Psychiatric Advanced Practice Nurses (PAPN) of Houston
“Mind Matters”
Welcome, to the fourth edition of “Mind Matters”, a quarterly PAPN newsletter to keep you
updated on the greatest and latest. Look for career opportunities, member news, conference
information and etc. If you have submissions, please email Tuchill@sbcglobal.net
Welcome!
Psychiatric Advanced Practice Nurses (PAPN) of Houston – Newsletter
“Mind Matters”
The 2010 Clinical Pharmacology Conference for Advanced Practice Nurses
held on March 20 was a resounding success. PAPN was a co-sponsor for this CEU event joined by
Houston Area Nurse Practitioners and University of Texas Health Sciences Center Houston School of
Nursing. Over one hundred APN’s and students met for this first time event which featured a
multidisciplinary program of presenters including our own Diana Ramirez who discussed
Depression and Psychopharmacology in Children and Adolescents. The conference was very laborintensive and several PAPN board members served on the planning committee which brought the
conference to life – Sara Wood, Wanda Hilliard, and Lucindra Campbell-Law. PAPN participation in
this conference helped further two PAPN goals:
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2.
To promote excellence in clinical practice through peer education and consultation.
To support the development of advanced psychiatric nurses in Houston and surrounding
communities.
PAPN members and other APN’s in our community have a wealth of clinical expertise to share and
have been generous with their time and talents. We look forward to more collaborative efforts to make
quality CEU programs available to PAPN members. Thank you to all who helped with the conference
and those of you who attended.
Speaking of generous PAPN members – Shanthi Rubin opened her home to members for our first
PAPN social held March 16. It was a lovely time with wonderful food and drink and provided an
opportunity for members to relax and get to know one another better. We plan to hold more such
events to further foster our community. Thank you, Shanthi!
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Member’s on the Move:
-Phyddy Tacchi and Mary Hughes (MD Anderson) attended a conference on CBT Training for
Cancer Clinicians.
-Natalie Tellez has accepted a PMHNP position at Dr. Frank Chen’s office following graduation.
-Wanda Hilliard has accepted a PMHNP position at Family Psychiatry of the Woodlands
effective June 2010.
-Mary Hughes has given several presentations on Sexually and Oncology this year in various
parts of the country. Way to go Mary!
-Several of our student members will graduate from the PMHNP program at The University of
Texas Health Science Center on May 7, 2010.
-Congratulations to Connie Surcouf Peters on the birth of her son!
-Congratulations to Vasthi Jude Forbes (Austin) on the publication of her paper, “Unawareness
as a Barrier to Treatment in Patients with Schizophrenia: A Conceptual Analysis”, Journal of
Psychosocial Nursing, Vol 48, No 3, 2010.
Career/Conference Opportunities/Other:
-Lone Star College is looking for nursing instructors.
-Dr. Theodore Drake, San Marcos area is looking for a PMHNP. He can be contacted at: 512-3922890. Please contact Wanda if you need additional information.
-UT 24th Annual Psychiatric Nursing Symposium, UT Arlington School of Nursing, Arlington, TX", April 23,
2010, Friday, 7:30am-4:00pm, Virginia Trotter Betts, MSN, JD, RN, FAAN, Commissioner-Department of
Mental Health & Developmental Disabilities, State of Tennessee, will be the keynote speaker. Info at
www.uta.edu/ced
-Sigma Theta Tau International Leadership Summit, April 23-24, 2010, Atlanta, GA. Join STTI at
the new Loews Atlanta Hotel for sessions focused on effective leadership in times of economic challenge and
achieving chapter success. Keynote speakers include Tim Porter-O'Grady and Patricia E. Thompson
-UT Department of Psychiatry/HCPC hosts the 1at annual UT Psychiatry Update, 7.25 contact hrs, April 17,
location: HCPC, www.utcme.net, for additional details.
-American Psychiatric Assn Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA, May 22-26, 2010. http://www.psych.org/
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-Texas Star Recovery, “Bridging the Gap between Substance Abuse and Mental Health”, 3rd Annual
Addiction/Mental Health Symposium, September 24, Austin, TX, www.texasstarrecovery.com
-American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry 57th Annual Meeting, October 26-31, 2010, New York.
http://www.aacap.org/cs/AnnualMeeting/2010
-Psychiatric APN’s of Austin have initiated a Texas state-wide Psych APN email group to keep all
psych APNS in the state easily connected. If you are interested in joining - click on the link below
For PAPN email group - add this instruction:
Go to:
https://www.google.com/accounts/NewAccount
to create an account, then you should be able to join the group at:
http://groups.google.com/group/paprn-tx
.
DSM-5 Draft Criteria Available Online
The draft criteria for the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders are available online
at www.dsm5.org. The site provides a forum to accept comment on proposed changes. Comments will be accepted
through April 20. Update to the draft criteria will be made based on comments and field trials before DSM-5 is
published in 2013.
-We are in need of quarterly door prizes. Please let me know if you would like to donate an item, and I will
send you a tax receipt. I know we have talented members. Also, if you are interested in serving as a pen pal to
psychiatric advanced practice students in the Netherlands, please let me know. - Wanda
Future PAPN Meetings:
-April 28, 6:30pm, PAPN Meeting, Sponsored by Eli Lilly at LaGriglia, 2202 W. Gray. No charge for
members, $10 Guest, Speaker: Ranjit Chacko, MD, Professor of Psychiatry, Baylor College of
Medicine, “Managing the Balance in Bipolar 1 Disorder”, RSVP by April 21, 2010:
Tuchill@sbcglobal.net
-July 28, PAPN Meeting
-September, PAPN Meeting/Election of Officers/Board. Please let a Board Member know if you
are interested in a position.
-November, PAPN Meeting with students from the Netherlands. February and April 2011,
PAPN Meetings
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Board Members:
Linda Barloon, President, Lfbarloon@msn.com
Sara Wood, Vice-President, Sarawood33@hotmail.com
Delilah Hampton, Secretary, Delilah.Hampton@uth.tmc.edu
Wanda Hilliard, Membership/Treasurer, Tuchill@sbcglobal.net
Lucindra Campbell, Education, Lcampbell@hbu.edu
Jill Laughlin, Social Chairman, Swiss5@sbcglobal.net
Brenda Garza, Webmaster, Garzab06@yahoo.com
*PAPN membership is open to all licensed advanced practice nurses who provide care
for psychiatric patients and to students who are completing an advanced practice
nursing degree with a specialized interest in caring for psychiatric patients.
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