President's Message
Throughout this past year as President I’ve focused on the pivotal time in health care at which we now find ourselves – and the opportunities presented to psychiatric-mental health nurses by this new landscape. We work within a complex system which presents us with a myriad of possible paths for us to make an impact. (Cont'd)

Get to Know the Annual Awards Recipients
This month, meet six more awards recipients: These profiles provide a look at their careers and achievements, advice to future PMH Nurses, and even their favorite Disney movies - just in time for this year's Annual Conference at Disney's Coronado Springs Resort!

In Your Own Words: Psych Nurses' Stories
This month, Robin shares her enthusiasm for her chosen profession: Nursing was not my first pick as far as a profession but it kind of picked me. My parents really wanted me to be a doctor but while in undergrad as a biology major I just started feeling like 'yuck! I really don't want to do this'. (Cont'd)

Member News
Janie Harwood keynotes at event on suicide awareness; Celeste M. Johnson recognized by Parkland Health & Hospital System for being elected to APNA Board of Directors; Annette Kleinhenz leads community conversation about suicide awareness in Columbus; Geraldine Pearson named Editor in Chief of Journal of American Psychiatric Nurses Association; Mona Shattell blogs about scientists and social media; Kat Wijdenes recognized by the Arizona Daily Star for being named an APNA Board of Directors Student Scholar. (Learn More)

SAMHSA Voice Awards Recap
Rosalind De Lisser reflects on her experience at the 2015 SAMHSA Voice Awards, which celebrate consumer leaders, television and film writers, and television and film producers who have raised awareness and understanding of mental health and substance use disorders. For the fifth year, APNA participated as a program partner and De Lisser attended the ceremony on our behalf. (Cont'd)

Reminder: Transition to ICD-10 Deadline is Thursday
On October 1, 2015, all HIPAA covered providers will be required to use ICD-10 diagnosis codes for all services. Remember, the DSM-5 already includes the ICD-10 codes, so you can continue to use it as your primary resource for diagnosing and also find the correct codes to ensure that you receive reimbursement for your services. (Learn More & View Resources)

Annual Conference Update
Did you know that the American Psychiatric Nursing Foundation will be hosting a speed networking session (with CE) on Saturday morning? Or that all conference attendees will receive a complimentary copy of Keynote Speaker Brian Cuban's book, "Shattered Image: My Triumph Over Body Dysmorphic Disorder"? Or how about that you'll be able to meet fellow psych nurses from your state during the Chapter Meetings on Thursday evening? Remember, you can still register online and save $25 off of the on-site registration fee!

Free CE for National Recovery Month
To honor National Recovery Month and all of the psychiatric nurses who lead the team in implementing recovery-oriented practices, we are offering a free podcast all month long on just that topic. Today is the last day to earn 0.5 contact hours with the free session podcast, Transforming Psychiatric Mental Health Care to Recovery Oriented Practice with an Inter-professional Team.

Online Psychopharmacology CNE 
Podcasts from the APNA 13th Annual Clinical Psychopharmacology Institute are now available online! Online access to these recordings is free of charge for 2015 CPI attendees, and those who missed the conference can still earn psychopharmacology contact hours and get the cutting edge content by ordering session recordings a la carte in the APNA eLearnng Center. (Learn More)

Resource Roundup

New Members: 742 New Members since July!

More people are starting to see mental health as a crucial part of staying well. Nearly 90% of American adults value mental and physical health equally, according to a new survey. The findings were part of a nationwide analysis on mental health and suicide conducted by the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention. Experts surveyed more than 2,000 respondents and are pleased with the results, given the stigma that's generally associated with mental health disorders. Full Story

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is providing up to $73 million over three years for programs offering treatment services to people involved in the criminal justice system that have mental anvcmd/or substance use disorders.  This includes individuals who are incarcerated, on parole, probation or who have been accused of an offense. Full Story

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Vraylar (cariprazine) capsules to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disorder in adults. The efficacy of Vraylar in treating schizophrenia was demonstrated in 1,754 participants in three six-week clinical trials. In each of the trials, Vraylar was shown to reduce the symptoms of schizophrenia compared to placebo. Full Story

Wayne State University has been awarded nearly $1 million to train social work and nursing students to assess patients in primary care settings for substance abuse behaviors. The three-year, $945,000 grant from the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) will be used to train 100 undergraduate and graduate students each year in Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT). Full Story

The South Carolina Department of Mental Health (DMH) has received a youth suicide prevention grant of $736,000 per year for five years from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The award, which will begin September 30, 2015, will support the Young Lives Matter Project ( YLM), an intensive, community-based effort with a goal of reducing suicide among youths and young adults, aged 10 to 24, by 20 percent statewide by 2025. Full Story

The Illinois Center for Nursing's 2014 Workforce Survey indicated 40% of nurses in Illinois are over 55, and one-third of these intend to retire in the next five years. The report predicted the pending shortage could be even more pronounced among various nursing specialties, including school nursing, home health, community health and psychiatric nursing, reported Nurse.com. Full Story

Simulation, which is used increasingly in nursing education, can be a valuable tool to teach nursing students to evaluate mental health conditions in patients who initially see health providers for medical concerns, suggests a recent Canadian study published in the September issue of Clinical Simulation in Nursing. Full Story

The Ohio State University College of Nursing has launched a Massive Open Online Course, "Foundations of Evidence-Based Practice in Healthcare," to anyone with an interest in health sciences and nursing. This course is taught by internationally renowned EBP experts Bernadette Melnyk, PhD, RN, CPNP/PMHNP, FNAP, FAAN, and Lynn Gallagher-Ford, PhD, RN, DPFNAP, NE-BC. Take the course at your own pace, now through Oct. 27, and sign up anytime while the course is running. Click here for more information.

The National Institute on Aging at NIH (NIA), Administration for Community Living (ACL), and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are hosting the 4th annual free webinar series on Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias for professionals in the public health, aging services, and research networks. Click here to learn more.

Computerized psychotherapies, or CPTs, hold great interest for veterans receiving outpatient treatment, reported HealthcareITNews.com. The study, relying on information provided by 151 veterans receiving treatment in a Veterans Health Administration substance use disorder outpatient clinic, showed veterans were open to a variety of CPTs. Of the respondents, 82% were interested in CPTs to treat at least one problem, with 60% interested for more than one. Full Story

Click here for the September State Legislative Activity Report, made available as a part of APNA's new legislative tracking system!

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced the launch of Prescription Drug Overdose: Prevention for States, a new program to help states end the ongoing prescription drug overdose epidemic. The Prevention for States program, as part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Opioid Initiative, will make a strong investment in 16 states, giving them the resources and expertise they need to help prevent overdose deaths related to prescription opioids. The program builds upon the infrastructure of CDC’s Prevention Boost and Core Violence and Injury Prevention programs. Full Story

The nursing profession “will no longer tolerate violence of any kind from any source,” the American Nurses Association (ANA) declared in a new position statement on violence in health care workplaces. The statement calls on RNs and employers to share responsibility to create a culture of respect and to implement evidence-based strategies. The statement cites research showing that some form of incivility, bullying or violence affects every nursing specialty, occurs in virtually every practice and academic setting, and extends into all educational and organizational levels of the nursing profession. Full Story To download the position paper click here.

The Alzheimer's Association said that the Justice in Aging report, Training to Serve People with Dementia: Is Our Health Care System Ready?, adds to the mounting evidence that America is unprepared for the Alzheimer's disease epidemic, which will only intensify with the aging baby boomers. According to the Alzheimer’s Association 2015 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures report, there are currently more than five million Americans living with Alzheimer’s, the most common form of dementia, and prevalence is set to triple in just over a generation. 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.