Happy Holidays!

The year is winding to a close. This will be the final e-news for 2008. It has been a year of remarkable events. We hope that the New Year brings you good fortune and that you will continue your support of psychiatric mental health nursing through your participation in APNA. Thank you for a wonderful year and we will back in 2009 with news that affects our lives!

Issues & Events

As the year comes to a close Psych Central provides a review of the biggest news in 2008 in mental health and psychology. Full Story

The Medicare Learning Network (MLN) is pleased to announce the availability of the Advanced Practice Nursing & Physician Assistants (APN/PA) web page. This dedicated web page is for Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) advanced practice nurses and physician assistants who provide services to Medicare beneficiaries. From this web page, you will be able to access and peruse the Medicare FFS program topics in order to keep abreast of policy and operational updates specific to Advanced Practice Nurses and Physician Assistants. Click here to visit the page

The American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) released preliminary survey data showing that enrollment in entry-level baccalaureate nursing programs increased by only 2.0% from 2007 to 2008. Though this marks the eighth consecutive year of enrollment growth, the annual increase in student capacity in four-year nursing programs has declined sharply since 2003 when enrollment was up by 16.6%. Adding to this sobering news is the fact that enrollment growth in master’s nursing programs has also decreased, and the number of students entering research-focused doctorates appears to be flat based on early reporting. Full Story

Kathy Apple, MS, RN, CAE, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Council of State Boards of Nursing, Inc. and APNA member, has been selected to serve as an American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Director-at-Large. Apple will serve a three-year term beginning Jan. 1, 2009. ANSI serves as administrator and coordinator of the U.S. private sector voluntary standardization system. Its Board of Directors is comprised of 50 ANSI members who work in diverse fields, including agriculture, environmental protection, health care and telecommunications. Apple holds a Master of Science in Psychiatric Nursing from the University of Nevada, Reno. Full Story

The American Nurses Association (ANA) is pleased to announce its third annual National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators conference "New Frontiers in Quality Care" in Dallas, TX on January 21-23, 2009. Staff nurses, nurse executives, NDNQI site coordinators, hospital chief executive officers and quality improvement professionals are encouraged to attend to identify how nearly 1400 participating hospitals in all 50 states and the District of Columbia use NDNQI reports to improve nursing practices, nursing workforce and patient outcomes. Full Story (pdf file)

Legislative

Focusing on the urgent need to prepare the health care workforce to better serve the nation’s older adults, on December 10, Sen. Herb Kohl (D-WI), chair of the Senate Aging Committee, introduced the Retooling the Health Care Workforce for an Aging America Act of 2008. This bill addresses the current and future shortage of health care personnel who are trained to care for older adults. The Retooling the Health Care Workforce for an Aging America Act of 2008 includes several provisions relating to mental health. Kohl's bill includes a provision that would authorize a complementary IOM report on the composition of the mental health workforce that is needed to meet the needs of the aging population. Full Story

Policy

The Alzheimer's Association applauds the Council of State Governments (CSG) in its effort to inform state legislators about cognitive impairment and the emerging Alzheimer epidemic. CSG's recognition of the burden an Alzheimer crisis would pose on state systems of health and long-term care is significant. By identifying innovative and effective responses for state policymakers to consider today, the challenges of an emerging Alzheimer population can sufficiently be addressed tomorrow. Full Story

The National Quality Forum (NQF) delivered a call to action to its members and leaders at every level to focus on achieving the National Priorities Partnership’s blueprint for world-class, affordable healthcare. NQF is the convening member of the National Priorities Partnership - an unusually diverse coalition of 28 major national organizations representing those who receive, pay for, deliver and evaluate healthcare. The Partnership unveiled the most comprehensive agenda of its kind to transform healthcare during a time of severe economic strain by cutting waste and better investing resources to fundamentally improve care. The NQF Board of Directors unanimously endorsed the set of six cross-cutting priorities — patient and family engagement, population health, safety, care coordination, palliative and end-of-life care, and overuse. Full Story

APNA News

APNA 7th Annual Clinical Psychopharmacology Institute
June 26-28, 2008 Hyatt Regency Reston, Reston, VA
The 7th Annual Clinical Psychopharmacology Institute will focus on complex clinical issues and is appropriate for generalist and advanced practice psychiatric nurses - especially those who administer and/or prescribe medications. Recognizing that a person is more than a mental disorder, this institute addresses the interaction of health care issues, mental disorders, transcultural treatment and care. Complex health issues, polypharmacy, and recently approved medications will be addressed. The continuing education contact hours provided at the CPI conference qualify as pharmacology hours. Click here for more information.