Invitation to Complete a PMH Nursing Workforce Survey
APNA has launched a groundbreaking survey about psychiatric-mental health nursing! Your responses will help better define the psychiatric-mental health nursing workforce – who you are, where you work, and the impact you make. Select your responses to questions about your role and receive a $20 credit in the APNA eLearning Center to purchase educational content of your choice and earn contact hours. The survey should take fewer than 20 minutes. If you are a PMH-RN, click here to access your survey. If you are a PMH-APRN, click here to access your survey.

Funding Available: Johnson & Johnson Nurses Innovate QuickFire Challenge in Mental Health
APNA has partnered with Johnson & Johnson for the Nurses Innovate QuickFire Challenge to fund nurse-led ideas to transform mental health care & well-being for patients and healthcare professionals during the current pandemic and beyond. Nurses’ proposals might include novel concepts, education programs, protocols, prevention or treatment approaches, screening tools, or consumer product ideas. The nurse innovators whose ideas are chosen will receive up to $100,000 in grant funding, access to the JLABS ecosystem, and mentorship by the Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies. The deadline for applications is January 15, 2021. Click here to learn more.

The Backstories: 2020 APNA Annual Awards Recipients
Discover the stories behind the 2020 APNA Awards recipients! Through their innovative practice, dedicated service, and courage to speak out for individuals with mental health concerns, these award recipients inspire us all to stretch our thinking and imagine what we can accomplish. Click here to read the profiles.

Now Available: 2020 APNA Annual Activity Report
The Treasurer, Secretary, and President have each provided reports which speak to key APNA activities from the past year. Supplemental reports in the Appendix offer a comprehensive look at council accomplishments, educational programs, financial statements, and more. Click here to access the reports.

Introducing the Newest Facilitators of the APNA Competency Based Training for Suicide Prevention
Eight psychiatric-mental health nurses have completed a rigorous program and are now qualified to facilitate the APNA Competency Based Training for Suicide Prevention. These nurses are now leaders in helping psychiatric-mental health nurses gain the skills needed to assess and manage suicide risk. Congratulations to: Laurie F. Fontenot, MSN, RN, Eunice, LA; Melanie F. Ham, MA, MSN, RN, CSAC, Roanoke, VA; Denise Hussey, BSN, RN, Morganton, NC; Carolyn Kleinsmith, BSN, RN, PHN, Credentialed School Nurse, Santa Maria, CA; Islane R. Louis, MSN, RN, Colchester, VT; Michelle Tavares, MSN, RN-BC, Glens Falls, NY; Chris Van Groningen, RN-BC, Tucson, AZ. Learn More

The World Health Organization (WHO) released findings of a new survey of 130 countries which are believed to form the first global data set on the impact of Covid-19 on access to mental health services. Of those surveyed, more than 120 countries (93%) reported that mental health services had been stopped or disrupted during the pandemic. More than 60% flagged disruption to mental health services for vulnerable people, including children and adolescents (72%) and women requiring antenatal or postnatal services (61%). Full Story

The 60-minute ANA COVID-19 webinar, “Caring for COVID Patients:  Disease Progressions and Nursing Interventions You Need to Know,” is now also available as easy to access and view 5 to 15 minute videos. The full webinar covers multiple COVID-19 Disease Progression and Nursing Intervention topics including COVID-19 critical presentation, care goals, innovative nursing interventions, as well as assessment, monitoring and diagnostics. Click here to access the videos.

ANA has launched a free on-demand webinar "The State of COVID-19 Vaccine Development: What You Need to Know". The webinar is free for all nurses and provides 1 contact hour. Click here to register.

The American Psychiatric Association and SMI Adviser are presenting The Third National Conference on Advancing Early Psychosis Care in the United States: Addressing Inequities - Race, Culture, and COVID. This FREE virtual conference takes place November 12-13, 2020.  To see the full agenda and register, click here.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), is announcing $20 billion in new funding for providers on the frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic. Under this Phase 3 General Distribution allocation, providers that have already received Provider Relief Fund payments will be invited to apply for additional funding that considers financial losses and changes in operating expenses caused by the coronavirus. Previously ineligible providers, such as those who began practicing in 2020 will also be invited to apply, and an expanded group of behavioral health providers confronting the emergence of increased mental health and substance use issues exacerbated by the pandemic will also be eligible for relief payments. Full Story

Stress from COVID-19 — along with stress related to health care, the economy, racism and the presidential election — is seriously threatening the mental health of our country, particularly our youngest generation, according to a new national survey from the American Psychological Association. Stress in America 2020: A National Mental Health Crisis, conducted by The Harris Poll on behalf of APA, found that nearly 8 in 10 adults (78%) say the coronavirus pandemic is a significant source of stress in their lives, while 3 in 5 (60%) say the number of issues America faces is overwhelming to them. Full Story

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) released a new mobile app, My Mental Health Crisis Plan, which allows individuals who have serious mental illness (SMI) to create a plan to guide their treatment during a mental health crisis. The app was developed through SMI Adviser, a project funded by SAMHSA and administered by the American Psychiatric Association. Full Story

Nurses Service Organization (NSO), in collaboration with CNA, has produced Nurse Professional Liability Exposure Claim Report: 4th Edition: Minimizing Risk, Achieving Excellence, a resource for reducing professional risks. This claim report provides a wealth of statistical data and analysis that shows how nurses’ malpractice claims have continued to evolve over the past 20 years. The report is intended to help our nurses reduce their potential exposures and improve patient outcomes. Click here to view the report.

New reporting requirements under the Physician Payments Sunshine Act ("Sunshine Act") will take effect in 2021 requiring applicable drug and medical device companies to report payments and other transfers of value to physician assistants and advance practice nurses, in addition to physicians and teaching hospitals. Full Story

On Oct. 5, the White House issued President Trump's Executive Order on Saving Lives Through Increased Support For Mental- and Behavioral-Health Needs, which orders the creation of a Coronavirus Mental Health Working Group, the submission of a plan by the working group for addressing mental health impacts of COVID-19, and calls for agencies to maximize support, including safe in-person services, for Americans in need of behavioral health treatment. Full Story

President Trump signed the Cmdr. John Scott Hannon Veterans Mental Health Care Improvement Act, which will require the Department of Veterans Affairs to hire additional suicide prevention coordinators and give it leeway to award grants to organizations that focus on veterans' mental health issues, reported Military.com. Full Story

A bipartisan bill that will make 9-8-8 the universal telephone number to reach the national suicide prevention hotline starting in 2022, was signed into law by President Trump, reported CNN. The National Suicide Hotline Designation Act, which passed the House of Representatives last month after approval from the Senate and the Federal Communications Commission, will allow individuals seeking help to dial the three-digit number and be directed to the hotline. Full Story

On Sept. 29, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 1109, the Mental Health Services for Students Act of 2019, as amended. This bill would expand SAMHSA’s Project AWARE pilot programs to increase school-based mental health services, including child and adolescent psychiatric provider services, through competitive grants for students, grades K-12. Full Story

A new Quick Safety advisory from The Joint Commission titled “The optimal use of telehealth to deliver safe patient care” shares information on the benefits of telehealth, as well as its barriers and challenges. Full Story

The American Psychological Association has called on the Department of Defense and Congress to address serious gaps in the military’s mental health care system revealed in a report from the DoD Office of the Inspector General.  In the report, inspectors noted that 53% of service members and their families who were referred to TRICARE, the military’s purchased care network, for a mental health appointment never received that appointment, and the department did not know why. The report also found that seven of 13 military treatment facilities or their associated TRICARE networks did not meet the access standard for specialty care—at most a 28-day wait time—over the six-month review. Five of the remaining six only met access standards during one of the six months. Full Story

The Delta Center for a Thriving Safety Net (Delta Center) recently announced three additional years of support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to continue the initiative. The Delta Center employs a novel approach to advancing policy and practice change by focusing on state and national associations representing thousands of safety-net providers across the nation. The project brings together state primary care associations (PCAs) and behavioral health state associations (BHSAs) to build relationships and take collective action to advance policy, payment, and practice changes that will benefit millions of people served by health centers and community behavioral health organizations. 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 with distinction as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.