Shaping the advanced practice psychiatric-mental health nursing role: a futuristic model.

As advanced practice psychiatric-mental health nursing has transitioned from earlier models of practice, elements of clinical specialist and psychiatric nurse practitioner roles are being blended to produce a new type of practitioner. The challenge of preserving mental health expertise while expanding advanced practice primary and primary mental health care competencies is addressed in several nursing education models. At New York University's Division of Nursing, faculty have designed a program around elements identified as essential to the autonomy demanded of the evolving role, knowledge, and skills basic to broad based health care and mental health care delivery with quality patient care outcomes and the competencies necessary for accountability as care providers in a changing health care delivery system. Essential elements, resources to identify them, and strategies to attain them are discussed. Approaches that promote student, clinician, and faculty development and maximize education affirm the specialty's capacity for innovation and the profession's capacity for new direction and futuristic change.

Understanding women with dual diagnoses.

The most common types of psychiatric diagnoses linked with substance abuse or dependence in women are defined and discussed. A framework is described to facilitate the nurse provider's understanding of the various relationships psychiatric symptoms can have to substance-using patterns. Guidelines are provided to assist the nurse in identifying problems of dual diagnoses and providing care to women with dual diagnoses in general care settings.

Drug use and HIV: healthcare provider perspectives.

Attitudes about drug use, including nicotine and alcohol, shape the caregiving potential of the nurse/client relationship. Sometimes these attitudes enhance care provision; often the attitudes close doors to ways of working together. The author presents an overview of drug use, including healthcare providers' perspectives of the problem. Areas of positive interaction that can benefit patients and family are highlighted, and content essential to the client's overall wellbeing is presented for incorporation into nursing approaches.