Santa Maria Health / Mental Health Services
Maricela Perez, MSN, APN, CNP
Board Certified by the American Nurses Credentialing Center
Education: Master of Science in Nursing received from Northern Illinois University, Dekalb, IL 2005
Languages Spoken (Fluent): English, Spanish
Areas of Interest/Expertise: Mental Health, Wellness, Nutrition, Fitness and Chronic Illness. Practice Philosophy: Patient centered care in a professional and compassionate nature, with emphasis in balance of mind, body, and spirit. Maricela is a family nurse practitioner with 30 years nursing experience. Since becoming a nurse practitioner in 2005, she has worked in outpatient, providing primary care to children, adults, and geriatric patients. Realizing that most health breakdown is related to lifestyle choices and unresolved emotional issues, she has included emotional and mental assessments as part of her plan of care for her patients. Her passion for listening and being present to her patients has allowed her a trusting relationship with them. The many patient stories she has been privileged to hear have helped her weave an understanding of the human soul. They are people with their own individual story. With extreme gratitude and excitement, Maricela takes this next challenge of her profession, and embarks in an independent mental health nurse practitioner practice, Santa Maria Health. In collaboration with Dr. Muhummad Azhar, a child and adult psychiatrist, Maricela will be providing child and adult psychiatric evaluations along with the prescribing and monitoring of psychiatric medication for the most common mental dissorders.
