APNA Elections Results are Here!
Please welcome the new members of the APNA Board of Directors and 2024 Nominating Committee. Their terms start October 7, 2023, during the APNA 37th Annual Conference at the Annual Meeting & Town Hall.​​​​​ Get to know them here.

Key Insights into the PMH Nursing Workforce
The APNA Psychiatric-Mental Health Nursing Workforce Survey yielded robust information about the workforce today and what is needed for the future. New one-pagers break down important takeaways from the survey, JAPNA articles, and reports for you and stakeholders. Click here to access the PHM Nursing Workforce resources.

Announcing the Recipients of the 2023 APNA Research Grants
The APNA Board of Directors is pleased to announce the recipients of this year’s APNA Research Grants. Angel Johann Solorzano Martinez, PhD (c), DNP, MSN, MBA, RN, CNS, PMNHP-BC will receive funding for his work examining the experience of Latino farmworkers who use alcohol. Bo Kyum Yang, PhD, RN will receive funding to support her research on how nurse practitioner full practice authority impacts the use of psychotropic medication among individuals with SMI who benefit from Medicaid. Learn more about the recipients and their work.

Certification Discounts
Did you know that your APNA membership saves you money on your certification exam prep materials, certification exams, and certification renewal? Learn more about exclusive discounts for APNA members.

Maximize Your PMH Nursing Practice
Immerse yourself in the best of psychiatric-mental health nursing at the APNA 37th Annual Conference this October 4-7 at Disney's Coronado Springs Resort! You'll deepen your knowledge base through hundreds of PMH nurse-driven presentations selected by colleagues who understand today's most pressing PMH nursing needs. During the live event, you'll earn up to 27.75 NCPD contact hours and engage with PMH RN & APRN experts from across the spectrum of care. Afterwards, you can learn and earn up to 90+ more contact hours with session recordings in the APNA eLearning Center! Click here to learn more and register.

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, announced awards of more than $100 million to train more nurses and grow the nursing workforce. These investments will address the increasing demand for registered nurses, nurse practitioners, certified nurse midwives, and nurse faculty. Full Story

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Forum on Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders held a public workshop on Improving Access to High-Quality Mental Health Care for Veterans to explore the U.S. landscape for mental health care services, including telehealth services. The proceedings from the workshop are available here.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Zurzuvae (zuranolone), the first oral medication indicated to treat postpartum depression (PPD) in adults. PPD is a major depressive episode that typically occurs after childbirth but can also begin during the later stages of pregnancy. Until now, treatment for PPD was only available as an IV injection given by a health care provider in certain health care facilities. Full Story

Written exposure therapy, given over five to seven sessions, was non-inferior to eight to 15 sessions of prolonged exposure therapy for reducing PTSD symptoms, as measured by the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale for DSM-5 (CAPS-5), reported researchers led by Denise Sloan, PhD, of the National Center for PTSD and VA Boston Health Care System. While both programs seemed equally effective for treating PTSD, patients were significantly more likely to stick with written exposure therapy, with premature dropout rates of only 12.5% versus 35.6% in the prolonged exposure group, likely owing to the fewer but also shorter sessions (45 to 60 minutes rather than 90 minutes), reported MedpageToday. Full Story

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is inviting feedback on a proposed update to the its mission statement. As the largest public funder of biomedical and behavioral research in the world, NIH works to turn scientific discoveries into better health for all. This RFI will inform NIH's efforts to update its mission statement to ensure that it reflects the NIH mission as accurately as possible. Click here to learn more about the RFI.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released the latest provisional estimates for suicide deaths in the U.S. in 2022. After declining in 2019 and 2020, suicide deaths increased approximately 5% in the U.S. in 2021. The provisional estimates indicate that suicide deaths further increased in 2022, rising from 48,183 deaths in 2021 to an estimated 49,449 deaths in 2022, an increase of approximately 2.6%. Full Story

Children exposed to physical assault were twice as likely to be diagnosed with mental illness in the years following the assault than those who weren't exposed, a new population-based study shows. The greatest risk was found in the first year following the assault, increasing to three times the risk of being diagnosed with mental illness compared with children not assaulted. Mood and anxiety disorders were the most common diagnoses, reported MedScape. Full Story

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), announced its Guiding an Improved Dementia Experience (GUIDE) Model, which aims to improve the quality of life for people living with dementia, reduce strain on unpaid caregivers, and help people remain in their homes and communities through a package of care coordination and management, caregiver education and support, and respite services. Full Story

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved RiVive, 3 milligram (mg) naloxone hydrochloride nasal spray for over-the-counter (OTC), nonprescription use for the emergency treatment of known or suspected opioid overdose. This is the second nonprescription naloxone product the agency has approved, helping increase consumer access to naloxone without a prescription. Full Story

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that it has awarded, more than $64 million in funding to address the nation’s mental health crisis through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Among the awards are $59.4 million in new funding to states and territories through the Community Mental Health Services Block Grant (MHBG) program. Full Story

The departments of Labor, Health and Human Services and the Treasury announced an important step in addressing the nation’s mental health crisis by proposing rules to better ensure that people seeking coverage for mental health and substance use disorder care can access treatment as easily as people seeking coverage for medical treatments. The rule change would require health plans to make changes when they are providing inadequate access to mental health care. It would also provide specific examples that make clear that health plans cannot use more restrictive prior authorization, other medical management techniques or narrower networks that make it harder for people to access mental health and substance use disorder benefits. Full Story

A recent Nurse.org article reviews state and national legislation that could impact nurses In 2023. Full Story

The new Michigan state budget that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer recently signed provides $364 million in one-time funding to expand access to mental health care in the state. Nearly $278 million of the funding included in the budget for the state's 2024 fiscal year that starts Oct. 1 will go to expand certified community behavioral health clinics in Michigan that provide care and substance abuse treatment regardless of a patient's ability to pay, reported Crain's Detroit Business. Full Story

Healthcare organizations’ disaster preparedness plans must include “explicit plans for supporting mental health, say the authors of a new article in JAMA Psychiatry. “These plans require investment in a mental health workforce that has capacity and flexibility to respond during disasters,” the authors wrote, reported McKnights Senior Living. Full Story

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a final rule (CMS-1783-F) to update Medicare payment policies and rates for the Inpatient Psychiatric Facility Prospective Payment System (IPF PPS) for fiscal year (FY) 2024. 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 as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.