PsychiatricNursing.com

We believe that there is no health without mental health. Additionally, mental health is a human right. Read more about health as a human right in the Declaration of Human Rights.

Additionally, we believe that mental health services should be integrated into primary care services to promote greater access to mental health care. The Agency for Health Care  Research and Quality thinks so, too. Please review their document on the topic of integrating mental health and substance abuse treatment into primary care.

Advanced practice psychiatric nursing is a force for mental health in the U.S. Unfortunately, lack of access to mental health care in the U.S. is the rule rather than the exception. Further compounding the lack of access to care are state policies that prevent psychiatric advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) from providing primary mental health care. Hear a lecture on creating new models of primary care.

In the state of Alabama, the Nurse Practitioner Alliance of Alabama is leading a movement toward decreasing regulatory and statutory impediments to advanced practice licensure.  With 57 out of 67 Alabama counties designated as health professional shortage areas  and 63 out of 67 counties designated as mental health professional shortage areas, decreasing barriers to practice for nurse practitioners is the right thing to do.

Are you interested in becoming an advanced practice psychiatric nurse? You will need to be an RN and have a BSN in nursing. Please visit UAB's Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner website.