In May, when Peace Roseau graduates from MUSC College of Nursing as a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner, she will continue her lifelong commitment to heal and serve others, especially youths who live in rural areas where access to mental health providers is limited and far from equitable.
Roseau’s senior year became even brighter when she learned that she was an honored recipient of a $12,500 Behavioral Health Workforce Education in Training: Children and Adolescents and Young Adults grant.
Roseau’s grant is a small slice of a $1.2 million Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) grant to MUSC College of Nursing — a grant to increase innovative academic-practice partnerships to prepare psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner students to care for children, adolescents and young adults, according to Dr. Joy Lauerer, DNP, APRN, PMHCNS-BC, who co-wrote the grant with Dr. Hannah Robidoux, DNP, APRN, PMHNP-BC.
“The money offers another level of comfort for me,” said Roseau, a Nigerian whose parents immigrated to the United States in the late ‘80s, early ‘90s. “As with any program, expenses are not cheap. I can finish strong now. I’ve used the money to offset the cost of tuition and books. I also got a new laptop, which has really helped with clinicals.”
To date, 11 students, part time and full time, have received stipends from the HRSA grant, which the College of Nursing received in September of 2023.
The path that Roseau has taken to become a psychiatric mental health nurse has been filled with impressive experiences that offered what she describes as a “glimpse of everything.”
She experienced health care from the perspective of nurses, technicians and providers. She interviewed patients and heard recovery stories, as well as triumphs over trauma.
“It was, and still is, very humbling,” said Roseau.
When she started nursing school at MUSC College of Nursing, Roseau imagined following her mother, Esther Ajukwa’s, footsteps in general medicine. But one day during a psychiatric clinical, Roseau experienced her “a-ha!” moment. It was a moment that tapped her heart and her sense of logic, she explained.
“I remember shadowing a nurse practitioner who was with a patient,” Roseau said. “When the other nursing students and I huddle for discussion, the first thing I said was, ‘I want to be a psych nurse. This is what I want to do with my life.’”
For four years, she has worked on an acute inpatient youth psychiatric unit — a unit specializing in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. She helps patients between the ages of five and 17, and she is trained in child and adolescent psycho pharmacology, psychotherapy techniques, and de-escalation.
Roseau recalled one situation that solidified that she is where she needs to be.
“We had a child here for eight months who struggled to navigate some horrible situations. He was tough to care for, which was completely understandable given the uncertainties in his life,” Roseau explained. “We made strides and then we would pull back as he made strides and then regressed. We were his family.”
Eventually, Roseau and the health care team learned that the child would be moving in with a loving aunt and uncle.
“He became so anxious about leaving us; his face was red for hours,” Roseau added. “But now we get positive updates regularly. He is ahead of his class academically and his social skills did a 180. With the help of others, he used the tools that he learned here.”
Roseau’s pride about the MUSC training, experiences and opportunities is immense.
“Our professors and clinical instructors were all nurses at some point; they understand the importance of a holistic approach to nursing,” Roseau said. “They can relate to us and teach us using their nursing experiences and they have an open-door policy.”
Roseau’s commitment to heal and her passion to serve others is equally firm.
“I chose to go back to school to become a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner because of the rise in mental health crises in the United States, specifically in disadvantaged populations,” she said. “Now I know that I can continue to help those disadvantaged from access to proper mental health care.”
By Lisa Moody Breslin
