The new APNA bi-monthly enewsletter bringing members more timely news and more policy, regulation and legislative information.

We are always striving to improve our methods of communication so that you, our members, are always in the know about the latest in psychiatric nursing. In this new enewsletter, we are laying the foundation to give your more tools to open up avenues of networking, discussion and grassroots efforts to improve your profession.

The Psychiatric Nursing Voice will deliver a bi-monthly stream of news to your inbox including more information concentrated in the areas of legislation, regulation and policy as well as news and knowledge about all things that affect psychiatric mental health nursing. You will be the experts that make people aware of what's going on in the world of nursing.

This is the latest in our effort to make the Psychiatric Nursing Voice heard at all levels. We hope you enjoy and give us an opportunity to hear your thoughts.

Sincerely,

Nicholas Croce, Jr., MS
Executive Director

The National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare and the National Alliance for Mental Illness (NAMI) recently released a joint report entitled, “Coverage for All: Inclusion of Mental Illness and Substance Use Disorders in State Healthcare Reform Initiatives”. This paper is based on research on 18 state initiatives and proposals and is focused on the mental health and substance use disorder benefits available through state health care reform. Key findings include:

• Approximately 60% of states evaluated have equal coverage for serious mental illness or mental illness and other conditions;
• Only 28% of the states evaluated have an equal benefit for substance use disorders and other health conditions in at least one of their programs;
• Federal waivers are a component of reform in approximately 75% of the states with implemented programs, highlighting the importance of federal dollars and policy in future health care expansion efforts.

Copies of the executive summary, full report, and additional information are available at www.HealthcareforUninsured.org. For hard copies or questions about the report, please contact Mary Giliberti at maryg@nami.org or Christopher Loftis at chrisl@thenationalcouncil.org.

Intimidating and disruptive behaviors among health care professionals are such a serious issue that The Joint Commission is introducing new standards requiring more than 15,000 accredited health care organizations to create a code of conduct that defines acceptable and unacceptable behaviors and to establish a formal process for managing unacceptable behavior. The new standards take effect January 1, 2009 for hospitals, nursing homes, home health agencies, laboratories, ambulatory care facilities, and behavioral health care facilities across the U.S. Full Story Listen to Podcast (MP3 file)

American Academy of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) is asking members and others to consider signing a national petition to encourage U.S. advertisers to utilize "provider/prescriber neutral marketing." AANP would like to see pharmaceutical direct marketing ads not state, "ask your doctor", but rather state "ask your health care provider." This petition, if successful, would benefit all 4 disciplines of APNS: CNMs, CNSs, CRNAs, and CRNPs. You can access the petition on the AANP website by clicking here.

Regulatory

FDA exercised its new authority under the Food and Drug Administration Amendments Act of 2007 (FDAAA) to require manufacturers of "conventional" antipsychotic drugs to make safety-related changes to prescribing information, or labeling, to warn about an increased risk of death associated with the off-label use of these drugs to treat behavioral problems in older people with dementia. Full Story

A two-year research fellowship, endowed by a $1 million gift from the Morton K. and Jane Blaustein Foundation, provides a post-doctoral opportunity at the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing ( JHUSON ) for nurse researchers with an interest in psychiatric and mental health nursing. The Blaustein Fellowship allows promising scholars to conduct multidisciplinary and collaborative research to advance the mental health and well being of individuals in both hospital and community settings. Full Story

The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) is preparing to grade each of the 50 states on mental health services and invites the public to help by taking an online survey — and forwarding it to others. The survey is available at www.nami.org/mentalhealthservices and includes a version in Spanish. In 2006, NAMI’s "Grading the States: A Report on America’s Mental Healthcare System for Serious Mental Illnesses" www.nami.org/grades provided the first comprehensive assessment in 15 years of publicly-funded mental health services, establishing a benchmark against which future progress could be measured. The national average was a D. The next report card will come out in 2009. Full Story

After a series of investigations of individual doctors’ arrangements with drug makers, Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa, is demanding that the American Psychiatric Association give an accounting of its financing, reported the New York Times on the Web. Full Story Read the statement of APA President Nada Stotland, M.D. (PDF file)

Results from clinical trials of three potential Alzheimer's therapies raise hope for new and better treatments of the disease, according to data reported today at the 2008 Alzheimer's Association International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease (ICAD 2008) in Chicago. Full Story

Wiping-out drug-associated recollections may prevent recovering drug abusers from relapsing, say researchers from the University of Cambridge. The team, led by Professor Barry Everitt, was able to reduce drug-seeking behaviors in rats by blocking a brain chemical receptor important to learning and memory during the recall of drug-associated memories, reported PsychCentral. Full Story

The use of antipsychotic drugs to tamp down the agitation, combative behavior and outbursts of dementia patients has soared, especially in the elderly. Sales of newer antipsychotics like Risperdal, Seroquel and Zyprexa totaled $13.1 billion in 2007, up from $4 billion in 2000, according to IMS Health, a health care information company. Part of this increase can be traced to prescriptions in nursing homes. Researchers estimate that about a third of all nursing home patients have been given antipsychotic drugs. The increases continue despite a drumbeat of bad publicity. A 2006 study of Alzheimer’s patients found that for most patients, antipsychotics provided no significant improvement over placebos in treating aggression and delusions, reported the New York Times on the Web. Full Story

We are thrilled to announce that as of August 2008, APNA has been welcomed as the newest member of the Campaign for Mental Health Reform. The Campaign is now a collaboration of 18 national organizations collaborating to work towards a common goal of making mental health a national priority by provided a unified voice on federal mental health policy. Full Story

The American Psychiatric Nursing Foundation is on the verge of something very big. If you've been keeping tabs, you have noticed that in 2008, the foundation awarded $25,000 in grant money. That money went to five psychiatric nurses who are embarking on cutting-edge research that will enhance the way you practice and that will benefit the patients you treat. This year, the foundation is looking to raise enough money to not only increase the size of the grants to be awarded in 2009, but to also expand the number of grants presented to psychiatric nurses doing revolutionary research. The foundation is in the unique position to be able to find and fund high-quality research to advance the profession. Talented researchers that receive these grants are the ones devoted to giving you the tools and things you need to better care for your patients. Full Story Click here to make a donation.

The Nursing Organizations Alliance™ is offering two scholarships for the Nurse in Washington Internship™ (NIWI™) program. The scholarships provide assistance to nurses to help offset the costs associated with attending NIWI™. Click here for more information.

Don’t forget to register for the APNA 22nd Annual Conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Click here for more information.