Trends in psychiatric nursing graduate education

Psychiatric-mental health nursing workforce in 2018: Implications for the future

The workforce was examined using the 2018 National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses to determine supply characteristics and perspectives of psychiatric-mental health nurses. The study looked at the success in achieving some of the workforce related recommendations of the Future of Nursing. A strong foundation exists for increasing the contributions of psychiatric-mental health nursing to overcoming shortages of mental health professionals and to improving access to mental health care. More work needs to be done to remove regulatory barriers to promote practicing to the extent of knowledge, education and training. Overall, the psychiatric-mental health nursing workforce is primed for the future.

Medication decision-making by persons with serious mental illness

The Interaction Model of Client Health Behavior (IMCHB) has been established as a useful model in guiding research and development of individually tailored clinical interventions. The constructs of client singularity, client-provider interaction, and health outcomes guided an examination of medication decision-making by persons with serious mental illness (SMI). Client motivation is discussed as it relates to participation in the client-provider interaction and subsequent medication adherence and quality of life. Decisional control, the specific element of the client-provider interaction that affects medication decision-making, is considered in relation to consumer roles and responsibility for medication management. As psychotropic medications remain the single most effective treatment for reducing the active symptoms of psychosis, this look at medication decision-making may have significant implications for nursing.