At Sound, we’re privileged to host the careers of incredibly talented clinicians. In honor of Advanced Practice Provider (APP) Week, we want to highlight the clinical journey of one such individual whose unique clinical background paved the way to delivering exceptional care at Samaritan Hospital in Moses Lake, Washington, as an Envoy Nurse Practitioner (NP). Micaela Theisen, DNP, truly embodies the Sound spirit, and her career journey is a fantastic example of following wherever the call leads.
Theisen was inspired to become an APP after a study abroad trip. At the time, she was pursuing history and peace studies, and she explored South Africa and Uganda in her classes abroad.
“I ended up doing some shadowing under a few nurses while traveling out there and was exposed to the global health system for the first time. I met people with HIV and tuberculosis and saw how difficult it was for pregnant women and young children to access health care,” she said. “I was studying the historical context of these realities, how history and politics were intertwined with health disparities worldwide. Seeing it firsthand drove me to finish my degree in history and then go straight into a nursing program.”
Throughout her time in nursing school, Theisen knew she wanted to learn more, to be able to provide better and more complex care to those she encountered. After several years working as a nurse in the intensive care unit (ICU), she applied to NP school and moved to South America to continue learning about global health.
“I volunteered at a rural medical clinic in Bolivia for a while, but in 2010 the Haiti Earthquake happened. I was drawn there and, in the six months leading up to NP school, volunteered as a nurse at a very hectic hospital in Port-au-Prince,” Theisen said.
That experience was all the confirmation she needed—she knew she had chosen the right path. Throughout her DNP program, Theisen traveled back and forth to Haiti, even completing her capstone project on Hattian tuberculosis care.
Before beginning her role at Sound, Theisen had been running a trauma program in Iraq. Saying her new position would be a bit different than what she was used to would be an understatement.
“It was a huge transition for me,” Theisen remembers, “But the team at Sound has always been so incredibly supportive. I have worked with the absolute greatest leaders, medical directors, physicians, and APP colleagues that I could ever ask for. The team there has been with me through a lot, and I am forever thankful that I landed at a spot with such amazing humans.”
Theisen’s incredible background reveals so much about the care she provides and the strength she brings to her team. Her compassion, bravery, and expertise reflect the patient-centered mentality Sound brings to all its practices. We’re incredibly grateful to have APPs like Theisen on our Sound teams—we wouldn’t be where we are without them.