INTRODUCTION Since personality represents who someone is at the deepest level, it is understandable that many people with personality disorders resist the idea that they have maladaptive patterns of personality traits. Even when clients acknowledge that their personality issues are at the heart of their interpersonal problems, they often find it difficult to change. As […]

Desired Clinical Skills for Students to Achieve Confident (Can complete independently) Mostly confident (Can complete with supervision) Beginning (Have performed with supervision or need supervision to feel confident) New (Have never performed or does not apply) Comprehensive psychiatric evaluation skills in: Recognizing clinical signs and symptoms of psychiatric illness across the lifespan Mostly confident Differentiating […]

Advanced practice nursing in all specialties is guided by codes of ethics that put the care, rights, duty, health, and safety of the patient first and foremost. PMHNP practice is also guided by ethical codes specifically for psychiatry. These ethical codes are frameworks to guide clinical decision making; they are generally not prescriptive. They also […]

Off-label prescribing is when a physician gives you a drug that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved to treat a condition different than your condition. This practice is legal and common. In fact, one in five prescriptions written today are for off-label use. Psychotropic drugs are commonly used for children and adolescents […]

It is important for the PMHNP to have a comprehensive understanding of mood disorders in order to assess and accurately formulate a diagnosis and treatment plan for patients presenting with these disorders. Mood disorders may be diagnosed when a patient’s emotional state meets the diagnostic criteria for severity, functional impact, and length of time. Those […]