Vangie Luriz, PMHNP
Vangie is a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) who manages care for patients with different psychiatric disorders with a focus on mood disorders: major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder; anxiety disorder, PTSD, and ADHD. Telehealth services available.
More about Vangie Luriz
Growing up in the Philippines, Vangie witnessed a lack of mental health care. She had a cousin who developed substance-induced psychosis and, because of strong stigma toward people with mental illness, he never got the help he needed. This experience made her wonder how the brain works, and she became curious about why and how some people have mental illness. After immigrating to the US, she eventually embarked on her nursing journey and found herself most excited when working at the mental health clinical sites. To her, it is very rewarding to see an acute mentally ill patient improve with a promise of a better life.
Vangie believes in a holistic approach in taking care of the patients and the importance of establishing a therapeutic relationship. She provides care with empathy and compassion in an accommodating environment to foster open communication between herself and her patients. Her approach is evidence-based and client-centered while offering emotional support to the patients and their families, respecting their culture, values, beliefs, and incorporating their strengths and weaknesses to promote adherence to treatment plan and facilitate the achievement of the treatment goals.
Because she has seen how much people with depression suffer, having the FDA-approved Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) and Esketamine nasal spray advanced treatment options available to help those with treatment-resistant depression is very promising to Vangie. She believes these non-invasive, evidence-based treatments combined with medication management and therapy offer an effective relief from depression and life-changing results with few side effects.
Personal Interests
Vangie has lived in Los Angeles / Orange County area for almost thirty years and likes the diversity of the state, the climate, and its friendly people. Most importantly, California is where her family is, and to her, nothing beats having all that California has to offer with your family by your side. Outside of work, she likes to garden, and enjoys seeing her garden blooming with flowers, fruits, and veggies. She has a passion for cooking, whether to experiment on trying new recipes or just tweaking and perfecting an existing one. She loves to travel, explore new places and appreciate the beauty in every place she visits.
Education & Experience
Migrating to the US, she came armed with a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Computer Science and used this education in her early years.
Eventually, Vangie wanted to explore more rewarding work. She pursued and completed her Vocational Nursing program at the North Orange County Regional Occupational Program, in Anaheim, CA. She worked as a licensed vocational nurse for a couple of years in a psychiatric / mental health setting and decided to grow further in her career.
Vangie then graduated from Golden West College in Huntington Beach, CA, with her Associate Degree in Nursing. Following graduation, she served as a Psychiatric Registered Nurse at Silverlake Medical Center in Los Angeles, CA where she worked with mentally ill adult population providing direct care to meet their social and emotional needs, administering scheduled medication, evaluating patient progress, monitoring patient’s behavior, and reporting to physicians for any changes or further patient needs. She
also worked as an RN Supervisor at the Terrace View Care Center in Fullerton, CA, where she performed assessments of the patients’ mental and physical status, provided direct patient care with emphasis on meeting both physical and emotional needs of residents. Additionally, she worked at Coventry Court Health Center in Anaheim, CA, a skilled nursing facility, where she provided direct care to patients as well as a myriad of other duties and responsibilities.
She continued her education and was awarded her Bachelor of Science from Western Governor’s University in Salt Lake City, UT. She found her niche in psychiatry and decided to focus her full attention in that field where she worked as a staff nurse and eventually as a charge nurse in different behavioral health units of Anaheim Global Medical Center in Anaheim, CA, an inpatient psychiatric hospital. Alongside with that, she also joined Kaiser Permanente Orange County Outpatient behavioral services team where, as an RN, she supported and worked with psychiatrists in different clinic locations where she saw pediatric, adolescent, adult, and geriatric patient population.
Realizing the shortage of clinicians and with her desire to do more, she continued to further her education and achieve an advanced practice nursing in Psychiatry. She went to Azusa Pacific University in Azusa, CA and earned her Master of Science degree in Psychiatric Mental Health Nursing.
Certifications & Memberships
- Member, American Psychiatric Nurses Association
- Member, American Association of Nurse Practitioners
- Member, American Nurses Association
- Member, Lanterman-Petris-Short Act (LPS)