Dr. Deborah Medari is a board-certified psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner and Assistant Professor at the Anna Vaughn School of Nursing. With a heart for whole-person care, she brings 25 years of experience in mental health, ministry, and education to the classroom—combining evidence-based psychiatric science with a biblically grounded worldview. She teaches across the BSN curriculum with a special passion for mental health, community health, and spiritually led nursing practice. Before joining ORU, she served as faculty at Ozarks Technical Community College in Springfield, Missouri, where she taught psychiatric nursing in an LPN to RN bridge program and developed and implemented a mental health-focused stress reduction intervention for nursing students.
Dr. Medari holds a Doctor of Nursing Practice from Regis College, where she completed a doctoral practice project entitled A Stress Management Intervention to Promote Self-Efficacy in an Associate Degree Nursing Program. She also holds a master's degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from ORU and a master’s degree in nursing education from Western Governors University. She earned two bachelor’s degrees in nursing and psychology. She is certified as a Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner through the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners Certification Board. As founder of Transformed Psychiatric Wellness, LLC, she provides faith-integrated telepsychiatry to clients in Hawaii, Missouri and Florida—serving teens, adults, couples, families, and ministry leaders.
Dr. Medari is especially passionate about the mental health of nursing students and views emotional resilience as essential to answering the call of Christian nursing. She equips students not only with clinical knowledge but with the spiritual and emotional tools to thrive in a demanding field. Her approach reflects her belief that healing and wholeness begin when we care for the body, mind, and spirit—and that God is deeply present in every part of the process.
Dr. Medari is also the creator of the Renewed Mind Method, a Christ-centered coaching program designed to help individuals heal from emotional wounds, anxiety, and burnout by integrating biblical truth with neuroscience, neurotheology, and holistic mental health practices. This program reflects her passion for equipping others to renew their minds and reclaim their God-given peace.
Professional Memberships
- American Association of Nurse Practitioners
- American Association of Christian Counselors
- Sigma Theta Tau International
- American Nurses Association
- American Psychiatric Nurses Association