Author Description

Psychiatric-mental health (PMH) nursing is the nursing practice specialty committed to promoting mental health through the assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of behavioral problems, mental disorders, and comorbid conditions across the lifespan. PMH nursing intervention employs a purposeful use of self and a wide range of nursing, psychosocial, and neurobiological evidence to produce effective outcomes. The American Psychiatric Nurses Association and the International Society of Psychiatric Mental-Health Nurses convened a task force of nurse experts from across their practice to review and revise Psychiatric-Mental Health Nursing: Scope and Standards of Practice, published in 2007. With input from across the nursing profession that was facilitated by ANA, the task force developed this all-new edition. It is the definitive and up-to-date delineation of psychiatric-mental health nursing, articulating the competent level of nursing practice and professional performance of all PMH registered nurses, whatever their practice level or setting. The publication's scope of practice addresses what is expected of all psychiatric-mental health nurses, specifying the who, what, where, when, why, and how of their practice. The detailed discussion of that scope of practice provides the context needed to understand and use the standards, presenting the underlying assumptions, characteristics, environments and settings, education and training requirements, key issues and trends, and ethical and conceptual bases of the specialty. The standards themselves are authoritative statements that describe the responsibilities by which psychiatric-mental health nurses are held accountable in their practice. Each standard is measurable by a set of specific competencies that serve as evidence of minimal compliance with that standard. While this foundational volume is primarily for those directly involved with psychiatric-mental health nursing practice, education, and research, other nursing and