As an undergraduate student at the University of Delaware’s School of Nursing in the nineties, Kristen Thorogood Bomboy found her calling in her final clinical rotation at the Delaware Psychiatric Center (DPC).

“It was fantastic. We talked to patients and helped them with their individual rehabilitation. As nursing students, we’d teach them how to sort and fold their laundry, basic hygiene and provide medication education services,” Bomboy said. “It just felt like this was the area I could make the most difference in and help people with their mental health struggles.”

The Delaware native recalled a poignant moment one week in to her clinical rotation, where she asked a patient her thoughts on living at the psychiatric center.

“She’d been here for at least 20 years, and she looked at me and said, ‘Well, I don’t live here.’” She was there for treatment,” Bomboy said. “It made me realize that their perceptions and my perceptions were different. It was that aha moment that we need to change the lens in which we view things and change the conversation to be more positive.”

It was that empathetic and compassionate mindset that, in part, led to Bomboy being one of eight psychiatric-mental health nurses recently recognized by the American Psychiatric Nurses Association. The award, presented in October at the APNA 36th Annual Conference in Long Beach, Californiam celebrates psychiatric-mental health nurses who excel in and expand upon the profession.

“I was shocked. To me, it doesn’t feel like I’m doing anything different than any other nurse practitioner would do,” she said.

But Bomboy’s work is extraordinary. The UD Class of 1998 graduate has dedicated her life to helping curb a crippling shortage of mental health providers and caregivers as a psychiatric nurse practitioner in Oklahoma at Lighthouse Behavioral Wellness Centers, where she’s worked for 14 years.

“A lot of our communities don’t have any psychiatrists. But at Lighthouse, we have case managers and peer recovery specialists, who go out into the community,” Bomboy explained. “We have outreach with the police so they know we’re available, and we have an iPad crisis system, so all the local police departments can directly connect with our crisis unit. This decreases the instances in which a person ends up being handcuffed, which has improved our outcomes dramatically.”

Bomboy obtained her master’s at the University of Pennsylvania through a tuition break offered in exchange for continued work at DPC. She then obtained her doctorate in nursing practice from Wilmington University. As part of her studies, Bomboy created and implemented a metabolic monitoring program at Lighthouse that identifies people at risk for diabetes and heart disease. She published an article on the program in the Journal of American Psychiatric Nurses along with Jennifer Graber, associate dean of academic affairs and practice initiatives for UD’s School of Nursing, on the program. Graber and Bomboy attended UD’s School of Nursing together and got their master’s together at Penn.

“Having known Kristen for more than 25 years, I can’t think of anyone who is more deserving of this award,” Graber said. “When she moved back to Oklahoma, she paved the way forward for advanced practice psychiatric mental health nurses in the area. She was instrumental in getting advanced practice psychiatric mental health nurses the authority to practice in her state so they could serve the seriously mental ill in the area.”

Bomboy adds Lighthouse will soon be expanding to provide mental health service to tribal units in southeastern Oklahoma and to college students at Murray State University.

Bomboy’s co-worker Dr. Cene’ Livingston, associate professor of nursing at Oklahoma City University, nominated her for the APNA award.

“Community behavioral health can be very demanding, particularly given the high rate of mental health disorders in Oklahoma. Her calming presence and excellent communication skills are true assets and very helpful to the populations she serves,” Livingston said.

Bomboy also currently teaches at Oklahoma City University, where she and Livingston founded the state’s first Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner’s program, establishing all of the curriculum and clinical rotations; the first cohort of students graduated from the program this past summer.

“It’s been a labor of love for the past two-and-a-half years,” she said. “It’s amazing. I love being involved in the community in educating the psychiatric nurse practitioners that we’re going to have in our community, and I enjoy being a mentor for students.”

Livingston credits Bomboy with establishing that program.

“We could not have developed the first Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner program in Oklahoma without her,” Livingston said. “It has been a true pleasure having her on our team.”

Bomboy also works closely with a legislative group, where she’s advocating for nurse practitioners to be able to independently practice. Current Oklahoma law requires nurse practitioners to obtain a costly collaborative agreement with a physician, which create a barrier.  

“We have nurse practitioners who can’t practice in the community because they either can’t find a physician or can’t afford the fees,” Bomboy said. “We’re showing lawmakers evidence that shows nurse practitioner practice is safe, and, if legislation is passed, we’d be able to provide more practitioners in rural areas and improve healthcare outcomes on Oklahoma.”

But without mentors like former UD professors Tom Hardy and Cynthia Diefenbeck and her education at UD’s College of Health Sciences, none of this work would be possible.

“It was a such a transformative experience. The friendships that I made at UD; I still have,” Bomboy said. “It was a wonderful experience, and I would not be where I am today without the University of Delaware and their encouragement.”