The University of Arizona was recently awarded a $1.7 million grant to increase the amount of mental health nurse practitioners in rural Arizona.
Rene Love, with the University of Arizona College for Nursing, said that in 2014 Arizona was ranked last in the nation for the inability to receive mental health services and the mental health workforce availability.
“So we have just such a huge need in rural and medically underserved communities here in Arizona that it is important for us to be able to really help support the communities so that people can get access to care,” Love said.
Students in the program will be placed at sites under the supervision of a physician or psychiatric nurse practitioner to assess, diagnosis and treat patients with mental illnesses. Love said the ultimate goal is to increase services in medically underserved areas of Arizona.
