I felt blessed, overwhelmed with joy and scared at the same time when I found I had been accepted to attend Duke. Once I started school, my guiding principles were: staying determined to accomplish my degrees, embracing teamwork, and learning to use all the resources provided by Duke to help me succeed. These principles I have applied to my career as a nurse practitioner.
In 2015, I founded my own psychiatric practice, and since 2020 my company has grown to employ 45 nurse practitioners and 2 doctors. We provide care to more than 17,000 patients in the state of Florida. As the CEO of Psych Health Associates, I get to lead a team of nurses who are changing how patients with dementia and chronic mental illness are treated in state long-term care facilities.
My education at Duke showed me the impact of health disparities and the important role nurse practitioners play in helping to fill the gap. As a way of giving back, I precept for multiple universities so that future psychiatric nurse practitioners can play a role in this complex health care system.
Our society faces the challenges of increasing mental health needs that go untreated – from children with trauma to adults with severe mental illness. My mission is to help other psychiatric nurse practitioners complete their education so they can become part of the solution to the mental health crisis.