May 30, 2013

Donna Sabella, PhD, Director of Global Studies, and Bobbie Posmontier, PhD, an assistant professor in the Doctor of Nursing Practice Department, each contributed a chapter to the Manual of Clinical Pharmacology for Nurses, which was published in April. Sabella’s chapter, titled Trauma and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, provides an overview of traumatic stress disorders, a discussion of the neuroanatomy and neurochemistry of fear and our response to those threats, treatment approaches, working with specific populations, and an overview of pretreatment assessment and the importance of treatment monitoring.

Posmontier’s chapter, Complementary and Alternative Pharmacotherapies, is about herbal remedies that have been studied that can treat a variety of psychiatric symptoms. “It is important because many patients rely on herbal remedies and there may be significant interactions with psychiatric medications. Nurses caring for these patients need to be able to be informed about these remedies in order to achieve the best mental health outcomes in their patients,” Posmontier said.