Today we’d like to introduce you to Holly Lewis.
Hi Holly, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’ve been a nurse since I turned 21, in 1998. I’ve worked in nursing homes, home health care, and several hospital units. Most of my clinical background is in the intensive care unit, I was a clinical educator at Providence Hospital (now MUSC) for about 2 years, then took a position as clinical manager on a surgical telemetry unit. From there, I became the Director of Surgical Services and led general surgery and adjacent departments.
While in the directorship, I developed an interest in psychiatric care, and began my Master’s program to become a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner. I have had the honor of working in psychiatry as a nurse practitioner since 2018.
I love interacting with patients each day! I’m so grateful for the opportunity to serve as a nurse over the years leading up to my current role.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Some of my biggest obstacles involved making time to care for my own life and family while taking care of others. One exciting challenge was having my own children in high school, middle school, and elementary school while working full time and going to school full time to become a nurse practitioner.
Another challenge was faced more recently, as I was a full-time nurse practitioner, a newly single parent, a doctoral student, and discovered I had breast cancer. Staying engaged with patients and having consistent work responsibilities to attend to was so helpful as I went through treatment.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I work as a psychiatric nurse practitioner at Future Psych Solutions. I have been here for eight years, and I see patients from age 5 all the way through senior adulthood. I treat a range of mental health conditions, and see a lot of cases of depression and anxiety. I think our entire practice is known for caring for patients with treatment-resistant depression.
I’d love to think that my patients sense that I genuinely care about them. Depression is such a painful, debilitating condition, and the people who suffer with it often feel unseen; they feel like their pain is invisible and they’re alone. I want my patients to know I’m on their team. I’ve been shown such grace and love in my life, and I want to pass that forward and offer hope to others.
So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
Hope. No matter how frightening, how dark, how lonely, and how overwhelming things may feel, your story is still being written. The story does not end here.
I want people to understand how much light and value they bring to the world, simply because they are reflections of God. I want each patient I treat to understand that there is hope, and their life has meaning and brings meaning.
