The role of the psychiatric nurse practitioner in disaster response

Brenda Marshall, EdD, MSN, PMHNP-BC

doi:10.5055/jem.2009.0028

Authors

Brenda Marshall, EdD, MSN, PMHNP-BC

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5055/jem.2009.0028

Keywords:

mental health, PNP, CSID

Abstract

Nurses have responded to, and prepared for disasters from the time of Florence Nightingale and Harriet Werley. Nurses are the largest group of professional healthcare providers in America with more than 2.4 million registered nurses, a quarter of a million of whom are Nurse Practitioners capable of diagnosing, prescribing, and treating patients. Psychiatric Nurse Practitioners are in a position to understand the unique cultural nuances and needs of a community in all phases of the disaster life cycle.

Author Biography

Brenda Marshall, EdD, MSN, PMHNP-BC

Montclair State University, Montclair, New Jersey.

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