Secretary Sebelius and the Veterans Administration
Traumatic Events Resources: SAMHSA TIP - Trauma-Informed Care in Behavioral Health Services

In a study published in the journal Nature Medicine, a team of researchers led by Dr. Gustavo Turecki, a psychiatrist at the Douglas Institute and a professor at McGill University, discovered that the levels of a tiny molecule - miR-1202 - may provide a marker for depression. It also may help detect those patients who are most likely to respond to antidepressants. Full Story

A new radiology study finds that brain iron levels may serve as a biomarker in the diagnosis of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and help to fine-tune diagnosis, reported PsychCentral.com. Full Story

SAMHSA has published Crisis Services: Effectiveness, Cost-Effectiveness, and Funding Strategies. Click here to download the report.

NASMHPD has published Crossing the Behavioral Health Digital Divide: The Role of Health Information Technology in Improving Care for People with Serious Mental Illness in State Mental Health Systems. Click here to download the report.

When it comes to antipsychotic medications, newer may not always be better. A recent study, published in JAMA by National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)-funded researchers, found that the second-generation drug paliperidone palmitate was no more effective than the older drug haloperidol decanoate in treating adult patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. Full Story

About 3.5% of U.S. military personnel were in treatment for mental health conditions in 2012 - up from just 1% in 2000, a new military study finds. Experts said the rise is likely due to two factors: an actual increase in mental health disorders since Sept. 11, 2001, and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq; as well as the military's efforts to get more soldiers into treatment, reported HealthDay.com. Full Story

The U.S. Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies has allocated an additional $100 million in its fiscal year 2015 funding bill for Alzheimer's research. Full Story

Earlier this month, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) introduced the Restoring Veterans' Trust Act of 2014 (S. 2413) in the Senate. This bill includes a new project, the Community Mental Health Partnership Pilot Program, which would connect medical centers of the Department of Veterans Affairs with surrounding community mental health and substance use treatment providers to increase access to services, improve health outcomes, and ensure veterans receive behavioral healthcare that meets the minimum clinical mental health guidelines endorsed by the Veterans Health Administration. Full Story

Overcoming the barriers and providing better mental health care for children will require a wide range of changes, from public policies to clinical practices and from local hospitals and school districts to federal laws and regulations, reported Psychiatric News. The need to change the current way youth are treated for mental health problems was the key message arising from a multidisciplinary summit held in Washington, D.C. Full Story

The American Psychiatric Nurses Association is Accredited as a provider of continuing nursing education by the
American Nurses Credentialing Center's Commission on Accreditation.