Other Events to Look forward to and more! 

President's Message

Barbara Peterson, PhD, PMHCNS-BC, APRN, FNAP

ISPN President

ISPN members around the world witness the profound emotional and psychological toll disasters can have on individuals, including first responders, survivors, and their families. Natural disasters, like fires and hurricanes in Southern California and North Carolina, or disastrous

effects of human violence as witnessed in New Orleans and many other cities, leave trauma, grief, and anxiety in their wake. Many ISPN members respond locally and globally to disaster relief organizations through financial contributions, through direct volunteering in crisis response teams and other humanitarian relief work. At the same time, I have heard from many of you that we wish there was more we could do and sometimes feel inadequate in our responses.

I’m heartened to let you know that ISPN has taken a proactive step by applying for associate status of the United Nations Department of Global Communications Civil Society Unit (DGC CSU). Completing the application process has taken several months and began after we heard Dr. Holly Shaw’s presentation at the 2024 conference in Providence, where she discussed the UN Sustainable Goals and the DGC CSU association. You can learn more about what the UN Civil Society is, what they do, and why we want to be associated with it. As written on this website: “The Civil Society Unit facilitates the exchange of information and develops partnerships with civil society to enhance their interaction with and understanding of the work of the UN”.

At this time, our application has been received and is under review. The review process will take several months, and we hope to have a final response by the time we gather together in NOLA at the ISPN 2025 Annual Conference! Thanks to Edilma Yearwood, Sally Raphel, Dana Murphy-Parker (IntNSA president) for letters of support. Thanks also to Jess Retzlaff, Julie Bertram, and Amanda Baltierra for input and help writing the application.

Through partnering with the UNDGC CSU we will strive to amplify the voice of psychiatric

nurses and mental health professionals in addressing the psychological needs that arise in the wake of emergencies. An affiliation like this will provide a platform for advocating for mental health as a crucial component of disaster response and recovery efforts. Through this partnership, we will be better positioned to influence policies, raise awareness, and ensure that mental health support is integrated into all disaster management plans. As part of our commitment to the United Nations, ISPN will encourage our members to better understand and contribute in meaningful ways to UN goals toward solving humanitarian issues. More information about what that means will be shared in March at our conference.

Finally, please take a moment to reflect on ISPN’s collective impact! ISPN members include clinical professional advanced practice psychiatric nurses, administrators, academic educators, researchers, policymakers, entrepreneurs, and other leaders who are committed to furthering mental health services throughout the world.



What a remarkable community!

Don't forget to select your ISPN Board and

Leadership Representatives!

The four open positions for the 2025 election are: 

• President-Elect (2025)
• Treasurer (2025-2027)
• Director (2025-2027)
• Nominating Committee Member (2025-2027)

The deadline for submitting your vote is February 10, 2025.

Regionalization Corner

Stay up-to-date with your region by visiting the Regional Initiative webpage!

Regional Coordinator: Marian Newton

International

Co-Leaders: Amanda Bailterra, DNP, PMH, FNP-BC, PMHNP-BC; and Adebayo Fasheyitan

Hello and welcome to all international members. Please join us on the 20th of March 2025 for a meet and greet session. Time and location will be sent out during the conference.



Midwest

Co-Leaders: Beth Bonham, PhD, RN, PMHCNS-BC, FAAN; and Linda Jo Volness, MS, APRN, CHTP

The Midwest Region continues to meet quarterly with an average 6-8 attendees. At the 9/18/24 meeting, we enjoyed the presentation of new member Dr. Randall Gray’s DNP project. The 1/8/25 meeting centered on attendees introducing themselves, challenges in full practice authority, and the importance of patient centered care. We used the AI generated summary option for our last two meetings with good success. Our next meeting will be at the ISPN Annual Conference in New Orleans where dates for 2025 meetings will be decided. Watch your Conference Program for the date, time and location of the Midwest Region Meeting. We are delighted to welcome almost 100 new members to ISPN – 19 of which are in the Midwest region! Welcome!! We hope to meet you at the conference and subsequent quarterly meetings.

Northeast

Co-Leaders: Jennifer Graber, EdD, APRN, PMHCNS-BC; and Susan Glodstein, DNP

Southeast

Co-Leaders: Meira Yasin, DNP, PMHNP-BC, APHN-BC; and Ann Marie Jones, DNP, PMHNP-BC

Southwest

Co-Leaders: Pam Lusk, DNP, RN, FAANP, FAAN; and Liz Hutson, PhD, APRN-CNP, PMHNP-BC

West

Leader: Jeff Ramirez, Ph.D., PMHNP, CARN-AP, CNE, FNAP, FAANP, FAAN and Pamela Minarik, PhD, RN, CNS, FAAN

Pamela Minarik and Jeffery Ramirez are the relatively new co-leaders of the ISPN West Region Membership. We will be scheduling quarterly virtual meetings and hope you can join us. One of the meetings will take place in-person at the annual conference, this year in New Orleans. 

Introduction: Jeffery is the Director of Graduate Nursing Programs and Professor at Gonzaga University in Spokane, WA. He works part time at the VA Medical Center. He specializes in substance use disorders, PTSD, and men's mental health.  

Pamela is retired from a full-time professor role and serves as an adjunct professor at Samuel Merritt University in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is also Professor Emeritus at Aomori University of Health and Welfare in Aomori, Japan. Her clinical specialty is Psychiatric Consultation Liaison Nursing and she worked at University of California, San Francisco University Hospital, Yale University and Yale New Haven Hospital, San Francisco General Hospital, and volunteered at San Francisco Veteran’s Administration Health Care. Pamela was involved in creating ISPN from 3 other organizations. She was recognized in 2018 by ISPN as a Living Legend.

Plans for meetings: We expect to have 4 meetings/year, three by Zoom and one in-person at the Annual Conference. Content of meetings will be chosen by members and might include open discussion and presentations.

Please contact either of us with questions or suggestions of topic you would like to discuss.  

Youth Suicide Prevention: Exploring theoretical models, clinical tools, and interdisciplinary competencies

Presenter: Michaela Hogan, DNP, APRN, PMHNP-BC, CNE

February 26, 2025 12:00-1:00 pm ET

To register for any upcoming or on demand webinars, visit

ispn-psych.org/ispn-webinars

With each new administration comes change. Two potential changes that will effect psychiatric-mental health nurses’ practice and research are proposals to reduce Medicaid funding and to reorganize the National Institute of Mental Health (NIH). Both reflect actions to reduce federal spending and help offset costs of extending expiring tax cuts.

Medicaid changes – Several possibilities have been suggested

(https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/trump-republicans-gop-medicaid-expansion-aca-obamacare-matching). One is that federal funding for state Medicaid expansion introduced in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) be cut or significantly reduced. For state eligibility for federal funding (90% of cost), ACA mandates that coverage is provided for citizens with incomes up to 138% of the federal poverty level, or $20,783 for an individual last year. Forty states and DC currently participate. Loss of federal Medicaid funding means states are likely to be unable to meet costs without seeking other revenue or eliminating coverage; putting millions of low-income working adults at risk of losing coverage for all health services. The Commonwealth Fund recently posted a brief video explaining Medicaid (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OgXNqs4BtM), likely believing that understanding the scope of Medicaid will encourage citizen discussion, participation and action.

Revamping of NIH: Reducing numbers of institutes by mergers. During the 118th Congressional session the U.S. House of Representatives House Energy and Commerce Committee and the appropriations subcommittee that funds the National Institute of Health (NIH) released a plan to streamline NIH in an effort to reduce duplication and cost and increase transparency (https://www.science.org/content/article/house-lawmakers-float-plan-overhaul-national-institutes-health ). In it, the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR) would be merged along with four other institutes into a new National Institute on Health Sciences Research. This is alarming to many nurses and nursing organizations who view NINR as uniquely important to the profession as well as to the citizens they care for. A recent article by Darcy-Mahoney, Menon and Murphy provides a nursing perspective on the proposed change (https://www.medpagetoday.com/opinion/second-opinions/113060).

Pam Galehouse