Debra Rice, ARNP, PMHNP is a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP), who currently provides outpatient psychiatric care at Catholic Charities in Richland and Yakima. This is a shared position involving a short commute and a diverse clientele. Debra has worked as a psychiatric provider for five years in both inpatient and outpatient settings. Prior to becoming a provider, she taught nursing and worked for twelve years at Eastern State Hospital as a psychiatric nurse. Her varied work background provided a rich landscape of psychiatric experiences that highlights the importance of collaboration in providing holistic care.
Ms. Rice believes that collaborative care is critical to the environment of psychiatric care, where many of the clients are disenfranchised and economically impoverished. These financial limitations affect the ability of psychiatric clients to access medical care; it also impacts their ability to effectively navigate complex communication contexts once they are engaged with the clinical setting. These factors make collaboration, and advocacy critical for preventative health care. Ms. Rice hopes to expand her ability to meet the many and varied needs of psychiatric clients through the collaborative/integrative care program.
Recently the premier Cardiac Center in the Yakima Valley, Astria Regional Medical Center, closed its doors. This closure has further impacted the lack of healthcare access in the Yakima Valley. Modalities like telemedicine are imperative to provide this area with the health care so important to meet the needs of the Valley. The Yakima Valley is also home to the Yakama Nation, a federally recognized tribe whose homeland covers 130,000 acres in southwestern Washington. The suicide rates among Native Americans is three times that of the national rate. As a provider in the Yakima Valley, Ms. Rice hopes her participation in this program will aid her in establishing new ways of expanding outreach to this rural community.
Ms. Rice is hoping that the collaborative/integrative care model becomes the standard of care within the next five years. She is confident that the use of this model will aid in providing holistic care to the Yakima Valley.