NEWS & EVENTS

Alumna Becomes President of American Psychiatric Nurses Association

Credits DNP degree and her experience at Case
as instrumental in her success

Mary D. Moller
Mary D. Moller, DNP ’06


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.”

BIOSKETCH: MARY D. MOLLER

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.

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