President's Message: Words of Affirmation
Back in 2009, this video of a little girl named Jessica giving herself a ‘daily affirmation’ in the mirror went viral. Her dynamic energy is contagious and she ends her affirmation confident and raring to go. That’s how I’d like us all to feel when my year as President officially ends at the APNA 30th Annual Conference next month: empowered and ready to unleash our inner leaders. (See Mary Ann's affirmations for psych nurses)

Member News
Angela Amar named Fellow of the National League of Nursing's Academy of Nursing Education; Sooksai Kaewbua profiled by University of Kentucky with contribution from Chizimuzo Okoli; Michael Rice co-directs new University of New Mexico post-master's certificate program; Sandra Thomas named inaugural Endowed Professor in Nursing; Pam Wheat joins Mountain Grove Behavioral Healthcare team. (Learn More)

APNA 30th Annual Conference: Save on your Professional Liability Premium
Just Announced: Attend at least 6 contact hours of sessions and you may be eligible to save on your Risk Management Premium through NSO and HPSO! If you haven't registered yet, it isn't too late - pre-registration ends October 10th. (Find out how you can save)

Hear from the Nurses Newly Trained as Suicide Competencies Facilitators
Thanks to 32 newly trained nurse facilitators, psychiatric-mental health nurses across the country will now have access to evidence-based nursing knowledge and best practices for preventing the 10th leading cause of death in the US: suicide. “This training is so vital to both the development of our nurses and the care of those we serve,” says Tina Aown, MSN, RN-BC, CNML. (Read More)

SAMHSA Voice Awards 2016 Recap
Each year at the Voice Awards, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) celebrates consumer leaders, as well as writers and producers of television and film who have raised awareness and understanding of mental health and substance use disorders. For the sixth year, APNA participated as a program partner. APNA member Charmaine Platon, RN, attended this year's awards ceremony on our behalf. (Hear from Charmaine)

Meet the 2016 APNA Annual Awards Recipients
Last issue, you got to know Barbara Jones Warren, PhD, RN, PMHCNS-BC, FNAP, FAAN and Julie Carbray, PhD, FPMHNP-BC, PMHCNS-BC, APN. Now meet the rest of our Annual Awards Recipients.

	Joy A. Lauerer, DNP, PMHCNS-BC, RN Award for Excellence in Education Joy Lauerer is committed to eliminating the stigma students associate with psychiatric-mental health nursing. (cont'd)	Elaine McGrane Olmstead, RN MS, PMHCNS Award for Innovation - Individual Elaine Olmstead knew for most of her life that she wanted to become a psychiatric-mental health nurse. (cont'd)
	Kathy Johnson, MSN, PMHCNS-BC, PMHNP-BC Award for Excellence in Leadership - APRN Kathy Johnson’s approach to leadership is one that emphasizes mentorship and personal connections... (cont'd)	Kristen Kichefski, MSN, MBA, RN-BC Award for Excellence in Leadership - RN Kristen Kichefski’s unconventional path to nursing demonstrates her trailblazing nature. (cont'd)
	Jeannine S. Loucks, MSN, RN-BC PMH Award for Media "I think I’ve always been the type of person who is very caring,” says Jeannine Loucks of her decision to become a psychiatric-mental health nurse. (cont'd)	Mindy Cohen, RN, APN, CGP, DRCC, CARN Award for Excellence in Practice - APRN Prior to becoming a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner, Mindy Cohen served critical care patients as a Cardiovascular Nurse Practitioner... (cont'd)
	Heike Barnett, BSN, RN Award for Excellence in Practice - RN Heike Barnett is driven by curiosity and a commitment to recovery. “While I have also worked in oncology, acute dialysis, and other medical settings, I always return to mental health nursing,” she says. (cont'd)	Janice H. Goodman, PhD, PMHCNS-BC Award for Excellence in Research An experience during her undergraduate education led Janice Goodman to pursue psychiatric-mental health nursing. (cont'd)

APNA Colorado Chapter Award for Innovation - Chapter The Colorado Chapter was revitalized in 2014 when 5 Colorado nurses leapt at the chance to create a local community of APNA nurses. (cont'd)

Free Continuing Education for National Recovery Month
September is National Recovery Month - set a goal for enhancing your knowledge on the topics of suicide prevention and recovery from opioid use disorders with free continuing education. With The Phenomenon of Suicide: Competency Number One for the Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Generalist, find out the best intervention to reduce a patient's suicidal drive and how to use it during both a hospital stay and discharge (Free through September 30). Empower yourself during to support recovery from opioid use disorders with free webinars: Effective Treatments for Opioid Use Disorders: Educating & Empowering Nurses During an Epidemic.

Resource Roundup

• APNA Advocacy: Nursing Community letter on the classification of CNSs as separate to RNs; New letter supporting Maria Ruud's application to join the National Advisory Committee on the Trafficking of Children and Youth in the United States; New letter regarding proposed VHA rule allowing full practice authority for APRNs
• Traumatic Resources: New SAMHSA fact sheet on coping with grief after community violence
• Substance Use Resources: Two new SAMHSA-issued reports on the best approaches for optimizing outcomes for pregnant and parenting women with opioid use disorders; Upcoming AACN webinar series to address the opioid crisis
• Integrated Care Resources: New AHRQ Integration Playbook for integrating behavioral health into ambulatory care settings
• APRN Resources: Interactive Map: State by State APRN Practice Authority
• Medication Updates: Counterfeit pills fueling fentanyl and opioid crisis, DEA reports; FDA issues strongest warning of risks when combining opioid pain or cough medicines with benzodiazepines
• Press Releases: New Education to Combat Opioid Epidemic; Janice Goodman, PhD, PMHCNS-BC Named Associate Editor of Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association; APNA Awards Board of Directors Student Scholarship to 30 Nursing Students
• Continuing Education: Effective Treatments for Opioid Use Disorders (3 free webinars)

New Members: 614 New Members since July!

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced more than $44.5 million in awards to training programs to increase the number of mental health providers and substance abuse counselors across the country. The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) are funding 144 new and continuing grants through the Behavioral Health Workforce Education and Training (BHWET) program, which supports clinical internships and field placements for an array of professional and paraprofessional behavioral health disciplines and occupations. Full Story

There continues to be a significant treatment gap for mental illness and substance use disorders in the U.S., according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's (SAMHSA's) latest National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) report. In 2015, 1 in 5 adults met diagnostic criteria for a mental illness or substance use disorder (SUD), yet only 39% of them received treatment. Click here to access the report.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced $53 million in funding to 44 States, four tribes and the District of Columbia to improve access to treatment for opioid use disorders, reduce opioid related deaths, and strengthen drug misuse prevention efforts. In addition, funding will also support improved data collection and analysis around opioid misuse and overdose as well as better tracking of fatal and nonfatal opioid-involved overdoses. Full Story

The National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors' (NASMHPD) 2016 Technical Assistance Coalition Assessment Working Papers are now available. Click here to access the working papers.

Collaborative care for adolescents with depression is cost-effective in primary care settings, according to results from the ROAD study. Researchers in the Reaching Out to Adolescents and Distress study investigated the incremental cost-effectiveness of collaborative care treatment versus usual care in 101 adolescents with depression, reported MedScape. Full Story

The American Nurses Association (ANA) and Elsevier, a provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services, announced a new collaboration to set the stage for the future of care coordination with a new eLearning product. ANA and Elsevier have developed an eLearning product that advances the nursing profession through ongoing continuing education. Care Coordination: What Nurses Need to Know is currently available to registered nurses working in health care organizations. Full Story

With a 48% increase in the number of students seeking counseling, Florida universities are asking for an additional $14.5 million in the coming budget year to hire more mental health professionals, including psychologists, counselors, psychiatric nurses and prevention specialists, reported Sunshine State News. Full Story

NYC Health + Hospitals, seeking to address the social determinants of health, has backed the construction and future management of a housing project for low-income mental health patients on the campus of one of its hospitals, reported Hospital & Health Networks. Full Story

On Sept. 26, the Social Security Administration published final rules, effective January 17, 2017, that revise medical criteria for evaluating mental disorders. This regulation is a comprehensive revision to the criteria for evaluating disability claims involving mental disorders. Full Story The electronic version of the rules is available in the Federal Register here.

The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) is calling for legislation to ensure enforcement of the 2008 federal mental health insurance "parity" law and expanded coverage under the 2009 Affordable Care Act. NAMI is calling for legislation to ensure enforcement of the 2008 federal mental health insurance "parity" law and expanded coverage under the 2009 Affordable Care Act. Full Story

After an extensive review of the latest scientific evidence, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced that it is requiring class-wide changes to drug labeling, including patient information, to help inform health care providers and patients of the serious risks associated with the combined use of certain opioid medications and a class of central nervous system (CNS) depressant drugs called benzodiazepines. Among the changes, the FDA is requiring boxed warnings – the FDA’s strongest warning – and patient-focused Medication Guides for prescription opioid analgesics, opioid-containing cough products, and benzodiazepines – nearly 400 products in total – with information about the serious risks associated with using these medications at the same time. Full Story

Oklahoma governor Mary Fallin announced the official kickoff of the Oklahoma Veterans Pilot Program, a private/public initiative to develop a comprehensive healthcare access and delivery system for the state’s veterans. The system will cover healthcare services in mental health, home health, nursing care, rehabilitative services, and coordinated access to physician services, laboratory services, pharmacy services and tele-health capability, reported KSWO.com. Full Story

NIMH funded three new grants that support the Zero Suicide  commitment to preventing suicide attempts and deaths among individuals receiving treatment within health care systems. The Zero Suicide campaign seeks to improve health care systems’ ability to identify who is at risk, and to identify and implement effective treatments for at-risk individuals. The campaign is also targeting ways to improve health care systems through provider training and systemic changes. Full Story

Health ministers from the Group of Seven industrialized countries agreed to boost dementia care measures amid the rapid graying of societies, as they wrapped up a two-day meeting in Kobe. The ministers agreed to improve dementia patients’ lives through early diagnosis and better care, while encouraging research that could speed up the development of dementia therapies, reported The Japan Times. 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.