Blueprint for development of the advanced practice psychiatric nurse workforce

The mental health system is inefficient and ineffective in providing behavioral health care services to the 1 in 4 Americans who have a mental illness or a substance abuse problem. Current health care reform initiatives present a significant opportunity for advanced practice psychiatric nurses psychiatric mental health (APRN-PMH) to develop action-oriented recommendations for developing their workforce and thereby increasing access to high-quality and full-spectrum behavioral health care services. If endorsed by the professional nursing associations and the APRN-PMH workforce, the strategies presented in this paper provide a blueprint for developing the APRN-PMH workforce. Achieving these goals will significantly reform the APRN-PMH workforce, thereby contributing to the overall goal of supporting an integrated model of behavioral health care. No change has as much potential to influence the APRN-PMH workforce as the uniting of all APRN-PMHs in a "Blueprint for APRN-PMH Workforce Development." Cite this article: Hanrahan, N. P., Delaney, K. R., & Stuart, G. W. (2012, APRIL). Blueprint for development of the advanced practice psychiatric nurse workforce. Nursing Outlook, 60(2), 91-106. doi:10.1016/j.outlook.2011.04.007.