Today is the Last Day to Register Before the APNA 26th Annual Conference
Today, October 31st, is the deadline to register online, by phone, by fax, or by mail. After today, you will only be able to register on site at the conference. We look forward to seeing you next week in Pittsburgh! Click here for more Information.

ANCC Review & the APNA Annual Conference - same city, same week!
Attend one of these ANCC courses for a great review and the opportunity to earn up to an additional 14 contact hours! The two-day courses will be offered prior to the APNA 26th Annual Conference at the Westin Convention Center Pittsburgh. Note: These are two-day courses. In order to earn the 14 contact hours, you will need to attend BOTH days of the course.

Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Review Course
For Family and Adult NP certifications!
Monday, November 5, 2012 (8:00am - 4:30pm) through Tuesday, November 6, 2012 (8:00am - 4:30pm)

Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Review Course
Monday, November 5, 2012 (8:00am - 4:30pm) through Tuesday, November 6, 2012 (8:00am - 4:30pm)

To register for one of the ANCC review courses, complete the online registration for the APNA Annual Conference. You can elect to register for the Annual Conference + ANCC Course package, or just the course.

Have You Found Your Mentor?
Sign up for APNA Mentor Match today to begin your search for a mentor or mentee! Click here to learn more.

Each year, through the APNA Annual Awards, we celebrate psychiatric-mental health nurses who inspire us with their excellence and dedication to our profession. Learn more about some of this year's recipients, who will be honored next week at the Annual Conference:

Martin Bosch, RN - Award for Excellence in Practice - RN PMH Nearly six years ago, Minnesota made an important move to transition their adult mental health services from large state hospital campus treatment model to a community behavioral health center model. Martin Bosch, RN was intricate in leading his hospital's transition to what is now the Community Behavioral Health Hospital, Baxter...cont'd
Karen Farchaus Stein, PhD, RN, FAAN - Award for Excellence in Research Karen Farchaus Stein, PhD, RN, FAAN is widely known as a top researcher in the nursing field. Her findings have been published in peer-reviewed nursing and interdisciplinary journals and presented at major conferences. Her recognitions are many, from being elected as a member to the Eating Disorder Research Society to...cont'd
Margaret Halter, PhD, APRN - Award for Excellence in Leadership – Advanced "I wanted to know more." In talking about her career as a PMH nurse, Peggy Halter, PhD, PMHCNS uses this phrase to explain the motivation behind pivotal career decisions she has made. She describes one of her first encounters with a gentleman who was certain that he was a car, when she was a PMH nursing undergrad at a state hospital...cont'd
Anne Kelly, RN - Award for Excellence in Leadership – Generalist So many of the qualities that make a great leader coincide with qualities that make a great psychiatric mental health nurse: the ability to inspire and motivate, the ability to serve, the ability to feel compassion. John Quincy Adams said, "If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader." Anne Kelly views the psychiatric nursing profession in similar terms...cont'd
Pamela Marcus, RN, APRN, PMH-BC - Award for Excellence in Practice – Advanced The list of Pamela Marcus, RN, APRN, PMH-BC's activities and achievements is long and impressive. She is a tenured Associate Professor of Nursing at Prince George's Community College in Largo, Maryland where she uses her undergraduate students' clinical experience to affect the care provided to clients. She also owns a psychotherapy practice, selected as a DSM-5 field trial site...cont'd
Brenda Marshall, EdD, NP-BC - Award for Excellence in Education At the beginning of her book Becoming You, which has been used on college campuses to teach behavior change, Dr. Brenda Marshall, EdD, MSN, APN shares an anecdote about her daughter: "When my daughter was asked whether she would be willing to repeat a grade to get into the high school of her choice, she replied that she would be okay with that. 'You know,' she said, 'my mom is pretty old and she's still going to school. In our house we just keep learning until we get it!'"... cont'd
Nidhi Chabora, APRN, RX, BC - Award for Innovation - Individual To Nidhi Chabora, APRN-Rx, BC, creating art is "worthy of prescription." After several years of spending her days working as a Nurse Practitioner in Hilo, Hawaii doing medication management paired with some supportive and motivational therapy, she noticed a persistent sense that there was a piece missing...cont'd

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Nurse Faculty Scholars (NFS) has released its call for 2013 applications. The goal of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Nurse Faculty Scholars (NFS) program is to develop the next generation of national leaders in academic nursing through career development awards for outstanding junior nursing faculty. The program aims to strengthen the academic productivity and overall excellence of nursing schools by providing mentorship, leadership training, and salary and research support to young faculty. Click here for more information.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Executive Nurse Fellows program has released the Call for Applications for its 2013 cohort. The highly competitive, three-year, world-class leadership development program will award up to 20 fellowships to nurses who aspire to lead teams and organizations working to improve health and health care locally and nationally. They will join more than 200 nurse leaders who have participated in the RWJF Executive Nurse Fellows program since it began in 1998. Full Story

The National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties (NONPF) has provided a Pre-release of their Psychiatric-Mental Health NP Competencies. Click this link to view them.

As one of the plaintiffs in the federal class action lawsuit Jimmo v. Sebelius, which challenged the Medicare Improvement Standard, the Alzheimer's Association applauds the recently announced proposed settlement. The long-practiced Medicare Improvement Standard provided that Medicare beneficiaries must achieve demonstrable improvements in order to receive rehabilitative services, such as physical, speech and occupational therapy. Without these demonstrable improvements, Medicare would not pay for these services. Now, under the settlement agreement, Medicare will pay for these services if they maintain the patient's current condition or prevent or slow further deterioration. Full Story

Among people seeking treatment for substance use disorders, it's estimated that nearly one in three are suffering symptoms of PTSD. Rates of alcohol and substance use disorders among those diagnosed with PTSD are also strikingly high. While historically the practice may have been to treat the addiction first, there has long been an awareness of the degree to which each disorder impedes treatment, reported Behavioral Health Evolution. In a recent special issue of the Journal of Dual Diagnosis (vol. 7, issue 4), guest editors Mark McGovern and Tracy Stecker review the research on interventions for co-occurring substance use disorders and PTSD. Full Story

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced a new program, made possible by the Affordable Care Act, which will boost the number of social workers and psychologists who work with Americans in rural areas, military personnel, veterans, and their families. Through the Mental and Behavioral Health Education and Training grant program, $9.8 million is being awarded to 24 graduate social work and psychology schools and programs for three-year grants. The grants will help eligible institutions of higher education - including accredited schools of social work and psychology and accredited psychology internship programs - to recruit students and provide support for clinical training in mental and behavioral health. Full Story

The Future of Nursing: Campaign for Action is launching a new website - www.CampaignforAction.org. A joint initiative of AARP and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Campaign is working to transform health care through nursing. As the largest segment of the health care workforce and the professionals who spend the most time with patients, nurses bring essential experience and insight to efforts to improve access and quality and lower health care costs. The new website supports the Campaign for Action's work to promote nurse leadership in health care delivery and policy, nurse academic progression, and interdisciplinary collaboration in both education and practice. 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.