More than 230 nurses attended the final event in the “Behavioral Health Series: Personality Disorders” at the Lifelong Learning Center on the campus of the Northeast Community College on June 23.
The four-part series, sponsored in part by funds from the Nursing Fund for Excellence Northern Division, and dating back to December 2014, closed strong, with its largest crowd to date. The event drew 233, including school nurses, corrections officials, and gerontology and family practice .
Liane Connelly, Ph.D., assistant dean of the College of Nursing Northern Division at UNMC, said the Norfolk area’s Community Advisory Committee had identified behavioral health as an important need to the area.
“This was a great opportunity with the College of Nursing’s Continuing Nursing Education, so nurses in Northeastern Nebraska could have more knowledge about mental health,” Dr. Connelly said.
Mary Anderson is an instructor of UNMC College of Nursing Northern Division specializing in psychology. As a member of the committee that identified the need, she attended all four sessions.
“Even if nurses aren’t in the psychology field, they may be working with patients who have a psych need,” she said. “A lot of people are looking for more information on what they may be working with.”
There were 46 nurses who attended each session in the series. At the June 23 session, they received a special certificate for completion of the entire series.
Wende Heckert, D.N.P., attended all the sessions. She runs a family practice in Norfolk and said that this issue is very important to the community.
“We see this a lot in family practice, where a patient comes in with a cough and cold, but then you find underlying issues like depression,” she said, adding that the series has helped her practice to better recognize and treat those issues.
In addition to personality disorders, the Behavioral Health Series has covered trauma and compassion fatigue, addictions and mood disorders.
“I am personally excited about this series. As a result, these nurses have quite a bit of knowledge about mental health that they can use to help the community,” Dr. Connelly said.
The Nursing Fund for Excellence Northern Division is supported by donations of the citizens of northeastern Nebraska. The fund gives back to the community through workshops and scholarships.