Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner PMHNP Success, Outlook, and Professional Development
Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner PMHNP Success, Outlook, and Professional Development
Success, Outlook, and Professional Development of the Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner or PMHNP
The Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner is an advanced practice registered nurse (APRN) and falls under the role of nurse practitioner or NP, according to the APRN Consensus Model (Registered Nursing.org, 2019). This model specifies four APRN roles of which the RN role under which the PMHNP falls is just but one. The other three roles are certified nurse midwife (CNM), certified registered nurse anaesthetist (CRNA), and clinical nurse specialist or CNS (Registered Nursing.org, 2019) Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner PMHNP Success, Outlook, and Professional Development. The PMHNP is therefore concerned specifically with issues of mental health in thr community, including their assessment, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention. As an APRN nurse practitioner specialty, the PMHNP’s population focus is solely psychiatric-mental health (Registered Nursing.org, 2019) Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner PMHNP Success, Outlook, and Professional Development.
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Of course the other APRN specialties are also just as important in ensuring the health of entire communities. For instance, coparison can be made between the PMHNP specialty and the APRN specialising in the population focus of Adult-Gerontology. This latter specialty concerns itself with the health problems of adolescents, young adults, mature adults, and those that are in their old age. Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner PMHNP Success, Outlook, and Professional Development The APRN assesses, investigates, diagnoses, treats, and follows up these adolescents and adults holistically. As for the PMHNP, they provide holistic mental health care to the entire population across the lifespan. The PMHNP is highly trained and prepared ti do all this. This is because at Walden University specifically, the Master of Science in Nursing or MSN graduate program is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education or CCNE (Walden University, 2019). This is a national accreditation agency recognised by the Ministry of Education. Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner PMHNP Success, Outlook, and Professional Development.
Justification for Choosing Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner Specialty
Just like the other specialties in the APRN family, advanced nursing practice as a PMHNP involves education at the highest postgraduate level. Above all, there is extensive requirement of clinical competency achievement before any certification can be awarded. Beibg a PMHNP is one of the most fulfilling career prospects in healthcare in the United States. This is especially true in the states that have embraced legislation allowing for autonomous full practice authority or FPA for nurse practitioners. The reasons for choosing the MSN specialty of PMHNP are therefore manifold. The enactment of the Affordable Care Act of 2010 added significantly to the number of those people who are insured for mental health care (Phoenix et al., 2016). However, because there was no commensurate rise or increase in the numbers of mental health care providers, the position if a PMHNP has become attractive and lucrative. PMHNPs are now more than required to fill in the provider gap and offer holistic primary mental health care especially at the grassroots or community level. Because of this state of affairs, it has been estimated that the demand for PMHNPs will have grown by 20% by the year 2020 (Walden University, 2019).
The demand for the PMHNP at the primary health care (PHC) level is what makes it even more attractive. This is because at that level, the clinician is quite independent and autonomous in the treatment decisions they make. This allows the PMHNP to practice to the fullest level of their education and training Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner PMHNP Success, Outlook, and Professional Development. The PMHNP in doing this is responsible for psychiatric diagnoses, mental and physical health assessments, coming up with treatment plans, prescribing psychoactive and other medications, performing counselling and/ or psychotherapy, engaging in interprofessional collaborative teamwork with ither health professionals, giving patient education and health promotion, mental health advocacy on policy and legislation, and community sensitization among other roles (Nurse Practitioner Schools, 2019). After education, training, certification, and licensure; opportunities for practice for the PMHNP are many. Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner PMHNP Success, Outlook, and Professional Development. Among other settings in which the PMHNP can practice are mental health clinics, correctional facilities, private practice, domestic violence shelters, community mental health centres, schools, substance abuse facilities, and inpatient or outpatient psychiatric clinics (Walden University, 2019). Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner PMHNP Success, Outlook, and Professional Development.
The extensive preparation the PMHNP training offers is another factor that attracts to the specialty. The nurse practitioner in psychiatric-mental health is thoroughly trained in mental health disorders, child psychological and mental health, adolescent psychological and mental health, adult psychological and mental health, mental health statistics, mental health research and evidence-based interventions, mental health promotion, advanced pathophysiology and pharmacology, the social determinants of health, and the concept of social justice and inequity in the access to mental health care (Nurse Practitioner Schools, 2019) Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner PMHNP Success, Outlook, and Professional Development. Moreover, certification of the PMHNP is rigorous and is done by the reputable American Nurses Credentialing Centre (ANCC). For this to happen, though, the prospective PMHNP must be in possession of a graduate degree, a valid registered nurse license, and at least 500 clinical hours that are supervised. Conveniently, this certification is renewable after 5 years. This gives the PMHNP the peace of mind to practice without worrying about the expiry of certification in the span of just a year (Nurse Practitioner Schools, 2019) Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner PMHNP Success, Outlook, and Professional Development.
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The American Psychiatric Nurses Association (APNA) as the Appropriate Professional Body for the PMHNP
The APNA was founded in 1986 with the aim of bringing together registered psychiatric-mental health nurses who could then share experiences and exchange expertise. Ut currently has a membership of over 13,500 members across the United States. As a professional organisation the APNA is quite inclusive as it accepts membership from those psychiatric-mental health nurses with associate degrees, baccalaureate degrees, MSN, and up to the terminal and apex Doctor of Nursing Practice or DNP (APNA, 2019). Becoming a member of the APNA requires one to first write an email to the organization after which they are sent registration forms to fill in and pay the annual or monthly membership fee (APNA, 2019) Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner PMHNP Success, Outlook, and Professional Development.
As a professional organization fir mental health nurses, the APNA has at its disposal various professional resources that benefit its members. These include but are not limited to continuous professional education (CE) opportunities, position papers on various issues if interest to the members such as mental health advocacy, scholarships, and opportunities for networking with other mental health professionals among others (Nurse Practitioner Schools, 2019). The association also has a monthly newsletter in which it regularly reports issues and topics that concern mental health such as policy, regulation, and legislation. Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner PMHNP Success, Outlook, and Professional Development. This is the APNA News: The Psychiatric Nursing Voice. Additionally, the association also boasts of its own journal in which are published relevant peer-reviewed papers written by members and other scholars and experts. This is the Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association (JAPNA). Lastly, the APNA annually organizes the APNA Conference which brings together its entire membership. During this event, important practice and research issues are shared and discussed (APNA, 2019). Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner PMHNP Success, Outlook, and Professional Development.
References
American Psychiatric Nurses Association [APNA] (2019). Membership, community, education, and resources. Retrieved 27 October will 2019 from https://www.apna.org/m/
Nurse Practitioner Schools (2019). What is a psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner (PMHNP). Retrieved 26 October 2019 from https://www.nursepractitionerschools.com/faq/what-is-a-psychiatric-np/
Phoenix, B.J., Hurd, M., & Chapman, S.A. (2016). Experience of psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioners in public mental health. Nursing Administration Quarterly, 40(3), 212–224. Doi: DOI: 10.1097/NAQ.0000000000000171
Registered Nursing.org (2019, July 24 9). Advanced practice registered nurse (APRN). Retrieved 26 October 2019 from https://www.registerednursing.org/aprn/
Walden University (2019). Master of science in nursing (MSN) – Psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner. Retrieved 27 October 2019 from https://www.waldenu.edu/online-masters-programs/msn-psychiatric-mental-health-nurse-practitioner Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner PMHNP Success, Outlook, and Professional Development
