Report from the American Nurses' Association council on psychiatric and mental health nursing.

Society has demonstrated a major need for expanded gerontological and geropsychiatric nursing services. Current needs have not yet been met and the call for service will increase throughout the balance of this century and beyond. Social responsiveness demands that nurses: (1) formally establish their clinical authority in care of the aged; (2) lobby for public policy which enables the provider professional to control the practice environment, rather than be controlled by it; (3) improve the educational preparation of nurses to care for the aged; and (4) expand the professions' scientific and research base in this area. The national professional organization of registered nurses, the American Nurses' Association, provides leadership to influence the course of nursing as it continues to provide vital services in a dramatically changing environment.