Psychiatric Nurse Specialist

Psychiatric nurse specialists are qualified to function not only as psychotherapists, but also as educators, advanced case managers, administrators, and consultants. To prepare to provide the full range of primary mental health assistance to people who have, or are at risk for, psychiatric problems, psychiatric nurse specialists must earn a qualifying psychiatric/mental health master’s degree in nursing and perform two years of supervised service; or earn a relevant certification by the American Nurses Association. In some States, a license is also required.

An extensive background in biological, pharmacological, and behavioral sciences makes psychiatric nurse specialists a much needed resource in NHSC-served areas. They come equipped to provide a broad spectrum of services in underserved communities across the country, where mental health problems are prevalent and mental health professionals are in very short supply.

Dawn Howley, ARNP, BC
Aiding Those With Mental Illness—Just the Compelling Cause She Craved

Dawn Howley’s first try at college started with no clear vision of a passion to pursue, and ended with dropping out of school. It was studying mental health nursing, on her second try, that ignited her zeal and saw her through the years it took to earn her board certification as an advanced registered nurse practitioner, or ARNP.

In her current position with Spencer Psychiatry in northwestern Iowa, Howley enjoys providing mental health care to patients regardless of their income and, she adds, regardless of age. Her oldest patient was almost 100, and another was just a toddler. Howley has successfully helped those struggling with depression, anxiety disorders, attention deficit disorder, and autism. "It’s very interesting doing what I do in this age," Howley says, "when we’re finding out these are actually brain diseases." Among all the patients whose lives Howley has touched working at the Iowa private practice, one gentleman, now in his 70s, stands out in her mind—one who struggled for decades with alcoholism and bipolar disorder that used to hospitalize him 2 or 3 times a year. Howley supported him as he gave up drinking and became compliant with his psychiatric treatment. There came a time when it was 5 years and counting since he required in-patient attention.

We asked Howley about the NHSC:

What difference has the NHSC made in your community?
We’re a State with an older population, and for us, accessibility is a big issue.We go to a lot of nursing homes to see the elderly because that’s where the need is. And many in this area who are in need of therapy and medication management are indigent as well.

By helping to bring expert clinicians to this practice in a small Iowa town of 12,000, the NHSC is helping to make health care accessible to people in this and surrounding communities who might not get quality care otherwise. Just engaging people and getting them the help they need has improved the level of wellness here. People become more productive, there is less breakdown of families, and people actually require fewer services over time, as we help them to stay healthy by remaining compliant with their medical regimen.

What difference has the NHSC made in your professional life?
I have always felt the need to serve people who perhaps wouldn’t be served otherwise, and I identified with that philosophy of the NHSC. I thought joining the NHSC would be a good way to become associated with an organization and with other clinicians with similar beliefs.Working at this site, where I was already practicing, made me eligible for NHSC’s financial help, and thus possible for me to afford to stay.