Pia Love, BSN ’02, was selected to present at the annual American Psychiatric Nurses Association (APNA) conference held in October 2024. Love will present a poster discussing innovations in psychiatric nursing practice to bridge the knowledge-to-practice gap for implementing new treatments.
The presentation’s main priority is to renew minds on what tools are available for psychiatric nurses, including tools and practices for a nurse’s own mental health and wellbeing. Love says that sharing different techniques for helping people, not just in a hospital setting, but also for fellow nurses, will improve all around care.
Love aims to address the gap between knowledge and implementation with her presentation. The gap exists in bedside practice, personal wellbeing practice, and, for Love, continuing education decisions for nurses.
Love explained that she recently received notice from a nursing governing board that she was practicing outside her scope performing behavioral therapy. However, Love had received a certification as a cognitive behavioral therapy psychiatric nurse practitioner.
“The board member told me to stop what I was doing for business. It was a learning opportunity because she didn’t know [about it],” said Love. “No one has a license as a cognitive behavioral therapy practitioner.”
The board and Love found common understanding once it was cleared that Love was practicing within her scope. It still showed Love an opportunity to educate nurses about certifications and licensures that could enhance their nursing degrees outside of higher education.
Love found a calling in psychiatric nursing. She excelled at all psychiatric courses during her BSN studies. She found a comfort in psychiatric practice, especially as she applied her battle with mental health issues to her studies. Following her program, Love suffered the loss of her mother. Her passing took a mental toll on Love that was nearly debilitating.
“She was my number one support,” said Love. “She was the person that pushed me to go to nursing school. When she died, I didn’t really know what to do. My mind was just gone.”
Love made significant effort to cope with her grief as she prioritized keeping her mental health intact. With time, she learned to live with grief and share her mental health practices with fellow nurses. She saw an opportunity with this knowledge sharing to establish her own business. The organization aims to make positive impacts on mental health education, consultation, and establishing therapeutic communication options for healthcare professionals and the general public.
Love witnessed many instances of nurses not prioritizing wellness for themselves and others. In order to properly care for patients, Love believes that taking care of oneself greatly improves your patient care. This also includes taking care of fellow nurses and prioritizing civility.
“We can help people in a variety of ways with the foundations of nursing that we have,” said Love. “We just need to do it, even amongst ourselves because incivility has huge implications.”
Love attributes her leadership skills to her education at MSU. Love was highly involved with student affairs during her undergraduate studies. From serving on student nursing committees to engaging with Sigma Theta Tau, she immersed herself in the academic challenges of the nursing program.
Love is forever grateful for the mentorship of Drs. Renee Canady, Clarissa Shavers, and Mary Jo Arndt. They empowered Love to embrace her calm, cool personality in her nursing care.
“Spartans will, and that how I feel about life,” said Love. “I will, no matter what, no matter who. Be proud of yourself.”