Congratulations to our 2022-23 Scholars!

Cordelia Cochran

Cordelia Cochran (she/her/hers), MS, LMHC, RN, is a third-year student in the Doctor of Nursing Practice Family Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (DNP-PMHNP) program at Seattle University.

As a mental health therapist in community mental health, Cordelia consistently saw gaps in access to care for marginalized populations, specifically regarding access to providers. That is why she entered her program to become a Family Mental Health Nurse Practitioner. She wanted to be part of the solution and help fill in those care gaps. Cordelia eventually plans to mentor others who want to become providers.

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Rimisha Lal

Rimisha Lal (she/her), BSN, RN, is a third-year Doctor of Nursing Practice student in the Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) program at Seattle University.

Rimisha is currently in school and working as a registered nurse at a Mood and Anxiety Treatment Center in Seattle, Washington. Before she graduates, one of her goals is to conduct research on prevention and early intervention in youth mental health for middle school students in King County.

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Myriam Pierre Oluyinka

Myriam Pierre Oluyinka (she/her), MPH, RN, is a second-year Doctor of Nursing Practice student in the Family Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (DNP-PMHNP) program at Seattle University.

Myriam was born and raised in Miami, Florida, and is a second-generation Haitian immigrant. Her short-term goal upon graduating is to either complete a psychiatric residency training program or work in an outpatient setting as a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner.

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Lilia Peng

Lilia Peng (she/they), ND, BSN, RN, is a third-year Doctor of Nursing Practice student in the Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner track at the University of Washington.

Lilia began her healthcare career as a naturopathic physician. She earned her Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine (ND) degree at Bastyr University and completed her residency in chronic disease management at the Quest Center for Integrative Health in Portland, OR.

She was inspired to pursue additional education to specialize in mental health after witnessing the significant need for psychiatric care among her patients.

Keondra Rustan

Keondra Rustan (she/her/hers), Ph.D., RN, CHSE, CNE, is a first-year student Doctor of Nursing Practice student in the Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner track at the University of Washington.

Keondra has been a registered nurse for almost 15 years with a background in cardiac medicine, critical care, and emergency medicine and has worked in academia and simulation for ten years.

Keondra has been very active in serving her community. She recently served as the Chair of the Healthcare Systems, Modeling, and Simulation Group for the Society for Simulation in Healthcare, as well as the Chair of the Clinical Innovations Group for the National Education in Nursing Collaborative and a leading member of the Education and Training Group for the Medical Device Innovation Consortium.

Now is the Time
Advancing Inclusive Excellence in Nursing

6th Annual Gala on October 24, 2021

Keynote Speaker

Dr. Sheila Edwards Lange is the Chancellor of the University of Washington Tacoma.

Prior to her position at UW Tacoma, Dr. Lange served as President of Seattle Central College (SCC). Under her leadership, Seattle Central strengthened relationships with community partners to create new academic programs, broadened equity and inclusion initiatives and enhanced student support services to better promote student success.

She played a key leadership role in the establishment of the Seattle Promise partnership with the City of Seattle to provide two years of free tuition to graduates of Seattle Public Schools.

Meet our scholarship recipients for 2021-22!

Alyesha Tsegga

Aleysha Tsegga is the recipient of the Spratlen Family Scholar of Promise award.

At the time of the award, she was a third-year doctoral student in the Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) program at Seattle University at the time of her award. Through her doctoral studies, she desires to learn how to be an impactful servant leader in mental health for the Black community.

Aleysha's long-term goal is to practice within the pediatric population where impoverished communities of color struggle to find qualified mental health professionals. By using an evidence-based practice alongside holistic treatment approaches, Aleysha aims to deconstruct the psychological impact of internalized racism within her community.

Her commitment to ensuring she serves these communities stems from the shortage of Black representation in role model settings she encountered as a child. As an adult, Aleysha has experienced how powerful it can be to have Black professors, attorneys, politicians, and medical providers by your side when encountering systems of imbedded oppression. By providing an outlet to underserved children in the Black community, Aleysha hopes to make an impact on our future.

Holly Brezynski

Holly Brezynski was a third-year Doctorate of Nursing student in UW’s Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner track at the time of her award. She was maintaining a 3.96 GPA while managing her four children's schooling throughout the pandemic.

As a domestic violence survivor, Holly remembers mental health services were vital to her escape and recovery. She is passionate about removing the silence and stigma surrounding partner violence and believes her role as PMHNP will further help her empower others in this situation.

Holly’s professional goal is to work in a collaborative community behavioral health setting that supports adults living with complex mental health needs: chronic mental illness, trauma, and substance use disorders.For her doctorate nursing project, Holly is partnering with the Washington Health Care Authority & DSHS Aging and Long-Term Support Administration's Dementia Action Collaborative (DAC) to identify gaps in the discharge planning process that can lead to higher readmission rates for those living with dementia.

Spencer Hendricks

Spencer Hendricks was in his final year of Gonzaga University's Master of Science in Nursing Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner program when he received his award. He hopes to bring this commitment into his future practice in mental health and his efforts to expand community mental health services.

Spencer experiences really impressed upon him that there is value and meaning in partnering with people in difficult circumstances. He is passionate about being a mental health resource and increasing access and availability of mental health resources for his community.

His short-term professional goals are to begin practicing in Walla Walla County and partner with local agencies to serve community members with mental health needs and limited access to health care services. His long-term professional goals are to expand the availability and accessibility of mental health services in Walla Walla County and to precept future advanced-practice psychiatric nursing students.

Sarah Kim

Sarah Kim was a second-year DNP student in the University of Washington’s Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner program when she received her award. Her goal is to build a more robust community through which patients can receive quality mental health care.

Sarah’s experiences in mental health settings across the continuum of care have given her keen insight into the systems and institutions through which care is delivered. Seeing the gaps in mental health care with patients “falling through the cracks” inspired her interest in improving and streamlining those systems.

Sarah currently works at a community mental health clinic. She constantly seeks to expand her knowledge of psychiatry and mental health practice. Her published work has focused on the opioid epidemic and sharing awareness with clinicians about substances that can cause opioid-like dependence and withdrawal, while her academic work has explored ways to improve care for adolescents in inpatient mental health settings. Her vision for mental health care involves integrating behavioral health care with primary care and increasing access for individuals in crisis through behavioral health urgent care clinics.

Solee Lim

Solee Lim was a second-year Doctor of Nursing in Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner at the University of Washington when she received her award. Over the years, she has learned that nurses can have a powerful impact not only on patients' lives but also on the lives of their families and, by extension, on the community. That is the biggest reason she pursued a Doctorate of Nursing Practice.

Solee’s passion for psychiatric nursing became a goal after working on a unit assigned to caring for patients with mental illnesses. Her time with these patients made her determined to be a part of the solution. She is convinced she has an important role in psychiatric nursing, especially when it comes to educating the Korean-American community. She is determined to provide culturally appropriate care and education on the importance of mental health.

Amber Spencer

Amber Spencer was a third-year Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) student in the Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) program at Pacific Lutheran University at the time of her award.

After graduating from Johns Hopkins University in 2013, Amber began her nursing career in Baltimore, MD working in an inner-city Emergency Department. Throughout her career in the Emergency Department, she witnessed firsthand the lack of mental health resources in her community. Amber observed that inadequate mental health resources resulted in unacceptable patient care, increased healthcare disparities, and poor outcomes for patients suffering from mental illnesses. Her experience shaped her career goals — she determined the best way to serve her community was to become a psychiatric mental health provider.

Amber has a passion for the mental health of homeless youth, which drove her to develop and implement a translational research project aimed at increasing mental health service utilization, using motivational interviewing in the population of homeless youth. Amber’s long-term goals are to provide psychiatric care in an integrated community health model, where she can help reduce mental health disparities by increasing access to mental health providers.

Linda Trader

Linda Trader was a third-year Doctoral Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner student at Pacific Lutheran University when she received her award. Linda’s interest in psychiatry and mental health developed when she was a staff RN and Charge Nurse in an emergency department in Pierce County, Washington.

While a RN and Charge Nurse, Linda identified that mental health is often a co-morbidity of those in dire need of emergent medical care and that a large percentage of this population consists of those from underserved communities who are most impacted by social determinants of health that contribute to poor health outcomes. She found that a common barrier for these individuals was difficulty accessing collaborative and integrated mental health care.

Linda’s final months of her advanced education were spent developing the future of the nursing profession through her role as a faculty nursing instructor at St. Martin’s University. She hopes to share her personal experiences as a first-generation college student and passion for helping others through mentorship, advocacy, and advancement of the professional nursing role. After graduation, her goal is to increase access to care for underserved populations.

We are deeply saddened by the passing of Dr. Thaddeus Spratlen on May 18, 2021. We hope you will join us and Dr. Spratlen’s many colleagues, family, and friends at a celebration of his life on Tuesday, September 28 from 8:00 AM to 1:00 PM in Kane Hall 220 on the University of Washington Campus.

Meet our scholarship recipients for 2020-21!

Jeremy Bang

Jeremy Bang is a doctoral student at Seattle University in the Psychiatric and Mental Health Nurse Practitioner program. He has worked as a welder, waiter, and restaurant manager. In each place, his ability to connect with people and hold difficult truths highlighted an empathic quality that he wanted to build on with his education. In these environments, he saw how hard it was for many to choose healthy coping skills and how many turned instead to substance use, numbing, and jaded worldviews.

Today he is a nurse on a coronavirus assessment team focused on testing people in homeless shelters and encampments. He is providing direct patient care, education about SARS-CoV-2, precepting undergraduate nursing students, and working with his supervisors to ensure the safety and sustainability of his team and their work.

It is his goal to use his life experience to connect with and better understand future clients. He wants to work with people experiencing homelessness, depression, and substance use disorders. He is particularly passionate about working with men to broaden their emotional vocabulary, normalize sensitivity and nurturing behaviors, and encourage healthy and safe relationships.

Natalie Robbins

Natalie Robbins a Doctoral of Nursing (DNP) student enrolled in her first year in the Pacific Lutheran University Psychiatric and Mental Health Nurse Practitioner program.

From a young age, Natalie learned the impact that addiction and mental illness can have on a family. She also learned that mental health and addiction are topics that most do not like to talk about but impact everyone at some point in their lives. Whether it is something they personally struggle with or something a loved one battles with daily.

As a nurse, Natalie has worked in a variety of settings, including inpatient psychiatry, inpatient substance abuse treatment, the emergency room for psychiatric stabilization, and outpatient as a psychiatric nurse care manager. She is dedicating her professional life to serving the disadvantaged and underserved.

Her educational goal is to implement a research project that improves the care coordination of the patient with serious mental illness and chronic medical conditions. With hopes of creating an educational program that will decrease stigma, decrease hospital bed days, and bridge the gap between mental health nursing and medical nursing staff.

Teresa Robinson

Teresa Robinson is a student in the Post Masters - Doctor of Nursing Practice, Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner program (PMHNP) at Washington State University - Tri-Cities. She graduates in the Spring of 2022.

Teresa currently works full-time as the Patient Safety Program Manager at a hospital in the Tri-Cities. She hopes to secure a job through the hospital’s Behavioral Health clinic and work with clients in the newly established clinic-based collaborative care program. Teresa’s husband is a100% disabled, retired Army Officer, and together they have a blended family with eight children. She has experienced firsthand what it is like to care for family members suffering from conditions like PTSD, depression, anxiety, and other mental illnesses. It is no surprise that a long-term goal she holds is to specialize in the areas of working with Veterans or youth experiencing mental health issues.

Teresa had the opportunity to return to college after her children entered school. She obtained her BSN from WSU Tri-Cities in 2011, and it was through her BSN courses that she found a passion for psychiatric nursing. She continued her nursing career, obtaining her MSN from Gonzaga University in Health Care Administration; however, she knew that psychiatric nursing was her passion and applied for the DNP-PMHNP program in 2018.

The COVID-19 pandemic has created a time of uncertainty for all. Frontline caregivers are experiencing higher rates of depression, anxiety, and insomnia. Teresa is interested in providing a program at a local hospital that will provide strategies for frontline caregivers and health care workers to counteract the stressors and challenges they experience every day. The proposal would be adapted from a trauma-informed care program and would promote a culture of safety and mindfulness exercises.

Iman Yunis is a DNP student at Seattle University’s Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner program. Iman’s passion for advanced psychiatric nursing was sparked after leading a community-based participatory research study investigating the perceptions of mental health and barriers to accessing mental health services among the Somali community in King County. Her study uncovered that there is a widespread negative perception of mental illness that has created a stigma around receiving mental health care.

As an advanced psychiatric nursing leader, Iman hopes to break the barriers of social stigma, limited mental health awareness, and accessibility so that underserved populations are able to access and receive equitable mental healthcare. Iman believes to advance the goals and growth of the communities she works with it must be done through fostering collaboration, providing support, and empowerment.

The Lois Price Spratlen Foundation is proud to welcome Elaine Walsh, PHd, RN, PMHCNS-BC, to the Board of Directors.

Dr. Elaine Walsh is an Associate Professor at the University of Washington in the Child, Family, and Population Health Nursing department and was the Vice Chair for Education from 2013-2020.

Elaine has provided mental health and suicide risk assessment, intervention, and training in inpatient and community settings. She has been involved in oversight of a number of federally-funded clinical trials addressing adolescent depression, suicide risk and other problem behaviors. Elaine is also a Nurse Scientist at Seattle Children’s and conducts research on nurse resilience.

She received her Master of Nursing degree from UCLA in 1991 and a PhD in Nursing Science from the University of Washington in 1999. Elaine has been ANCC certified as a Child/Adolescent Psychiatric-Mental Health Clinical Nurse Specialist since 1991. As a faculty member at the UW since 2004, she has taught BSN, PhD and DNP students.

By Janiece DeSocio, PhD, RN, PMHNP-BC

Never has it been more important to expand our workforce of psychiatric nurses and nurse practitioners, and never has it been more challenging to do so.

The education of Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioners (PMHNPs) requires a rigorous academic education and at least 500 hours of clinical mentorship by experienced preceptors in clinical settings. Doctor of Nursing Practice PMHNP Programs require an additional 500 hours, for a total of 1,000 DNP clinical hours for graduation.

In the time of COVID-19, educators and students have faced unprecedented challenges in PMHNP education.

Universities made a rapid pivot to online courses with video-conferenced classes and seminars. Closure of clinical practicum sites to student placements followed due to insufficient PPE and over-burdened providers. Practicing PMHNPs, shifting to telepsychiatry and straining to respond to the increasing mental health needs of their patients, have little bandwidth in energy or time to incorporate PMHNP students. Uncertainty about when clinical education sites and preceptors will welcome them again places PMHNP students under extraordinary stress.

What may not be as readily apparent is the toll on our students in their non-academic lives. Many of our PMHNP students step up to fill hours and shifts in the RN jobs they hold while attending graduate school. Many are working on the front lines, caring for patients in hospitals and clinical settings while facing uncertainty about their PMHNP education.

Faculty and Deans are reaching out to accreditors of advanced practice education programs to explore all viable options for clinical education. Simulated clinical experiences and standardized patient exercises have long played important roles in PMHNP education, but ultimately it remains the position of regulatory bodies that simulated experiences cannot replace the required hours of supervised clinical experience for PMHNP students.

In the face of so much uncertainty, it is humbling and inspiring to witness the trust our PMHNP students continue to hold in their educational institutions, faculty, and PMHNP colleagues in practice. These students sustain hope and belief in the careers they are dedicated to achieve in caring for vulnerable psychiatric populations.

Meet our scholarship recipients for 2019-20!

Que Limpanyaloet

Sarote Limpanyaloet (Que) is a Doctoral of Nursing (DNP) student enrolled in the University of Washington’s Psychiatric and Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) program. His experiences while working with a diverse population struggling with substance abuse influenced his decision to become a PMHNP. His work in direct care, consultant, and supervisory roles has given him to see the complexities and challenges that patients face in today’s healthcare environment. Que’s career goal is to continue to work with underserved patients with a focus on pregnant women with substance use and co-occurring disorders.

Kayla Shull

Kayla Shull is a DNP student enrolled in Seattle University’s PMHNP program. She believes destigmatizing mental health diagnoses should be at the forefront of any behavioral health practice and that providing holistic and compassionate care is integral to the success of treatment. Her DNP project is to design and implement a wound care program for IV drug users at Evergreen Treatment Service, where she is currently employed. While wound care is not traditionally area of interest for PMHNP, wounds often derail treatment due to long hospital stays. Kayla believes a program headed by practitioners in a trusting environment could lower hospital admissions and increase treatment adherence.

Tofik Shkrea

Tofik Shkrea is a DNP student enrolled in Washington State University’s PMHNP program. He has witnessed first-hand the devastating toll mental illness can take on a family. This experience with mental illness inspired him to pursue a career in psychiatric nursing. In his home country of Ethiopia, people struggling with depression and other mental health issues are ostracized. Among his long-term career goals are to work to eliminate the stigma of mental illness and to advocate for patients by addressing failures in the healthcare system. Tofik plans to focus his practice on highly vulnerable, mentally ill individuals, such as homeless persons, drug abuse patients, and incarcerated persons in rural communities.

Ebony Blackmon Humphrey, DNP, ARNP, PMHNP-BC, started her position at Therapeutic Health Services in Seattle in August 2019. Our 2017 Lois Price Spratlen Foundation Scholarship recipient primarily provides psychiatric services to individuals with co-occurring substance use disorders.

Ebony also runs Caritas Critical Case Management, providing direct client services to women experiencing perinatal mood disorders and children who are victims of childhood sex abuse.
Ebony wrote and published a book, Daddy Don’t Touch Me: A Children’s Book for Adult Conversations, for children and caretakers of children who have been victims of childhood sex trauma. She is developing a curriculum based on her book.

While earning her DNP in Psychiatric Mental Health from Washington State University, she worked at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. As an author, student, and mother of six, the Foundation scholarship was vital for Ebony.

“Receiving the scholarship when I did—it came at a very critical time and was very meaningful to me, as I was working and limiting my hours to be able to continue my pursuit of a higher education.”
The scholarship was deeply impactful for Ebony, above and beyond the financial aspect.

“This scholarship, and what the Foundation means to individuals of color such as myself, has been life-changing for me. Knowing other scholars coming alongside us who have graduated and are entering the world of mental health, the world of medicine, with such tenacity, speaks to how they will change and influence the world.”

She is grateful to Foundation donors, adding:

“To those who are donors or potentials donors, your contribution means everything, and whatever you decide in your heart to give, it goes to a very meaningful place.”

By Susan Caverly, PhD, ARNP, BC
Lois Price Spratlen Foundation Co-President

Philanthropy can seem for many of us a bit of a foreign concept, something that conjures up images of the actions of those who are privileged. So, what then of the rest of us? Is it possible that we too might be philanthropists?

As we are asked to write a donation check or volunteer for a committee, it seems likely that the term philanthropy does not usually come to mind. The actions are not always recognized as participation in philanthropic opportunity.

During the past several years, helping to grow the Lois Price Spratlen Foundation has caused me to reflect on philanthropy. It has caused me to consider my shift from a modest donor to a true stakeholder with a deepened connection, embracing the intention—the mission—of the foundation.

“Lois, our namesake, viewed advanced practice psychiatric nursing through a community lens.”

For me, this has been a journey, and today, this moment, this year, I invite you to become a fellow traveler. I invite you to exercise full participation and, in the process, define for yourself what it means to be philanthropic.

The Association of Advanced Practice Psychiatric Nurses has for many years funded small scholarships for our next generation of clinicians. The inception of the Lois Price Spratlen Foundation formalized this commitment and, through fundraising, annual Gala Luncheons, and donor appreciation events, has grown the annual small scholarship to multiple $2,000 scholarships as well as an innovative practice grant.

It is worth noting that Lois, our namesake, viewed advanced practice psychiatric nursing through a community lens. She recognized the community strength that is created through empowering others.

Education is without question a means of empowerment, while recognition and reward for professional excellence empowers the profession.

The Lois Price Spratlen Foundation provides those of us who engage with a way to support these empowerment agendas in ways we would not be capable of doing as individuals. Our foundation is our community and our strength is in our collective accomplishment. It is without question that I have a pride in my own association with this community.

Our challenge is that, rather than accepting philanthropy as a financial transaction or an obligation, we embrace it as a path to the fulfilling experience of participatory ownership in the empowerment of our profession, one scholar at a time.

My hope is that each of us connect as stewards of the Lois Price Spratlen Foundation, to own the foundation intentions, and to join the efforts to grow the foundation. In this way we will build the infrastructure and financial strength essential to sustain the work—in “perpetuity”—as Lois would have wished.

As we philanthropists grow in numbers, we grow our community of philanthropy! Will you join us?