DNP, BSN, RN , Doctoral (Alumni)
Keith Carter, DNP, BSN, RN, is pursued a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree with a focus on Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) specialty at Rush University College of Nursing, in Chicago, IL. He graduated in August 2022. His DNP scholarly clinical project was to implement a violence risk assessment tool on a community hospital psychiatric unit on Chicago’s South Side.
Mr. Carter graduated from Illinois Wesleyan University in 2017, becoming the first African American male recipient of the Caroline F. Rupert Nursing Award, which honors outstanding work during the four years of undergraduate study in nursing and is awarded to one student as determined by university faculty. He began his career at Rush University Medical Center, working as a child psychiatric RN where he provided individualized care to children with emotional and behavioral disorders, autism spectrum disorder, and learning disabilities. Transitioning roles within Rush, he began to work as a community health RN, providing outreach services for clients with psychiatric illness and medical comorbidities.
His passion for addressing mental illness, specifically within the African American community is profound. He works actively to further understand the African American experience with mental illness and to help guide future clinical implications to increase culturally sensitive care. This has led to his long-term goal to eradicate health disparities and stigma associated with mental illness in the African American community. Moreover, Mr. Carter strives to understand the complexity of working with traumatized youth in the community. His research aims to better support and educate providers who work with these children.
Mr. Carter’s professional affiliations include the American Nurses Association (ANA) and the Midwest Nursing Research Society (MNR). He is excited and grateful to have the opportunity to be a part of the SAMHSA MFP at the American Nurses Association.