We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Morgan Murray a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Morgan, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear the story behind how you got your first job in field that you currently practice in.

I got my first job in the healthcare field as a summer intern at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, in pastoral care. In pastoral care, we arranged for people of all faiths to connect with faith leaders during their hospital stays. During that summer, I met other interns who were working in the OR and I thought to myself, “how cool is that?” I worked really hard to get into the Operating Room the next year and I landed a job in Anesthesia and Critical Care Medicine. From that FIRST job that wasn’t my ‘dream job’ I learned a valuable lesson- just get your foot in the door!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

To be a GOOD psychiatric nurse practitioner, it takes a lot of schooling and experience. I had four years of undergrad training (nursing school), then I had 5 years of inpatient psych nursing experience before applying to PMHNP school. PMHNP school can take anywhere from 2-4 years, depending on if you go full time or part time. I went full time and did 40 hours per week in clinical to finish in 2 years.

I provide medication management services (mental health treatment) and I specialize in treating depression, anxiety, and ADHD. I do offer mental health care across the adult life span for a variety of mental health disorders.

What sets Beyond Medicine and me apart from other mental health private practices and nurse practitioners: the care of the whole patient. There are multiple contributors to mental health and no two patients are the same. I pride myself in curating treatment plans according to my patients and their symptoms; not just a cookie cutter diagnosis. As a nurse practitioner, what I do is beyond medicine. It’s building community & curating safe spaces for other healthcare workers.

Training and knowledge matter of course, but beyond that what do you think matters most in terms of succeeding in your field?

Having reputable resources and knowing how to access them. So many people push mentorship in the nursing and advanced nursing fields, but you can’t stand on a mentor’s advice in a court of law. Having evidence based practice resources is a necessity!

Some of my favorite resources for prescribing are stahl’s essentials of pharmacology and the DSM. As a new practitioner, I kept these books with me 24-7, even when I was traveling. When in doubt of a diagnosis, I list out the DSM characteristics and what symptoms align with the client’s presentation and I always do differential diagnoses and revisit the list during follow up visits.

Any advice for managing a team?

Being honest, open, and transparent. Every day won’t be filled with sunshine. Life happens and sometimes you and your employees will have outside issues that may affect you at work. Remember the patient and why you’re there. It’s easier to create a high morale in an office environment versus social media.

On social media…. BLOCK THOSE PEOPLE. Anyone who tries to disturb your peace or pull you out of character…. block them. Being a content creator is more difficult than being a nurse practitioner. I get days off as a healthcare worker, but being on social media is a daily thing where you have to show up constantly. I have grown to love that I can show ALL the parts of me- not just the pretty and aesthetically pleasing- to show the real me.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.iambeyondmedicine.com
• Instagram: @morgansandiego
• Other: Tik Tok: @morgansandiego

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