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A little more about me …
THE BASICS
What is a Psychiatric and Mental Health Nurse Practitioner?
I am a Masters prepared Advanced Practice Nurse who specializes in mental health, PMHNP for short. I am trained to assess, diagnose, and treat mental health disorders through both medication management and therapeutic interventions. I collaborate with other healthcare professionals in various settings. In California, I am currently authorized to prescribe medications and develop treatment plans independently with minimal supervision from my collaborating physician.
EDUCATION
What training have I received?
I first obtained by Bachelors in Nursing from Loma Linda University School of Nursing in 2011
And then my Masters in Nursing from California State University, Long Beach in 2015
I am current enrolled at University of California, Los Angeles in the Doctorate of Nursing program.
I am board certified through the American Nurses Credentialling Center, ANCC.
I attend at least two conferences per year to stay up to date on cutting edge techniques and research. And I precept PMHNP students each year.
EXPERIENCE AND SPECIALTIES
My Passion
Working with children and adolescents is my true calling. I am a strong believer that children thrive best with mentally healthy families, so often we are working together as a team and parents are receiving treatment also.
I started in the NICU at Loma Linda as a bedside nurse for about 5 years and then moved into education and management in their Level IV NICU with a staff of over 350 nurses.
For a few years, I was working both at the NICU and as an NP after receiving my masters degree, eventually transitioning only to outpatient mental health.
I have about 10 years in the outpatient mental health setting, working mostly with children referred through DCSF or foster care in East Los Angeles.
I will continue my work in East Los Angeles for the highest need patients in that community.
BACKGROUND and PERSONAL LIFE
What can I say …
California Native, born and raised.
I love California, from the snow tipped mountains to the tumbling ocean waves. My maternal great-great grandfather homesteaded in Oak Glen, California and I still have family in those hills.
I have travelled the world since I was a young child with my paternal grandmother who was a Pulitzer nominated journalist for her coverage of Charles Manson. And the summer after the Fall of the Berlin Wall, my grandmother, my cousin and I became Mauerspechte (wallpeckers) as we chipped a piece of the wall as a souvenir.
I play volleyball regularly, my phone is always on silent, and try to travel as much as possible as part of my own mental health journey. I am not much of a shopper and only learned how to cook during the pandemic!
I am currently mother to 4. We are a blended family and I am very lucky to have a great coparenting relationship. Inter-racial marriage and strong supporter of the LBGTQ+ community.