Register by 9/14 to Save on 120+ Contact Hours
The APNA Annual Conference is the single best source for the crucial conversations & updates you need to provide the best possible care. This year, you'll have the opportunity to earn more than 120 contact hours total. Register now to come together virtually with nurses from across the country this fall! 

Welcome the APNA Newly Elected Leaders
The votes have been tallied: the results of the APNA elections are in! Please welcome and congratulate the new members of the APNA Board of Directors and 2021 Nominating Committee. They will take office during the APNA 34th Annual Conference at the Annual Meeting & Town Hall on October 4. Click here to learn more about the new leaders.

Position Statement Updates
APNA position statements discuss psychiatric-mental health nursing issues of vital interest to members and recommend solutions to address particular concerns. These statements amplify the views of psychiatric-mental health nursing and help you educate stakeholders and the public on significant issues. The Board of Directors has recently directed the update of several APNA positions on matters important to you:

• APRNs Prescribing Buprenorphine & Buprenorphine/Naloxone – Newly updated by the APNA Addictions Council
• PMH Nurses’ Role in Primary Care – Newly updated by the APNA Board of Directors
• SBIRT in PMH Nursing Practice – Newly updated by the APNA Addictions Council
• Staffing Inpatient Units – Under review and revision by the APNA Staffing Task Force
• Violence Prevention – Under review and revision by the APNA Council for Safe Environments

New Guide to Help Nurses Seeking Mental Health Support & Services
The latest resource developed by APNA for The Well-Being Initiative is a Nurses' Guide to Seeking Mental Health Support and Services. Through actionable steps and practical advice, it encourages fellow nurses to seek appropriate care and support rather than be deterred by perceived stigmas around mental health or other barriers. Click here to download the guide.

At the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC®) 2020, scientists reported results of multiple studies on advances in blood “tests” for abnormal versions of the tau protein, one of which may be able to detect changes in the brain 20 years before dementia symptoms occur. In particular, the reports focus on a specific form of tau known as p-tau217, which seems to be the most specific to Alzheimer’s and the earliest to show measurable changes. Full Story To read highlights of other research presented at AAIC 2020 click here.

A drug candidate previously shown to slow aging in brain cells, successfully reversed memory loss in a mouse model of inherited Alzheimer's disease. The new research also revealed that the drug, CMS121, works by changing how brain cells metabolize fatty molecules known as lipids, reported ScienceDaily.com. Full Story

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released new data showing the COVID-19 pandemic is creating collateral damage to our nation’s mental health, particularly for young people. Among people ages 18-24, one in four (25.5%) “seriously considered suicide in the past 30 days,” according to the survey. Furthermore, 40% of U.S. adults reported struggling with mental health or substance use in the prior 30 days. Full Story

#FirstRespondersFirst, an initiative of Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Thrive Global, and the CAA Foundation, has launched its new Mental Health Initiative, which includes a partnership with Give an Hour to provide no-cost mental health services to ensure that frontline hospital workers get the care they deserve. For the past 15 years, Give an Hour has provided no-cost mental health services to military service members, veterans, and their loved ones. Full Story

To assist its healthcare workers during the Covid-19 pandemic, Stony Brook Medicine (NY) implemented a series of mental health support initiatives ranging from creating a respite area, providing comfort packages, holding virtual mindfulness sessions and posting support and wellness message tips throughout the hospital. Full Story

Mental health providers may not consider them ideal, but patients who present with a self-diagnosis for their symptoms and a specific medication request to make them better are a reality of modern-day practice. A recent article from the Psychiatry & Behavioral Health Learning Network offers tips for treating patients who self-prescribe. Full Story

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is finalizing a rule that further advances efforts to strengthen the Medicare program by better aligning payments for inpatient psychiatric facilities (IPFs) with the costs of providing care. CMS is finalizing updates to the regulatory language to allow advanced practice providers, including physician assistants, nurse practitioners, psychologists, and clinical nurse specialists, to operate within the scope of practice allowed by state law by documenting progress notes in the medical record of patients, for whom they are responsible, receiving services in psychiatric hospitals. Full Story

A new randomized clinical trial has discovered a text-messaging-based intervention can be an effective method to augment therapy services for individuals with severe mental illness, reported PsychCentral.com. Dartmouth University researchers said the emerging technology is important as clinic-based services for mental health may fall short of meeting patient needs; face-to-face therapy may be inadequate for many reasons including limited hours, difficulty accessing care, and cost. Full Story

Treatment with a long-acting injectable antipsychotic (LAI) in early-phase schizophrenia can significantly delay time to first hospitalization, reported MedScape. The Prevention of Relapse in Schizophrenia (PRELAPSE) study, which included more than 200 adult patients with schizophrenia, showed that for the group that received an LAI, the average time to first hospitalization was longer and there was a significantly greater reduction in the incidence of first hospitalizations than for those who received usual care. Full Story

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Health and Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), awarded over $101 million to combat substance use disorders (SUD) and opioid use disorders (OUD). The awards support 116 organizations in 42 states and the District of Columbia, with many targeting high-risk rural communities. Full Story

Emergency department (ED) visits related to mental health conditions increased nearly twofold from 2007–2008 to 2015–2016, new research suggests. Data from the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NHAMCS) showed that over the 10-year study period, the proportion of ED visits for mental health diagnoses increased from 6.6% to 10.9%, with substance use accounting for much of the increase, reported MedScape. Full Story

On August 5th, the U.S. Senate unanimously passed the Commander John Scott Hannon Veterans Mental Health Care Improvement Act, S. 785, bipartisan legislation focused on efforts to reduce veteran suicide and improve mental health outcomes through improved access to care, better diagnostic tools and increased oversight of VA programs. Full Story

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is proposing changes to expand telehealth permanently, consistent with the Executive Order on Improving Rural and Telehealth Access that President Trump signed Aug. 3. CMS is taking steps to extend the availability of certain telemedicine services after the public health emergency ends, giving Medicare beneficiaries more convenient ways to access healthcare particularly in rural areas where access to healthcare providers may otherwise be limited. Full Story

A new bill aims to provide better training and resources for the mental health of doctors and other healthcare workers, reported NBC29.com. The bill, called the Dr. Lorna Breen Healthcare Provider Protection Act, would provide more mental healthcare resources and training for health workers. Full Story

ANA seeks public comment on the Draft Nursing: Scope and Standards of Practice, Fourth Edition. The working group has revised the definition of nursing, extensively reorganized the scope of practice statement and included a new representation of the nursing process and two new models, added new Standard 8 Advocacy and its accompanying competencies, and reordered the Standards of Professional Performance. Full Story

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS or Department), announces the adoption of the revised Confidentiality of Substance Use Disorder Patient Records regulation, 42 CFR Part 2. The new rule advances the integration of healthcare for individuals with substance use disorders while maintaining critical privacy and confidentiality protections. Under Part 2, a federally assisted substance use disorder program may only disclose patient identifying information with the individual’s written consent, as part of a court order, or under a few limited exceptions. Health care providers, with patients’ consent, will be able to more easily conduct such activities as quality improvement, claims management, patient safety, training, and program integrity efforts. 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 with distinction as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.