1027-25: All About Acetylcholine: Connecting the Dots Between Neurotransmitters, Medications, and Mental Health

This presentation will explore how acetylcholine influences mood, thoughts, and behavior—and how anticholinergic side effects can impact clinical outcomes across the lifespan.

This is an encore presentation from the APNA Clinical Psychopharmacology Institute (CPI) held in June 2025. Please be advised that contact hours may be claimed for either the presentation held at CPI or the APNA Annual Conference; credit cannot be claimed for both.

Presenter:  Jeremy Mills, DNP, APRN, PMHNP-BC

Disclosures:  The APNA planners and faculty have no relevant financial relationships to disclose. Off-label uses will be discussed during this presentation.

Session Length:  1 hour 45 minutes

Target Audience:  RN, APRN

Learning Outcome:
Upon completion of this presentation, the participant will be able to:

• Identify three risk factors associated with anticholinergic side effects.

Key Takeaway(s): 

• Even if you don’t officially screen or have some protocol for estimating anticholinergic burden, you can make a big difference in the lives of your patients by recognizing anticholinergic side effects and opting for antipsychotics with a lower anticholinergic burden.

Keywords:  Schizophrenia, Anticholinergics, Acetylcholine, Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders, Muscarinic Receptors, Anticholinergic Burden

Nursing Continuing Professional Development:
1.75 pharmacology contact hours. * In order to receive contact hours, you must: Listen to the entire presentation, complete the reflection activity, evaluation, and honor statement before the expiration date. Once all steps are successfully completed, a certificate will be generated online and available for you to print immediately. Contact hours cannot be awarded unless all required components are completed. 

The American Psychiatric Nurses Association is accredited as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.

Release Date:  December 1, 2025
Access to this course will end:  December 1, 2027

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