REUNION ISSUE A Publication of The Frances Payne Bolton School ...

Alumni Spotlight
FPB Alumna Becomes President of
American Psychiatric Nurses Association
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Mary D. Moller, DNP ’06, ARNP, APRN, PMHCNS-BC, CPRP, FAAN,
associate professor and specialty director for Psychiatric-Mental Health
Nursing at the Yale University School of Nursing, became the 2009-2010
president of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association (APNA) in October.
Dr. Moller recently spoke with FPB Nursing about two major experiences in
her life: Attending FPB for a doctorate in nursing practice (DNP), and her
feelings on becoming the APNA president.
Dr. Moller: “I would like to start by saying that attending FPB at Case
Western Reserve University was a life-changing event for me. I thoroughly
loved every aspect of going back to school in my mid-50s to pursue the DNP.
I was actually quite sad when it was over as it was so stimulating and
rewarding. I like to refer to what doctoral education accomplished for me at
this phase in my life as that it deconstructed my old way of thinking about
things and reconstructed my thought process into a less reactive, more global,
and more proactive way of approaching problem-solving and thinking about
things in general. The faculty was collectively skilled in helping shape my
ability to ponder and question in a more meaningful way. My professional
career was definitely affected in a most positive manner. The respect that is
shown a graduate of the FPB program is phenomenal. Since graduating I have
been inducted into the American Academy of Nursing and been named
program director of the Psychiatric Nursing Master’s Program at the Yale
University School of Nursing. Neither of those professional accomplishments
would have happened had I not possessed the prestigious DNP degree, from
Case Western Reserve University. Additionally, when I make presentations and
consult around the country, there is just a different level of deference paid to
me by colleagues. I feel like I’m taken more seriously than before I attended FPB.”
“Regarding stepping into the role of president of the APNA, I am very
humbled and awed to have been elected president. I am looking forward to the
next year with great anticipation. These are serious times as we embrace health
care reform and the operationalization of mental health parity. The theme of
my presidency is Psychiatric Nurses: Champions of Advocacy. I am personally
committed to advocacy both for psychiatric nurses in all areas – education,
research, policy, and practice – as well as the patients we care for. We are facing
a critical juncture in time related to the future of psychiatric nursing as we
determine our organizational plan for the implementation of the APRN
Consensus document and continue to define and refine our complex role. I’m
committed to furthering the cause of the integration of mental health care into
primary care as well as to seeing the incorporation of primary care into the
ongoing care of patients with serious and persistent mental illnesses. APNA is
an over 6,500 member-driven organization with a strong infrastructure and
member outreach program, and being the president as we begin a new decade
will definitely be the highlight and peak of my career as a nurse that will reach
40 years in 2011.”
Dr. Moller is dually certified as a clinical specialist in adult
psychiatric-mental health nursing and as psychiatric
rehabilitation practitioner. She received a bachelor’s degree in
nursing from Mount Marty College, Yankton, SD, in 1971; a
master’s degree in psychiatric-mental health nursing from the
University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Nursing in
1982; and a doctor of nursing practice degree from Case
Western Reserve University in 2006. She received the FPB
Dean’s Legacy Award for her research entitled “The Lived
Experience of the Patient with Schizophrenia in the Postpsychotic
Adjustment Phase of Recovery from Psychosis.” From
1992-2008, she was owner and clinical director of The
Suncrest Wellness Center, an outpatient advanced practice
nursing psychiatric clinic in Spokane, WA. She is also president
of NurSeminars, Inc, an international consulting firm. Dr.
Moller also serves as a consultant to the Israeli Ministry of
Health, Division of Psychiatric Nursing, and the Institute of
Mental Health in Singapore. She has authored or co-authored
over 40 articles and book chapters including a pharmacology
review book, and is on the Editorial Review board of the
“Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association.” For
the past 20 years, she has been a very active member of the
American Psychiatric Nurses Association. Dr. Moller has been a
member of the Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau
International, since 1982. She has served on two task forces at
the National Institute of Mental Health, and has received
numerous honors and awards. She has made over 900
professional and research presentations in 45 states and
internationally since 1980. She and her husband, Chuck, have
been married for 38 years and have two grown sons, Brock, 36
and Scott 34. Her first grandchild, Braden Larson Moller was
born on January 14, 2008.
The Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing Case Western Reserve University 37