Lauren A Ucles, APN

Lauren Ucles, MSN, APN, PMHNP-BC, brings a wide range of experience to her new position with AtlantiCare Behavioral Health. She has been part of the AtlantiCare family since 2019. She has worked with stroke patients, in emergency care and in psychiatric care. She has also worked in home healthcare, long-term care and at a correctional center.

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All that experience had a common thread; the mental health component. “Mental health is part of everything,” Lauren says. “There is always a need. When there’s a lack of services, people struggle, in any setting – the hospital, nursing home, even the jail,” she says. That realization inspired her to focus on psychiatric health when she went back to school to become a nurse practitioner.

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Lauren is board-certified by the American Nurses Credentialing Center. She earned her master's at Rowan University, Glassboro, N.J. She also holds a bachelor's in nursing from Western Governors University, Salt Lake City, Utah and an associate's in nursing from Salem Community College, Carneys Point, N.J. She started her nursing training in the licensed practical nurse program of Cape May County Technical School, Cape May Court House, N.J.

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At AtlantiCare, she works with adults recovering from substance use and with other psychiatric issues. She also helps manage mental health emergencies.

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“We treat the whole individual, not just their symptoms. My goal is to create a safe place, a judgement-free zone where my patients feel heard and empowered. Listening to them is so important. I care for my patients as I would my own family,” she says.

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She says her AtlantiCare colleagues share that philosophy. “AtlantiCare has been a great experience. We work as a team. Management supports us. And everybody who works here is focused on patient outcomes,” she says.

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