APNA President’s Message: A Dose of Vitamin G
As I look ahead to the New Year, I also find myself reflecting on this year. We have so much to be thankful for, even in times like these. We have the support, strength, and inspiration of our psychiatric-mental health nursing community. Keep Reading

Cheers to You
Thank you for all you do for the millions of individuals with mental health needs across the country. Wishing you a safe and happy holiday season and we look forward to supporting you and your important work in the new year! APNA offices will be closed December 23rd through January 2nd for the holidays. Watch APNA Video Message

APRNs Changing Population or Role
A new LACE Network statement, endorsed by the APNA Board of Directors, provides guiding principles for when an APRN changes a population or role. View LACE Statement

COVID-19: Changing the Landscape of Substance Use
This editorial, by APNA Addictions Council Co-Chairs Laura Leahy and Susan Caverly, introduces the upcoming Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association special issue on substance use disorders. Read Editorial

APNA Annual Conference Session Recordings Now Online
Looking for education that addresses a variety of current PMH nursing issues? The first session recordings from the APNA 35th Annual Conference are here, with more on the way! Browse New Sessions

HealthLeaders recently interviewed several health system and hospital executives who identified three primary challenges in their behavioral health programs. They struggle with inadequate reimbursement for behavioral health services, patient access, and workforce shortages of behavioral health professionals. Full Story

A recent Becker's Hospital Review article provides a look at how providers and payers are responding to rising mental health concerns. Full Story

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is now accepting applications for the first-ever SAMHSA Harm Reduction grant program and expects to issue $30 million in grant awards. This funding, authorized by the American Rescue Plan, will help increase access to a range of community harm reduction services and support harm reduction service providers as they work to help prevent overdose deaths and reduce health risks often associated with drug use.  Full Story

Vice President Kamala Harris will announced a historic $1.5 billion investment to help grow and diversify the nation’s health care workforce, and bolster equitable health care in the communities that need it most during the COVID-19 pandemic and in the years to come. These awards are supporting the National Health Service Corps, Nurse Corps, and Substance Use Disorder Treatment and Recovery programs. These programs address workforce shortages and health disparities by providing scholarship and loan repayment funding for health care students and professionals, in exchange for a service commitment in hard-hit and high-risk communities. Full Story

The Nurse Corps Loan Repayment Program (LRP) has set aside up to $10 million in special funding for nurse practitioners (NPs) specializing in psychiatry. The Nurse Corps awards scholarships and loan repayment to nurses, nursing students, and nurse faculty. Click here to learn more or apply.

Computer- and smartphone-based treatments appear to be effective in reducing symptoms of depression, and while it remains unclear whether they are as effective as face-to-face psychotherapy, they offer a promising alternative to address the growing mental health needs spawned by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to research published by the American Psychological Association. Full Story

A new report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) found that massive increases in the use of telehealth helped maintain some health care access during the COVID-19 pandemic, with specialists like behavioral health providers seeing the highest telehealth utilization relative to other providers. Full Story To access the report, click here.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved CAPLYTA for the treatment of depressive episodes associated with bipolar I or II disorder in adults, as monotherapy and as adjunctive therapy with lithium or valproate. Full Story

FDA is temporarily exercising enforcement discretion with respect to certain Clozapine REMS program requirements to ensure continuity of care for patients taking clozapine. Full Story

The FCC voted unanimously to improve access to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline by allowing people to send a text message to 988, which it hopes will make it easier for people in need to contact a crisis counselor by offering a short and memorable number that can receive texts from any smartphone or even from a computer. Full Story

The majority of addiction specialists believe psychedelics are promising for the treatment of substance use disorders (SUDs) and psychiatric illnesses and, with some caveats, support legalization of the substances for these indications, results of a new survey show, reported MedScape. Full Story

Regardless of mental health history, pre-existing medical conditions and illness severity, those hospitalized for COVID-19 had higher levels of PTSD, anxiety and loneliness compared to those hospitalized for non-COVID related illnesses at the time of discharge, a recent report released by University of Michigan researchers concluded. Full Story

American teens are increasingly turning to the social media giant Instagram to share graphic images of their own attempts to harm themselves, a new study reveals. In January and February of 2018, for instance, teens posted between 58,000 and 68,000 images with hashtags related to some form of self-injury in which suicide was not the apparent goal. The researchers labeled such images as reflective of non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI). But by December of 2018, that figure had shot up to over 112,000, the study found, with notable rises in the use of three hashtags: #selfharm, #hatemyself and #selfharmawareness, reported HealthDay.com. Full Story

The My Mental Health Crisis Plan app, which allows individuals who have serious mental illness to create a psychiatric advance directive that guides their treatment during a mental health crisis, recently was named Best Health Care Mobile Application in the 2021 MobileWebAwards. The app was developed by SMI Adviser, an initiative funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and administered by the American Psychiatric Association (APA). SMI Adviser’s mission is to advance the use of a person-centered approach to care that ensures people who have serious mental illness find the treatment and support they need. Full Story

The Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act, aimed at addressing the nation's physician burnout crisis, is one step closer to becoming law after passing in the House of Representatives Dec. 8, reported Becker's Hospital Review. The legislation would require research into healthcare workers' mental wellness and provide grant funding for healthcare facilities to launch suicide prevention and peer-support programs, among other initiatives. Full Story

Pat Allen, director of the Oregon Health Authority, submitted a plan to the Oregon Legislature Nov. 1 to spend $33 million through 2023 to hire an additional 359 nurses, mental health specialists, security and other workers for Oregon State Hospital’s campuses in Salem and Junction City, according to the Salem Reporter. Full Story

The International Obsessive-Compulsive Disorders Accreditation Task Force (ATF) has published a comprehensive set of specialty standards for the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in children and adults. The task force was created and is overseen by the Canadian Institute for Obsessive Compulsive Disorders (CIOCD), a nonprofit whose central mission is to improve the quality and accessibility of OCD care across the globe. 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.