Deborah S. Johnson DNP, PMHNP-BC, FAANP
Dr. Deborah Johnson is a family psychiatric nurse practitioner (PMHNP) with expertise in child, adolescent, and family mental health. She is a Health Sciences Clinical Professor at University of California San Francisco, where she has taught family and child/adolescent psychotherapy, psychopharmacology, effective communication, health policy, evidence based project planning, and clinical residency courses. As a professor, her leadership and teaching has ranged from Masters Entry Program in Nursing (MEPN) to MS, DNP, and postgraduate PMHNP programs. In the MS and postmasters PMHNP programs, she has directed a state-funded workforce development project for nearly ten years, aimed at increasing PMHNP practice in public mental health. Prior to the DNP program at UCSF, Dr. Johnson served on the DNP Faculty Council and chaired the committee when the program launched (2016-2020). Most recently, she has been instrumental in leading the development and implementation of a UC Multicampus Postgraduate PMHNP Program, where she directs the strategic development of clinical training partnerships.
Dr. Johnson's expertise in rural health and workforce development has led to scholarly inquiry and clinical guideline development of teleprecepting as a strategy for training NPs and expanding access to specialized training in underserved regions. Dr. Johnson has served as a national leader in the development and implementation of teleprecepting, speaking and consulting on best practices related to telehealth in clinical training for universities, professional organizations, and task forces, including Mental Health Technology Transfer Center Network (MHTTC) Advisory Board, National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculty (NONPF), American Psychiatric Nurses Association (APNA), and HRSA ANEW Telehealth Toolkit Workgroup.
Leadership positions include serving as president of International Society of Psychiatric Nurses (2019-2022) and American Psychiatric Nurses Association California Chapter (2012-2015), with continuing contributions to these organizations, as well as California Association of Nurse Practitioners and AANP. Among multiple awards, Dr. Johnson was the recipient of the Ann Wilkinson Nurse Psychotherapist Award (APNA, 2016) and UCSF Excellence in Clinical Mentoring Award (2019).