Skip to Main Content

Twice the Celebration

Twice the Celebration
APNA President Lora Peppard

Dear Colleagues,

A double celebration is in order this Nurses Month & Mental Health Awareness Month. But what does this joint celebration of nurses and mental health awareness look like for APNA members? Well, as key psychiatric-mental health care service providers, we can:

  • salute our ability to build trust, restore hope, and promote healing through authentic and meaningful connection with our patients as they navigate their individual journeys to greater well-being,
  • take a moment to connect with ourselves through reflection and rejuvenation, and
  • honor the important knowledge, skills, and leadership we bring as practitioners, educators, researchers, and administrators, to fostering mental health across our nation.

Our unique nursing perspective is demonstrated through our therapeutic strengths, person-centered approaches, and ability to practice in varied settings as we engage with those we serve in cultivating lives that are productive and meaningful.

This Nurses Month & Mental Health Awareness Month, I encourage you to embrace your ability to connect in every way and celebrate YOU – a professional who blends the art and science of nursing, who is highly educated and accomplished, and who should be given the space to practice within the full scope of your knowledge and training. You are a provider of such magnitude that double celebrations are required!

Lora Peppard, PhD, DNP, PMHNP-BC
President
American Psychiatric Nurses Association

Published May, 2024