Illouise Murillo Tucker
DNP, RN, NPP.
Dr. Illouise Murillo-Tucker was born in Belize City, Belize. She completed her basic training as a registered nurse at the University Hospital of the West Indies, Jamaica in 1980 before migrating to the United States that same year. She obtained her bachelor’s degree from St. Joseph University in 1985 and her Master’s from Columbia University in 1997 while successfully completing the requirements for licensure as a psychiatric nurse practitioner. She is a 2008 Fellow of the Leadership Institute for Black Nurses at New York University School of Nursing. Illouise earned her doctorate in Nursing Practice with a focus on leadership in 2015 from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.
She has been a member of the Caribbean American Nurses’ Association, Inc. (CANA) since 1987 and is the current parliamentarian. She is committed to the population she has served, that is, the marginalized and disenfranchised mental health population. She advocates for them at every opportunity presented especially within the Caribbean community with an emphasis on non-judgmental care and expeditious referrals for care of identified individuals as needed. She is an immediate past board member of APC Community Services, Inc. and has participated in promoting awareness of all things Caribbean including our commonalities as well as our unique differences. She is a member of Sigma Theta Tau, Inc.
As a past member of The Program in Global Mental Health of Mount Sinai Medical Center, NY, she has participated in Collaboration with the Belize Mental Health Program. In this program, she implemented a Quality Assurance Program in conjunction with the Belize psychiatric nurse practitioners. She has also done research through the auspices of The Belize Ministry of Health on the psychiatric patient’s perspective of trust in the Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner with a finding of a high level of trust. Dr. Murillo-Tucker has participated in several other research projects resulting in publications and contributions to nursing scholarship. She is the recipient of several awards including Caribbean Nursing Organization Nurse of the Year (NY) 2006; CANA, Inc. Black Nurses Award and Caribbean American Health Care Award to name a few.
Dr. Murillo-Tucker has held several faculty and leadership positions and recently retired as the Director of Nursing for the Behavioral Health Department at NY Health +Hospital/Woodhull Medical and Mental Health hospital.
Illouise is the wife of Charles Tucker and the proud mother of Camille Melissa Tucker and Omar Charles Tucker. She is an active member of Vanderveer Park United Methodist Church and gives all thanks and praises to God who orders her steps and has shown her the true meaning of living a life blessed with Grace and Mercy.