With the population suffering from mental health conditions and substance use disorders, there is a drastic increase in demand for qualified mental health professionals. Nevertheless, the need for such professionals currently significantly outweighs the supply, threatening the nation’s ability to provide a critical medical service in a proper and timely manner. From my perspective, Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioners (PMNHP) play a significant role in providing quality and accessible mental health services.
PMNHPs can provide a high-quality service in several ways. Firstly, given that they are rigorously trained and educated, meet credentialing requirements, they can offer a high-quality health service (APNA, 2019). Secondly, PMNHPs can also improve the quality of care by forming solid therapeutic relationships with patients and their families (APNA, 2019). PMNHPs can evaluate intakes and intervene in crisis management efforts (APNA, 2019). They can provide such care in various settings ranging from hospitals, primary care, clinics, and most importantly, schools where the young population frequently suffers from mental health issues. As the document emphasizes, non-psychiatric nurses often are not qualified to understand and care for the mental health condition of the patients (APNA, 2019). Therefore, healthcare administration should train and expand the role of PMNHPs.
In addition, PMNHPs can play a crucial role in initiating interventions dealing with the patient’s surroundings and causal factors of their illnesses. From my perspective, this is the most significant role of practitioners. For instance, in New Hampshire, Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRN) demonstrated the clinical effectiveness of their methods and worked closely with physicians and policymakers (De Nesnera et al., 2016). Thus, the New Hampshire administration has integrated APRNs into the leading role in the healthcare system (De Nesnera et al., 2016). APNA document also outlines the other instances when PMNHPs actively addressed the patient’s illnesses, including working together with criminal justice officials in North Carolina, Nightmare Reduction Initiative in Washington State (APNA, 2019). Therefore, PMNHPs are crucial in organizing initiatives dedicated to legislative changes in mental health care.
In conclusion, from my perspective, PMNHPs can play a critical role in addressing the existing shortage of mental health professionals. PMNHPs are rigorously trained in providing efficient mental health care for various conditions and settings, including hospitals, primary care, clinics, and schools, among others. Hence, the role of PMNHPs should be acknowledged and expanded to ensure the population with proper care in different settings.
References
De Nesnera, A., & Allen, D. E. (2016). Expanding the role of psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners in a state psychiatric system: The New Hampshire experience. Psychiatric Services, 67(5), 482–484. Web.
Expanding mental health care services in America. (2019). American Psychiatric Nurses Association. Web.