BACKGROUND: Further exploration of the practice roles of psychiatric mental health (PMH) advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) is warranted. OBJECTIVE: In March of 2016, the American Psychiatric Nurses Association (APNA) conducted a national survey to gather data on the demographics, practice roles, and activities of certified PMH APRNs. DESIGN: The e-mail survey contained 46 questions consistent with minimum data set requirements of the Forum of State Nursing Workforce Centers. RESULTS: The data indicate that PMH APRNs are a clinically active workforce; the majority deliver a wide variety of mental health services including diagnosis and management of both acute and chronic mental illness, prescribing, and providing psychotherapy. CONCLUSION: PMH APRNs are delivering care to clients dealing with a range of serious mental illnesses across the life span in a variety of roles. It will be critical to monitor the activities and outcomes of this expanding behavioral health care workforce.
BakerJ.TraversJ. L.BuschmanP.MerrillJ. A. (2018). An efficient nurse practitioner–led community-based service model for delivering coordinated care to persons with serious mental illness at risk for homelessness. Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association, 24, 101-108. doi:10.1177/1078390317704044
6.
BasuS.PhillipsR. S.SongZ.BittonA.LandonB. E. (2017). High levels of capitation payments needed to shift primary care toward proactive team and non-visit care. Health Affairs, 36, 1599-1605.
7.
BurkeB. T.MillerB. F.ProserM.PettersonS. M.BazemoreA. W.. . . PhillipsR. L. (2013). A needs-based method for estimating the behavioral health staff needs of community health centers. BMC Health Services Research, 13, 245. doi:10.1186/1472-6963-13-245
8.
ChattopadhyayA.ZangaroG. A.WhiteK. M. (2015). Practice patterns and characteristics of nurse practitioners in the United States. Journal for Nurse Practioners, 11, 170-177.
9.
D’AntonioP.BeeberL.SillsG.NaegleM. (2014). The future in the past: Hildegard Peplau and interpersonal relations in nursing. Nursing Inquiry, 21, 311-317.
10.
DavisK. E.BrigellE.ChristiansenK.SnyderM.McDevittJ.FormanJ.. . . WilknissS. M. (2011). Integrated primary and mental health care services: An evolving partnership model. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal, 34, 317-320.
11.
DelaneyK. R. (2015). Why do we need a child mental health specialty?Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing, 28, 1-2.
12.
DelaneyK. R. (2017). Psychiatric mental health advanced practice nursing workforce: Capacity to address mental health professional workforce shortages. Psychiatric Services, 68, 952-954. doi:10.1176/appi.ps.201600405
13.
DelaneyK. R.HandrupC. (2011). Psychiatric mental health nursing’s psychotherapy role: Are we letting it slip away?Archives of Psychiatric Nursing, 25, 303-305.
14.
DelaneyK. R.NagelM. A.ValentineN. M.Antai-OtongD.GrohC.BrennemanL. (2018). The effective use of RNs and APRNs in integrated care: Policy implications for increasing access and quality. Journal of Behavioral Health Services & Research, 45, 300-309. doi:10.1007/s11414-017-9555-x
15.
de NesneraA.AllenD. E. (2016). Expanding the role of psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners in a state psychiatric system: The New Hampshire experience. Psychiatric Services, 67, 482-484.
16.
DrewB. L. (2014). The evolution of the role of the psychiatric mental health advanced practice registered nurse in the United States. Archives of Psychiatric Nursing, 28, 298-300.
17.
DrewB. L.DelaneyK. R. (2009). National survey of psychiatric mental health advanced practice nursing: Development, process, and finding. Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association, 15, 101-110.
18.
EllisH.AlexanderV. (2016). Eradicating barriers to mental health care through integrated service models: Contemporary perspectives for psychiatric-mental health nurses. Archives of Psychiatric Nursing, 30, 432-438.
19.
FangD.LiY.AriettiR.TrautmanD. E. (2016). 2015-2016 enrollment and graduations in baccalaureate and graduate programs in nursing. Washington, DC: American Association of Colleges of Nursing.
20.
FungY. L.ChanZ.ChienW. T. (2014). Role performance of psychiatric nurses in advanced practice: A systematic review of the literature. Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing, 21, 698-714.
21.
GarciaH. A.McGearyC. A.FinleyE. P.KetchumN. S.McGearyD. D.PetersonA. L. (2015). Burnout among psychiatrists in the Veterans Health Administration. Burnout Research, 2, 108-114.
McDevittJ.BraunS.NoyesM.SnyderM.MarionL. (2005). Integrated primary and mental health care: Evaluating a nurse-managed center for clients with serious and persistent mental illness. Nursing Clinics, 40, 779-790.
25.
MojtabaiR.OlfsonM. (2008). National trends in psychotherapy by office-based psychiatrists. Archives of General Psychiatry, 65, 962-970.
26.
National Council for Behavioral Health. (2017). The psychiatric shortage: Causes and solutions. Washington, DC: Author.
ParrishE.PedenA. (2009). Clinical outcomes of depressed clients: A review of current literature. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 30, 51-60.
29.
PhoenixB. J.HurdM.ChapmanS. A. (2016). Experience of psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners in public mental health. Nursing Administration Quarterly, 40, 212-224.
30.
Reiss-BrennanB.BrunisholzK. D.DredgeC.BriotP.GrazierK.WilcoxA.. . . JamesB. (2016). Association of integrated team-based care with health care quality, utilization, and cost. JAMA: Journal of the American Medical Association, 316, 826-834.
31.
Soltis-JarrettV. (2016). Patient-centered homes and integrated behavioral health care: Reclaiming the role of “consultant” for psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 37, 387-391.
32.
StephensC. E.HarrisM.BuronB. (2015). The current state of US geropsychiatric graduate nursing education: Results of the national geropsychiatric graduate nursing education survey. Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association, 21, 385-394.
33.
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2016). Section 223: Demonstration program for certified community behavioral health clinics. Retrieved from http://www.samhsa.gov/section-223
34.
ThomasD.MacDowellM.GlasserM. (2012). Rural mental health workforce needs assessment: A national survey. Rural Remote Health, 12, 2176.
35.
ThomasK. C.EllisA. R.KonradT. R.MorrisseyJ. P. (2012). North Carolina’s mental health workforce: Unmet need, maldistribution, and no quick fixes. North Carolina Medical Journal, 73, 161-168.
36.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration, National Center for Health Workforce Analysis. (2014). Highlights from the 2012 National Sample Survey of Nurse Practitioners. Rockville, MD: Author.
37.
VanderhoefD.DelaneyK. R. (2017). National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties: Psychiatric mental health survey. Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association, 23, 159-165.
38.
WheelerK. (2014). Psychotherapy for the advanced practice psychiatric nurse: A how-to guide for evidence-based practice (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Springer.
39.
XueY.IntratorO. (2016). Cultivating the role of nurse practitioners in providing primary care to vulnerable populations in an era of health-care reform. Policy, Politics, & Nursing Practice, 17, 24-31.
