Making connections – today and in the future
In her last President’s Message, APNA President Lora Peppard reveals the complete Connection Paradigm built this year! Gardeners know that to encourage healthy blooms in spring, you must prepare in fall by pruning away old growth. The same can be said for us as psychiatric-mental health nurses (year-round) and our ability to connect! Bring it full circle

Community as part of recovery
As part of National Recovery Month, APNA member Kathleen McCoy shares on recovery, the importance of community, and the Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Opioid Workforce Expansion Program (OWEP), a Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) funded recovery-based program. What else is part of recovery?

Address the issues you’re navigating now
When you attend the APNA 38th Annual Conference next month, you’ll hear from psychiatric-mental health nurse colleagues presenting evidence-based insights you can apply today. Explore four sessions on subjects in demand for psychiatric-mental health nurses.

What about a nurse-specific crisis line?
September is National Suicide Prevention Month. This opinion piece, co-authored by an APNA member, proposes a 988-style crisis line specific to nurses. Consider the idea 

Meet your new APNA leaders
Please congratulate the new members of the APNA Board of Directors and 2025 Nominating Committee. Their terms start October 12, 2024, during the APNA 38th Annual Conference at the Annual Meeting & Town Hall. Learn about the new leaders

Stop horsing around & register!
You can still join your colleagues at the APNA 38th Annual Conference. The event kicks off October 9 in Louisville, KY or via virtual livestream. Secure your place

Your colleagues in the news
Get highlights from APNA members in Texas and Georgia. See their stories

Be recognized in APNA Member News!
Received an award? Featured in an article? Or want to share another exciting achievement? Send your stories to APNA News

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, a division of HHS, has partnered with other federal agencies and health systems to create the National Action Alliance for Patient and Workforce Safety, a national safety alliance as part of broader commitments from the federal government to reduce preventable harm and improve care quality industrywide. Full Story

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), announced $240 million in awards to launch and expand mental health and substance use disorder services in more than 400 community health centers across the country that care for more than 10 million people. Full Story

A new CDC Vital Signs report highlights the role that conditions in counties, such as insurance coverage, broadband internet access, and household income, can play in lowering suicide risk. Full Story

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), recently awarded $68 million in grants for suicide prevention and mental health care programs. Full Story

National surveys compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention already show an unprecedented decline in drug deaths of roughly 10.6%. That's a huge reversal from recent years when fatal overdoses regularly increased by double-digit percentages, reported NPR. Full Story

The American Nurses Association (ANA) Enterprise Institute for Nursing Research and Quality Management has published a paper on the Economic Value of Nursing. The paper, The Nursing Human Capital Value Model, introduces the namesake model, a framework to measure and understand the significant contributions of nurses to health care systems. Full Story

While Artificial Intelligence (AI) in nursing has the potential to save time and support more informed clinical decisions, it also brings challenges and concerns, such as data privacy and workforce adaptation. In addition, some nurses worry AI might replace their jobs. However, research shows that while AI can support critical thinking and patient advocacy, it cannot replicate the deeply human aspects of nursing and patient care. A recent Nurse.com article explores the challenges and opportunities that come with integrating AI technology into nursing. Full Story

The U.S. Departments of Labor, Treasury, and Health and Human Services issued a set of final rules Sept. 9 on the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) of 2008. The rulings aim to promote equitable access to mental health and substance use disorder (SUD) benefits and reduce barriers to accessing these services. They also reinforce the requirement that mental health and SUD benefits be on par with medical and surgical benefits (M/S). Full Story

The U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed the bipartisan BOLD Infrastructure for Alzheimer’s Reauthorization Act (H.R. 7218 / S. 3775). The BOLD Reauthorization Act, which will reauthorize the soon-to-expire Building Our Largest Dementia (BOLD) Infrastructure for Alzheimer’s Act (P.L.115-406), now heads to the Senate for consideration. Full Story

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) approved New Hampshire’s Medicaid State Plan Amendment for community-based mobile crisis intervention teams to provide services for people experiencing a mental health or substance use disorder crisis. New Hampshire can now connect Medicaid-eligible individuals in crisis to a behavioral health provider 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Importantly. Twenty states and the District of Columbia now have expanded access to community-based mental health and substance use services under a new Medicaid option created by the Biden-Harris American Rescue Plan. Full Story

NAMI has released an issue brief, Trends in State Policy: Youth Mental Health, which highlights state legislation passed in 2023 that helps improve youth mental health care and support and includes policy recommendations that may be implemented in states across the country. Full Story

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), announced $81.3 million in grant awards, including more than $16 million to support the integration of primary and behavioral health care. The integration of primary and behavioral health care is considered the future of health care because it uses systematic, evidence-based approaches to improve the delivery of person-centered comprehensive care; increases access to preventive care and screenings; coordinates care to address mental, physical, social, and substance use related needs; and reduces overall costs of care for patients, providers, and health care systems. 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.