APNA Annual Awards Open Through Jan. 8
Honor your exceptional psychiatric-mental health nurse colleague, mentor, or mentee by nominating them for one of the APNA Annual Awards. Recipients of these awards will receive complimentary registration to the APNA 38th Annual Conference in Louisville, KY next October 2024. They will be celebrated throughout the year for their accomplishments and you will also be noted as their nominator. See the Awards & Nominate a Deserving PMH Nurse

Addressing PMH Nursing Education Concerns
Recent discussions on the APNA Member Bridge All-Purpose Discussion Forum highlight concerns surrounding some aspects of nursing education. With proposed changes to undergraduate and graduate nursing program accreditation standards in the works, see how APNA is addressing these concerns with a national accrediting agency. Learn More & See the Letter

My PMH Nurse Luminary is a Visionary Leader
APNA member Cindy Estes, DNP, MHA, RN, PMH-BC, NEA-B shares how a nurse executive with a multi-state health system is her luminary. Meet Cindy’s Luminary

Mark Your 2024 Calendars for These APNA Events

• APNA 22nd Annual Clinical Psychopharmacology Institute: Earn 20+ ANCC NCPD contact hours in pharmacology this June 6-9 in Rockville, Maryland or virtual livestream. Preliminary program information is now available and registration will open in February!
• APNA 38th Annual Conference:  Join your colleagues in Louisville Kentucky October 9-12 to earn 100+ contact hours live & on demand. Want to present at this year’s conference? The call for abstracts opens next month!

Care Considerations & More for Sexual & Gender Minority Populations
A new section on the APNA website provides information and vetted resources to support the care you provide to SGM populations. Explore the Resource

A bipartisan majority of Americans (86%) agree their elected officials need to do more to improve mental health care in the U.S., with only 7% that believe Congress is currently doing the right amount on this issue, according to a National Alliance on Mental Illness poll, conducted by Ipsos. The findings show strong public interest in Congress taking decisive action to improve the nation’s ongoing mental health crisis. Full Story

The American Association of Nurse Anesthesiology (AANA) and the American Psychiatric Nurses Association (APNA) support a patient-centered, interdisciplinary approach to providing care and treatment to persons with psychiatric disorders who may benefit from ketamine infusion therapy. Ketamine infusion therapy has been shown to have antidepressive properties and is increasingly being used to treat psychiatric disorders, including major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, treatment-resistant depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Full Story

There is a growing consensus among mental health care professionals that mental health professionals should be trained in religious and spirituality (R/S) competencies, reported BMC Psychology. Strong agreement exists that basic R/S competencies include respect, empathy, examination of bias, and routine assessment of R/S in mental health care. Four in five of those surveyed agree that more active competencies, such as identifying and addressing religious and spiritual struggles and problems and helping clients explore and access R/S strengths and resources should be included, whereas one in five report less comfort with these competencies. Full Story

One in six inpatients with opioid use disorder (OUD) leave the hospital before completing treatment, possibly due to untreated withdrawal symptoms, a new study shows. Investigators found that between 2016 and 2020, the number of before medically advised (BMA) discharges nearly doubled, reported MedScape. In addition, BMA discharges in patients with OUD and an injection site-related infection, a cohort more likely to have severe OUD and fentanyl use, increased 82%. The increase in BMAs with any opioid-related use increased by 50%. Full Story

The number of suicides in the U.S. has hit a record high, new provisional federal data shows. In 2022, an estimated 49,449 people died by suicide, which is 3% higher than the 48,183 people who died in 2021, according to a report published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics. Full Story

On Dec. 13, U.S. Representative Melanie Stansbury (D-NM) introduced the Public Health Nursing Act in the House. This legislation, akin to its Senate counterpart introduced by Senator Edward Markey (D-MA), aims to address the public health crisis through revitalizing and sustaining a robust public health nursing workforce in the U.S. The legislation would be a monumental step in addressing the healthcare staffing shortage, authorizing $5 billion annually over the course of 10 years to create a grant program through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for state, local, and Tribal public health departments to recruit, hire, train, pay, and retain licensed registered nurses. Full Story

U.S. Representatives Andrea Salinas (OR-06) and Diana Harshbarger (TN-01) introduced the bipartisan Home-Based Telemental Health Care Act, legislation that would expand access to remote mental health and substance use services in rural America, especially for individuals working in the farming, fishing, and forestry industries. U.S. Senators Mike Rounds (R-SD) and Tina Smith (D-MN) are leading a companion bill in the Senate. Full Story

Reps. Judy Chu (CA-28) and Adrian Smith (NE-03) introduced the PEERS in Medicare (PEERS) Act to provide for Medicare coverage of peer support services when delivered by federally qualified health centers, rural health clinics, community mental health centers, and certified community behavioral health clinics. Senators Catherine Cortez Masto (NV) and Bill Cassidy, M.D. (LA) are introducing companion legislation in the U.S. Senate. Full Story

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra released its  National Plan to Address Alzheimer's Disease: 2023 Update. The National Plan is a roadmap of strategies and actions of how HHS and its partners can accelerate research, expand treatments, improve care, support people living with dementia and their caregivers, and encourage action to reduce risk factors. It highlights the progress made in 2023, which was an historic year for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) and care for people with this condition. Full Story

The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued a joint letter to public health departments and health care systems to partner with housing providers, community development organizations, and other housing agencies to help expand access to naloxone and other life-saving overdose reversal medications in the communities they serve. Housing providers play an important role in the whole-of-society effort to save lives by ensuring that all public spaces have lifesaving overdose reversal medications on hand and people are prepared to use it. 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 as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.