Preparing nurses to work with the chronically mentally ill.

Nursing has been a major contributor to the ongoing care of the long term patient for hundreds of years. In recent times, however, its' focus has been changing to reflect a broader range of activities and roles for nurses. Masters level and recently doctoral level programs have sprung up in centers throughout the country. This workforce consists of a true career ladder for professional nurses beginning with the B.S.N. generalist, an advanced Masters' level clinician, and a scientist scholar at the Ph.D. or D.N.Sc. level. This paper describes training and practicum at each level as it relates to the chronic patient.