Joanie Burns DNP, APRN, PMHNP-BC

Dr. Joan Burns received her doctorate degree as a Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner, a nurse practitioner who has chosen to specialize in psychiatry, from the Medical University of South Carolina in 2019. She is trained to provide care to patients of all ages with a wide range of mental health concerns, specializing in mood disorders such as depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder, as well as psychotic, neurocognitive and neurodevelopmental disorders, ADHD, and OCD. Additionally, she provides prenatal, perinatal, and postpartum psychiatric care. She offers clozapine and long-acting injections to patients with psychotic disorders.

Trained in psychopharmacology and psychotherapy, Dr. Burns has developed a niche with clients and their caregivers who seek psychiatric care for thought or mood disorders in conjunction with an intellectual disability or neurodevelopmental disorder. Of all the things she does as a PMHNP, she finds this especially rewarding.  

Certified to prescribe medication for areas such as anxiety, sleep, ADHD and more, she is intentional about taking a holistic approach to care, considering nutrition, physical activity, and sleep into her collaborative, patient-centered care plans. 

Notably, she has presented for the APNA Clinical Psychopharmacology Institute and the SCNA Psychiatric Mental Health Symposium on the nuances of providing telemental health services. She currently serves as a member of the APNA’s Telemental Health Task Force, a committee created to compile evidence-based guidelines and tools for implementing and sustaining standardized telemental healthcare. 

During her time as a student at MUSC, she was awarded two grants, the Blue Cross Blue Shield of South Carolina Foundation Grant, and the Behavioral Health Workforce Education & Training Program Grant.

In her free time, she enjoys reading, gardening, kettlebell training, and spending time with her family.

Listen and read about her “5 Factors and Domains of Psychiatric Care”: here