APNA News - The Psychiatric Nursing Voice

President's Message: Building Connections
"The chuckle with which he said this, and the chuckle with which he paid for the turkey, and the chuckle with which he paid for the cab, and the chuckle with which he recompensed the boy, were only to be exceeded by the chuckle with which he sat down breathless in his chair again and chuckled till he cried." - Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol
Scrooge is a familiar character for most of us, whether you've seen him played by Donald Duck in the Disney Cartoon or more memorably by Alistair Sim in the 1951 movie. Charles Dickens portrays an amazing transformation...(Cont'd)

Member Profile: Dale Knode, RN, BS, HSAD
As an Army Reserve member, Dale Knode, RN, BS, HSAD works in South Carolina with the Combat Stress and Addictions Program (CSARP) at Moncrief Army Community Hospital. In his civilian life, he works at a PACT program in Yankton, South Dakota. And, he recently proposed to his fiancée, Joyce, while in San Antonio for the APNA 27th Annual Conference! (Cont'd)

Member News
Diane Allen and Michele Moreau co-authors of article, "Seclusion and Restraint Use in Children and Adults: Differences Between Age Groups", published in Journal of Psychosocial Nursing; Dale Knode featured in Veterans' Day article: "Yankton Man Part Of Honored Team That Helps Returning Soldiers With Transition Back To Stateside Life"; R. John Repique featured in America's Essential Hospitals article: "Behavioral health care: Filling an unmet LGBT need"; Theodora Sirota's blog post, "A Reminder To Help Those Suffering This Holiday Season", posted on Caldwell's Patch. More Info

JAPNA: New Podcast! Advancing Health Equity in Disparity Populations: A Focused Issue on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender People
The first in a series of podcasts for the Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association, this podcast highlights original research appearing in the September/October issue of the Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association. Colleen Corte, one of the Guest Editors of the issue, has a discussion with lead authors of two studies published in the issue: Dr. Mike Marhsal about his paper on mental health and substance use disparities among urban adolescent lesbian and bisexual girls, and Dr. Sari Reisner about his paper on female-to-male transmasculine adult health. JAPNA Podcast

CPI: Exciting Program Developments - by Julie Carbray, Chair, CPI Program Committee
Your Clinical Psychopharmacology Institute Program Committee continues to build a stimulating program that will incorporate psychopharmacologic nursing interventions from the cellular to the community level. We are pleased to announce that Xavier Amador (founder of the LEAP Institute) will join the conference as one of our keynote speakers. Dr. Amador is an internationally known speaker, clinical psychologist, and author of eight books, including the international best-seller, "I'm Not Sick, I Don't Need Help" and "Break the Bipolar Cycle". He promises to inspire us all in our nursing care of individuals within their communities. We have also lined up speakers covering contextual realities of psychopharmacologic nursing practice such as the care of women and perinatal issues and trauma. Our committee continues to build this program on your feedback and we are looking forward to bringing these contemporary challenges to our membership this summer. Learn More

Continuing Education: 35 Sessions from Annual Conference now online!
35 session podcasts from the APNA 27th Annual Conference are now available in the APNA eLearning Center. APNA Members: Use your membership bonus points and 10 Thanksgiving bonus points to access these sessions at little to no cost. Conference registrants: Use your Attendee Bonus Points to order the sessions for free as a part of your registration. Additional podcasts will be posted as they are reviewed. View & Order Conference Podcasts

Mental Health Parity: Collaborating to Secure Parity
On December 6th, APNA was proud to be the only nursing organization present at a meeting focused on ensuring the effective implementation of mental health parity. This collaboration of 25 key national health and mental health organizations was facilitated by long-time parity advocate Patrick Kennedy. APNA would like to acknowledge the American Psychiatric Association and its new CEO, Saul Levin, for organizing and hosting this important summit. We will continue to work to provide nursing's perspectives to those involved as implementation of the law moves forward.

Recovery Pearl: Trauma Informed Care - by Jeffery Ramirez PhD, PMHNP
Brought to you by the APNA Recovery Council
Trauma Informed Care is a recovery concept that emerged from consumers when feeling re-traumatized by the use of interventions such as restraints. Trauma is defined as a personal experience of violence from abuse, neglect or witnessed acts of violence¹. Nurses can lead the way in creating a trauma informed system by promoting a collaborative environment, accepting of the client's behaviors/responses, and understanding that every person in treatment settings has a trauma history. More Recovery Pearls
1. National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors.

Make the Connection: Help Connect Veterans with Resources
After he returned home from combat in Vietnam, Don spent decades suppressing feelings of guilt and memories of traumatic experiences. Then 9/11 triggered something in him, and he started having nightmares and angry outbursts. Don had never talked to a mental health professional...(Cont'd)

Resource Roundup: New Additions to the APNA Resource Center

Medication Updates: FDA approves first generic version of Cymbalta; Rosiglitazone-containing diabetes medicine - 2010 FDA Restrictions Removed; DEA 2013 National Drug Threat Assessment released; Opioids Prove Effective for Restless Legs Syndrome
Grants & Scholarships: NIMH Multi-Site Post Doctoral Research Fellowship in Geriatric Mental Health Services; Injury Control Research Center for Suicide Prevention Call for Applications

Geropsych Nursing Resources: Antipsychotic Drug use in Nursing Homes Trend Update
Integrated Care Resources: AHRQ Lexicon for Behavioral Health and Primary Care Integration; CMS issues new guidance on same day billing in Medicare; SAMHSA-HRSA 10-Minutes at a Time HIT Library
Affordable Care Act Resources: Get Covered Calculator
Advocacy: Nursing Community letter to the Conference Budget Committee

New Members: 396 new members since October!

Psychiatric nurses offer a missing and critical point of view in treating adolescents in foster care who have mental health issues, an instructor at Saint Louis University School of Nursing found, reported ScienceCodex.com. "Adding a mental health nurse to the treatment team would be ideal. He or she could bring a much-needed medical perspective to caring for teens in foster care who have psychiatric disorders. Child welfare workers and social workers don't have the specific training they need to track health problems," said Julie Bertram, MSN, who also is lead author of the article. Full Story

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced $55.5 million in funding awarded in FY 2013 to strengthen training for health professionals and increase the size of the nation's health care workforce. More than 270 grants will address health workforce needs in nursing, public health, behavioral health, health workforce development, and dentistry. The grants are managed by HHS' Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). Full Story

The Division of Nursing is pleased to announce the Fiscal Year 2014 funding opportunity for the Nurse Education, Practice, Quality and Retention (NEPQR) Program - Interprofessional Collaborative Practice, Announcement Number: HRSA-14-070. The overarching goal of the NEPQR-IPCP program is to support the development of collaborative practice environments that deliver patient and population-centered quality health care that is safe, efficient, effective and equitable. Click here for more information.

Alzheimer's Disease International says 44 million people live with dementia, but that figure will increase to 135 million by 2050. Currently 38% of cases are in rich countries, but that balance is predicted shift significantly by 2050, with 71% of patients being in poor and middle-income countries, reported BBC. Full Story

A study in mice shows how a breakdown of the brain's blood vessels may amplify or cause problems associated with Alzheimer's disease. The results published in Nature Communications suggest that blood vessel cells called pericytes may provide novel targets for treatments and diagnoses. Full Story

The majority of U.S. teens with psychiatric disorders go untreated, and when treatment is provided, it is rarely delivered by a mental health specialist, new research shows. Results from a national survey of teens' mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders and service use published online in Psychiatric Services shows that fewer than half (45%) of respondents with psychiatric disorders received any kind of mental health service. Full Story

An evidence-based guide designed to help primary care doctors, nurses and other staff successfully select, adopt and implement health assessments was released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). Health assessments are used to collect information to help primary care providers evaluate a patient's health status and risks. The information is used to identify potentially problematic but treatable health behaviors and factors such as anxiety, alcohol use, depression, unhealthy eating, and sedentary lifestyle that patients often don't bring up during a medical visit. Full Story To access the guide, click here.

ANA's Nursing Informatics Scope and Standards Revision Workgroup seeks public comment on the draft document Nursing Informatics: Scope and Standards of Practice, Second Edition. Deadline to submit comments is Jan.17. Click here to submit comments.

For the past 12 years, the public has voted nurses as the most ethical and honest profession in America in Gallup's annual survey. This year, 82% of Americans rated nurses' honesty and ethical standards as "very high" or "high," a full 12 percentage points above any other profession. Full Story

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that it plans to issue a $50 million funding opportunity announcement to help Community Health Centers establish or expand behavioral health services for people living with mental illness, and drug and alcohol problems. Community Health Centers will be able to use these new funds, made available through the Affordable Care Act, for efforts such as hiring new mental health and substance use disorder professionals, adding mental health and substance use disorder services, and employing team-based models of care. Full Story

The Obama Administration announced the imminent availability of $100 million in mental health funding to be used to expand service delivery in community health settings and rural areas. Full Story

On Dec. 12, the Senate Finance Committee voted to include the bipartisan Excellence in Mental Health Act as an amendment to the SGR Repeal legislation. The Excellence Act, sponsored by Senators Stabenow (D-MI) and Blunt (R-MO), would improve quality and expand access to mental health care through community mental health providers. The legislation would establish a 10 state demonstration program to offer a broad range of mental health services like 24-hour crisis psychiatric services while setting new high standards for providers. The legislation now moves to the full Senate for consideration. Full Story

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) announced that 10 additional states will be part of the Future of Nursing State Implementation Program. The program is helping states prepare the nursing profession to address our nation's most pressing health care challenges - access, quality, and cost. The program launched with 20 states in February. The 10 states added are Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Illinois, Minnesota, Nevada, Ohio, South Carolina, Vermont, and Virginia. 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.