Melveena has taken pride in her service as a nurse for 28 years. She currently serves as the Medical Director of a dual diagnosis substance use disorder and mental health outpatient clinic. Early in her career she crafted her skills working in various hospitals in different positions as an acute care nurse. Later she became more specific and developed a love for wound care. After becoming a certified wound care specialist, she started multiple wound care programs with an emphasis on, educating large hospital organizations in the prevention of facility acquired skin break downs while healing clients with multiple wound etiologies. She began to observe that many of the clients could not focus on their wound care because their mental health care needs were not being addressed adequately.

 

Melveena began to coin the phrase “We must look at the whole client and not the hole in the client”. This led to her transition into Psychiatric nursing. Melveena began to treat clients in the mental health setting and learned best practices for psychopharmacology married with psychotherapy. Once she observed the client’s mental health improve, then the client could focus on their medical wellbeing. Melveena began to focus solely on treating clients with acute and chronic mental health concerns. She has mastered looking at the “whole” client, which is the entire client, and not the “hole” in the client. In doing this, lives have been transformed by her person-centered care and individuals’ quality of life has improved tremendously.

 

Melveena is a mother of 2 adult men and one school age little girl. She has been married to the love of her life for 26 years. When she is not serving the public, you will find her lying on the beach or on the gymnast circuit with her daughter.