nurse practitioner blog
Explore a wide range of topics from evidence-based
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Helping you stay informed and confident in your practice, whether you’re navigating the challenges of starting out in the field as a new psychiatric nurse practitioner or looking for more insights to enhance patient care, the Stress Free Psych NP Blog offers practical advice, expert tips, and a supportive community dedicated to your professional growth and success.
Schizoaffective Disorder Diagnosis: Why It’s So Misunderstood
What’s one of the most misdiagnosed conditions in mental health? Despite being relatively rare, schizoaffective disorder diagnosis shows up surprisingly often on psychiatric charts—and it's often incorrect. According to the DSM-5-TR, the lifetime prevalence of...
Bipolar Disorder Screening in Depression
You’re in clinic with a 29-year-old twice-divorced man experiencing depressive symptoms. He’s never had a psychiatric diagnosis before, denies substance abuse, and reports no family history of depression or other psychiatric illnesses. This is his first major...
Bipolar vs Borderline: Key Differences in Diagnosis
Raise your hand if you knew that bipolar disorder and borderline personality disorder have significant similarities 🙋🏾♀️ Even after eight years of working as a psych NP, I recently realized how tough it can be to distinguish bipolar vs borderline personality...
Back to Basics in Psychiatry: A Psych NP’s Guide
When Psychiatry Gets Complicated Back to basics in psychiatry is often the most helpful mindset when clinical cases become complicated. Patients aren't always straightforward, and even seasoned PMHNPs can be thrown off track by unexpected presentations. You might...
SSRIs: Sorting Out Similarities & Surprises
Let’s dive into the world of SSRIs – the superheroes of psychotropic agents! They all work to boost those feel-good neurotransmitters like serotonin, but each SSRI has its unique personality. Prozac, Lexapro, Zoloft, Paxil, and Celexa: they're like a squad with...
Stepwise Approach to Treating Depression: A Guide for PMHNPs
One of the most stressful parts of being a PMHNP is managing patients who partially respond—or don’t respond at all—to psychotropic medications. Whether it's antidepressants, antipsychotics, or others, knowing what to do next isn’t always straightforward. That's why...
Claire’s depth of knowledge and personal experiences have made her an invaluable resource for our listeners. She consistently delivers practical, actionable advice that empowers mental health providers to overcome the challenges of the profession.
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