Skip to Main Content

Happy Nurses & Mental Health Month!

 

Wishing you a happy Nurses Month and Mental Health Awareness Month!

Psychiatric-mental health nursing is by nature a collaborative effort. We partner mindfully with those in our care to support them on their recovery journey. The collaborative walk of learning and discovery is our daily rhythm – and it’s what we thrive on. This is lifesaving, hope-affirming work that we do!

This Nurses Month and Mental Health Awareness Month I am overcome with gratitude as I reflect on how far we’ve come and how we are collaboratively moving care forward. We have a true gift for collaboration and building community. We know that breakthroughs happen when we come together. The support, shared ideas, and collective wisdom create an environment where everyone is empowered to innovate.

With our psychiatric-mental health nurse family at APNA, we are inspired and supported in collaborating to make an impact. Together, we’re unstoppable! It’s our path to collaborative efforts that shape care excellence more than one standing alone ever could.


Joyce Shea, DNSc, APRN, PMHCNS-BC, FAAN
APNA President

FREE CE For You This Nurses & Mental Health Awareness Month

Featuring:

Creating a Safe Space through Intentional Presence and Mindfulness

This lively presentation by Bethanie Simmons-Becil presents the opportunity to define, discuss, and develop a safe space example utilizing mindfulness and intentional presence language/techniques defined within the presentation. Deepen your understanding of mindfulness and intentional presence, and get examples on creating a safe space for clients.

From Simmons-Becil: I have had such success with this practice, I felt led to share these ideas with my peers and hopefully help other providers reclaim the joy of healing and empowering others back into their practice.”

Free to APNA Members through May 31, 2025; Free to APNA Nonmembers May 6-12, 2025.

Earn My Free CE!


Quick Insights From Across The Spectrum of PMH Nursing Care

Free for everyone for the first time! Poster presenters from the APNA 38th Annual Conference narrate their work and provide insights from their award-winning posters.

Acquiring Resourcefulness Skills: Formal versus Informal Training

This study provides evidence that caregivers may learn to be resourceful on their own.

Implementing Standardized Suicide Assessment and Intervention at a Mental Health Clinic for People Experiencing Homelessness

This poster presentation will invite viewers to learn about a suicide risk assessment and management tool implemented as part of a quality improvement pilot project.

Mitigating Medication Errors within the Inpatient Psychiatric Setting: Synthesizing the Evidence

This presentation addresses contributing factors to medication administration errors among novice nurses.

Reduction of Nursing Turnover through Effective Onboarding

This presentation introduces research related to contributing factors to RN turnover in the behavioral health field and shares insights into what an organization has done to address this issue by

Implementing a Structured PMHNP Student Clinical Training Program: One Approach

This presentation addresses one approach to setting up a structured and professional clinical training for psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner (PMHNP) students.

Triangulation of Qualitative and Quantitative Data to Understand Early Signs and Symptoms of Relapse in Opioid Use Disorder

This presentation introduces an exemplary example of methodological triangulation, discussing the qualitative and quantitative data and techniques related to early signs and symptoms of relapse among adults receiving medication for

Championing the “Me” in Treatment: A Quality Improvement Project to Increase Individual Patient Participation in Treatment Planning

The presentation addresses the pervasive myth that inpatient behavioral health patients cannot effectively participate in shared decision-making and treatment planning while providing a clinical nurse specialist-driven real world

Mental Health Advocacy Toolkit

Just launched in time for Mental Health Month, a new toolkit to help you embrace your inner advocate to raise mental health awareness in a big way.

By advocating for both your own mental health and the mental health of those in your care, PMH nurses ensure that we remain effective, compassionate caregivers while promoting positive mental health outcomes in the communities we serve.

View the Toolkit

The Best Advice I Ever Received

APNA Council leaders shared the best psychiatric-mental health nursing advice they ever received.

Which resonates most with you?

“While each patient will have some type of psychiatric diagnosis, look beyond that and learn their ‘story’ to more fully understand where the patient is in their journey in life and their illness.”

— Ellen Blair, DNP, APRN, PMHCNS-BC, NEA-BC, FAAN


“When I was facing the ultimate test of nursing’s charge to respect all patients and provide them the highest quality of care, a colleague gave me this advice: Before the individual walks in my office, imagine him as a small child. We don’t know what happened after that time, and it may not excuse his behavior, but tap into feelings around that innocence.”

– Susan V. Brammer PhD, RN, CNE, FAAN


Everyone has a story…listen… learn…and then support.”

– Jessica Gordon PhD, PMHNP-BC

 


“Never be afraid to admit you don’t know something! We are all human and while we have expertise in the field, there’s no way we can know everything. It’s really OK to tell your patient ‘I’ll get back to you on this,’ as opposed to offering misinformation.”

– Laura G. Leahy APN, FAANP, FAAN


“Make sure to take time to make yourself whole before interacting with others. The time you take to replenish yourself is just as important as the work you do each day.”

– Kathryn E. Phillips, PhD, RN


“As a new psychiatric-mental health nurse, I was told to always approach each patient interaction as you would want (or would want a loved one) to be treated and to remember that it is an honor to work with patients, especially during some of the most challenging/monumental times in their lives.”

– Jessica Walker, DNP, APRN, PMHNP-BC

Top Tips for Collaboration from Your Colleagues

APNA Members share their best tips for collaborating in psychiatric-mental health nursing…

What will you take with you?

To work as a team you need to have a shared vision. Ask open ended questions about how they view the main problems, barriers, and concerns. Finding the common ground will help us to work together efficiently. Be overly curious, before you decide how you will move forward

– Faith


“Take the time to truly connect with your collaborators and make them feel like they matter. Notice and affirm their value as individuals and collaborators

– Lora


“I invite team members to share their viewpoints, knowledge, and values… All done in an environment of lovingkindness.”

– Luc


“What works for collaboration is authenticity and listening.”

– LT


“Before work starts – set the stage with shared intentions and agreements – a shared vision of the purpose and work.

– Amy


Listen more than I speak.”

– Jessica


My top tip for collaborating is being open to new ideas and following up with someone who has an idea that strikes me while my iron is hot. It doesn’t have to be a dissertation, just a question to hear more about their idea.

– Julia


“Being receptive to listening to someone else’s point of view even if sometimes it means thinking outside the box.

– Asneth


It’s always important to reflect on how much collaboration is appropriate to ensure productivity. In my Bengali culture, there is a well-known proverb: “An empty cowshed is better than an angry cow.” This metaphor reminds us to be pragmatic—sometimes, avoiding unnecessary conflict or forced collaboration can lead to better outcomes.

– Farrid

Moving Whole Health Forward Together

From then…to Now