At some point, the (enormous) committee that works on updating the DSM may decide that our understanding of BPD no longer supports it being labeled as a personality disorder. I hope that day is coming sooner rather than later, but I do think it's coming. We have strong evidence that childhood trauma—especially chronic interpersonal trauma and sexual assault—is a core component of the development of BPD. Yes, the field is split on whether that means BPD is misnamed, over-patho

I had a patient one time--an active duty soldier--who, during my initial assessment with him, looked me square in the eye and said, "My buddies brought me in here because I'm going to kill our First Sergeant." His words were dramatic, but there wasn't a lot of emotion there. He was intense--very intense--but not in a rage or floridly psychotic. He was simply stating his intentions. He later told me that he "needed" to kill his 1SGT because his 1SGT was "dangerously incompe

ANCC has once again changed the way our credential as a board certified psychiatric RN should be displayed.

Psychiatric nurse case management is an emerging topic on the ANCC’s PMHN exam. Unfortunately, the ANCC provides minimal exam preparation...

Preparing for your board certification exam is daunting. No doubt. But with the right strategies and tools, you can boost your...

I hear that the PMHN exam might be changing soon. Is that true? Yes, it is 100% true. On September 16, 2024, ANCC will launch its...

This is just a brief review of the key neurotransmitters most frequently targeted by psychotropics, just as a foundation from which you...

When writing any kind of chart note, anything that’s narrative in nature, you have to think how it will sound being read out loud in a...

Is the prospect of prepping for the ANCC PMHN Board Certification Exam freaking you out? Well, a new way to prep is just about to be launch

Influenced heavily by Freud’s work, Erik Erikson conceptualized 8 Stages of Psychosocial Development where each stage of life has its own...

Inevitably, when studying for any psychiatric nursing exam (psych nursing class in school, the NCLEX, ANCC's PMHN Exam or its Nurse...

Find out what the 5 most common pitfalls are when taking ANCC's PMHN Board Certification Exam....and more importantly, how to avoid them!