APNA 32nd Annual Conference - Early Bird Rate Ends Sept. 10
Don't miss the APNA 32nd Annual Conference this October 24-27 in Columbus, OH. You can earn up to 29.25 continuing education contact hours onsite and up to 90+ additional contact hours online after the conference. This is the opportunity to engage with fellow PMH nurses on topics like responding to mass casualty trauma, pharmacology, reducing stigma, and more. Register by Sept. 10 to save $100. Click here for more details.

Ask the Experts: Veteran Health | Psychiatric Pharmacogenetics
How do veteran identity and veteran core values impact health experiences? Why is integrating psychiatric pharmacogenomics into your clinical nursing practice important? Two nurses provide a quick look into these topics, which they will present this October in sessions at the APNA Annual Conference. Click here for your conference program sneak peek.

2018 APNA Elections Results
The ballots have been counted: the results of the APNA elections are in! Please join us in congratulating and welcoming the new members of the APNA Board of Directors and 2019 Nominating Committee. These individuals will take office during the Annual Meeting & Town Hall on October 27, 2018 at the APNA 32nd Annual Conference in Columbus, OH. Click here to learn more about the new members of the APNA Board of Directors and 2019 Nominating Committee.

Prepare for your ANCC Certification with ANA Review Courses!
The American Nurses Association Psychiatric-Mental Health Nursing and Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Certification Review Courses provide information relevant to current practice and review materials to prepare for the ANCC Psychiatric-Mental Health Nursing and Psychiatric-Mental Health NP board certification exam. In addition, participants may earn continuing education contact hours, valuable study tips and information to be utilized in preparing for certification exams. Domains of practice in the workshop reflect the test content outline. Learn more by clicking here. APNA Member Discount Code: APNA-10OFF

People who have traumatic brain injuries may be nearly twice as likely to die by suicide as individuals who don't have a history of TBI, a large Danish study suggests. Researchers examined data on more than 7.4 million people aged 10 years and older living in Denmark from 1980 to 2014. During this period, 567,823 people, or 7.6%, had received treatment for TBI. By the end of 2014, a total of 34,529 people in the study had died by suicide. Among those with no history of TBI, the suicide rate was 20 per 100,000 people per year, compared with a rate of 41 per 100,000 per year among those with a history of TBI, reported Reuters. Full Story

The American Geriatrics Society (AGS) opened a public comment period for reviewing the draft AGS 2018 Updated Beers Criteria® for Potentially Inappropriate Medication Use in Older Adults. Last updated in 2015, the AGS Beers Criteria® remain one of the most frequently cited reference tools in geriatrics, detailing certain types of medications which may be inappropriate to prescribe to older people who are not receiving hospice or palliative care. Full Story

Low blood levels of acetyl-L-carnitine (LAC) may be a biomarker for major depressive disorder (MDD), new research suggests. The study, which included 116 participants, showed that both men and women with MDD had significantly lower levels of LAC than their counterparts who did not have the mental disorder, reported MedScape. Full Story

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration permitted marketing of the Brainsway Deep Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation System for treatment of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a procedure that uses magnetic fields to stimulate nerve cells in the brain. Full Story

In a simulation suite in the new Nursing and Science building, students in a Rutgers School of Nursing‒Camden class are learning to work with patients and help prevent suicides. The interaction between the nursing student and patient are filmed, and following the session, students review the video with their instructors. Full Story

More and more anxious and depressed are turning to the school nurse for help, but most Illinois schools don’t have one. A recent Chicago Tribune article looks at how the state is trying to address this challenge. Full Story

The FDA granted Dthera Sciences breakthrough designation for its digital Alzheimer’s treatment, one of the first digital therapeutic products to receive the designation. The digital device uses a custom-built tablet, equipped with a camera, to display memories relevant to the patient, such as photos of loved ones. Artificial intelligence built into the device gauges the patient’s reaction to the displayed memories and adjusts content on the screen to guide the patient’s emotions. Full Story

New research presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC) focuses on the recent successes and ongoing challenges of drug and non-drug treatments for the non-cognitive symptoms experienced by people living with Alzheimer’s dementia. While the memory and thinking symptoms associated with the disease are the most well known, it is the behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) — agitation, anxiety, apathy, depression, wandering, hallucinations, insomnia, incontinence, disinhibition — that often cause the greatest caregiving challenges and are the leading causes for placement in assisted living or nursing homes. Left untreated, these symptoms can accelerate decline and reduce quality of life. Full Story

Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner has approved legislation mandating the state’s Medicaid program to reimburse behavioral and mental health providers for telehealth, reported MHealth Intelligence. The bill was one of five recently signed into law by Rauner, all designed to improve access to mental healthcare and increase treatment opportunities in the midst of an opioid abuse crisis. Full Story

On July 31, 2018, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a rule finalizing updates for fiscal year (FY) 2019 to Medicare payment policies and rates for the Inpatient Psychiatric Facilities Prospective Payment System (IPF PPS) and to the IPF Quality Reporting (IPFQR) Program. Click here for a summary.

Louisiana is spending $13 million this budget year to start obeying terms of a federal legal settlement aimed at resolving accusations the state illegally warehouses mentally ill people in nursing homes rather than helping them live in their communities, reported The Times-Picayune. The court-monitored deal with the U.S. Justice Department requires Louisiana's health department to expand home- and community-based services for people with mental illness and screen those in nursing homes to determine if they can be diverted to less-restrictive settings. Full Story

The Integrated Care for Kids (InCK) Model, recently announced by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, is a child-centered local service delivery and state payment model aimed at reducing expenditures and improving the quality of care for children covered by Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) through prevention, early identification, and treatment of priority health concerns like behavioral health challenges and physical health needs. The model will offer states and local providers support to address these priorities through a framework of child-centered care integration across behavioral, physical, and other child providers. Full Story

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