Psychiatric Nurses to Bring Annual Convention to Hartford in 2016
/The American Psychiatric Nurses Association 30th Annual Conference will take place next October at the Connecticut Convention Center. It is the first time that the organization will hold its annual event in Connecticut. This year’s program was held at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort in Florida, where attendees had the opportunity to earn up to 29.5 continuing education contact hours onsite and an additional 100 plus contact hours online afterwards. The 2016 APNA Annual Conference will be held October 19-22 in Hartford. 
The APNA Annual Conference delivers more than 100 varied educational sessions and invaluable networking opportunities to the more than a thousand psychiatric-mental health RNs and APRNs who attend each year. The organization has more than 10,000 members nationwide.
Last month, the APNA joined a White House initiative to address the ongoing epidemic of prescription drug abuse and heroin use across the nation. With organizations from both the public and private sectors participating, the effort seeks to train health care providers, improve access to treatment, and raise awareness of the risks of prescription drug misuse.
Approximately 2.3 million US citizens aged 12 and older have opioid use disorder, and most states have higher rates of treatment need than capacity to treat. In this context, educating health professionals and encouraging them to apply best-treatment practices is critical to improve the health of the nation. APNA is one of 8 nursing groups to pledge to be a part of the solution over the next two years.
The American Psychiatric Nurses Association (APNA) was founded in 1986. In the ensuing 28 years, APNA has grown to be the largest professional membership organization committed to the specialty practice of psychiatric-mental health (PMH) nursing and wellness promotion, prevention of mental health problems, and the care and treatment of persons with psychiatric disorders.
The APNA Annual Conference is held in a new location every year to encourage regional participation, add adventure, and provide a venue to connect with other psychiatric-mental health nurse professionals from across the globe, officials point out.
Plans for the convention in Connecticut include programs designed to “advance the profession through networking and education” and opportunities to “celebrate psychiatric-mental health nurses’ outstanding contributions” through the presentation of the APNA Annual Awards.
In Florida last month, more than 1,800 attendees were on hand for a program “packed with psychiatric-mental networking, updates, and continuing education targeted to psychiatric-mental health nurses.” Session recordings from the Annual Conferences are made available in the APNA eLearning Center in podcast form, along with up-to-date session slides and other relevant materials.
APNA is the only PMH nursing organization whose membership is inclusive of all PMH registered nurses (RN) including associate degree (ADN), baccalaureate (BSN), and advanced practice (APN) comprised of clinical nurse specialists (CNS), psychiatric nurse practitioners (NP), and nurse scientists and academicians (PhD). The American Psychiatric Nurses Association is accredited as a provider of continuing nursing education by the American Nurses Credentialing Center's Commission on Accreditation.
The Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association (JAPNA), with more than 10,000 subscribers, provides quality, up-to-date information to promote PMH nursing, improve mental health care for culturally diverse individuals, families, groups, and communities, as well as shape health care policy for the delivery of mental health services.
https://youtu.be/AIys4qoQ5q8
