Like all of our colleagues, we are deeply saddened and shocked by the unfathomable violence that took place last Friday in Sandy Hook, Connecticut. While no single person or law could have been solely responsible for preventing such a tragedy, this is an opportune time for reflection to help us determine what we can do better so that there is no next time.

Over the last few days, we have heard from many of our nurse practitioner colleagues in psychiatry and in various other settings about the lack of mental health services available for our patients and the barriers nurse practitioners in psychiatry specifically face when it comes to the inadequacy of current mental health law. It is for this very reason that the Board of Directors of The Nurse Practitioner Association New York State recently reaffirmed our commitment to the Mental Health Bill. We realize that the Bill in its current form has very little chance of passing the Assembly due to the implications it has on the Codes Committee in the Assembly (especially with respect to impacting civil liberties).

Therefore, in the coming weeks, it is our intention to seek input from Nurse Practitioners in Psychiatry (NPP) throughout the State to get the language in the Bill correct (the current Bill does much more than simply allowing NPPs to admit their patients to an in-patient setting).
We look forward to the dialogue and to addressing this critical mental health care issue in our communities.
We look forward to the dialogue and to addressing this critical mental health care issue in our communities.