Kim Conley
- Board Certified Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP-BC)
- Former paramedic with 19 years of frontline EMS experience.
- Critical care background as an ER nurse, ICU nurse, Critical Care Transport Nurse, and Certified Flight Nurse.
- Certified Peer Counselor
- Daughter of a State Police and SWAT Officer
It Runs in the Family
I am the daughter of an Indiana State Police Officer and a former 19-year paramedic having worked in San Jose, California. While working, I completed school and became an RN, working in the ER, progressing into the ICU. I then became a Critical Care Transport Nurse and ultimately worked as a Certified Flight Nurse. While flying I completed my MSN Degree and became a PMHNP.
I started working with those who had been impacted by their work and their traumatic experiences in 1998 as a Certified Peer Counselor. I volunteered with a critical incident stress debriefing group (CISD). I have been volunteering with another local CISD team for the past 5 years.
Medical Experience
Now, as a Board Certified Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP-BC) I provide trauma-informed, culturally competent care to first responders — drawing on my clinical background and lived experience in the field.
A Provider That's Able to Relate
I had been a paramedic for 6 months when I responded as the first in unit to a major collision of a small pick-up with four young occupants who were t-boned by a drunk driver in an elevated pickup truck. Three of the four occupants were killed and I was introduced to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. I used the Employee Assistance Program and was introduced to a therapist who was "trained in trauma". This therapist asked me to talk to the teddy bear that was in the chair, as if it were one of the deceased teenagers. I felt insulted and outraged. This experience, while well-intentioned by the therapist, was the impetus for my efforts to help others who found themselves in situations similar to my own.