Karan Kverno: Faculty Directory

Overview

Karan Kverno is recognized internationally as an expert in psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner (PMHNP) practice and education. She founded and led the planning and implementation of the innovative online Post-master’s Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) certificate program, designed to build a workforce of dually certified NPs who will provide mental health care in collaborative or integrated health care settings. Her earlier practice as a PMHCNS psychotherapist and over the last 15 years as a PMHNP in hospital-based outpatient psychiatry informs her teaching and scholarship. Dr. Kverno is involved nationally and globally in improving mental health care for patients and nursing staff, and in updating PMHNP competencies and education to meet the needs of individuals, communities, and populations. Dr. Kverno’s interprofessional and interinstitutional team research includes examination of acuity measures in inpatient psychiatry; onboarding processes and measures for new PMHNPs in hospital and outpatient psychiatry; qualitative examination of organizational support for nursing inquiry, and examination of incentive structures to engage clinical nurses in innovative quality-improvement projects. As a board member of the Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services (JPN), Dr. Kverno serves as the JPN Psychopharmacology Section Editor and works on the JPN taskforce that aims to dismantle racism in research and scholarship. Dr. Kverno is the 2023 president-elect of the ISPN Foundation Board, was awarded the 2023 Susan McCabe Lectureship, and the 2021 ISPN Excellence in Education. Dr. Kverno is a fellow of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners and the American Academy of Nursing. She is dedicated to psychiatric nursing education and is always enthusiastic to develop the next generation of nurses and other health professionals who will deliver high-quality mental health care.