ANA Healthy Nurse, Healthy Nation® Spotlight: Fernando Mena-Carrasco, MSN, MSW, RN
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Nurse’s desire to make an impact pushes him to find balance
When people look at #healthynurse Fernando Mena-Carrasco, MSN, MSW, RN, they may think that he has always had it all together. As a doctoral student, teacher, and public health advocate, he’s doing work with a visible impact and seems to have never-ending energy. But it doesn’t mean balance comes easily.“It was a long journey to get where I am now, and I wasn’t always this way,” says Fernando, who was born in Iowa City, Iowa, raised in Viña del Mar, Chile, and subsequently returned to the United States after high school. “I’ve made a lot of mistakes and overcome challenges, and my journey is far from over. But I’m happy with the direction I’m heading.”
Pursuing a Passion for Public Health
Fernando began his career in social work. But he set his sights on a career change when he realized the impact he could have as a nurse.
“Nurses are a few steps upstream from social workers, in terms of decision making, because they speak the language of doctors and other clinicians,” Fernando says. “I believed they could alter people’s lives in a way I couldn’t as a social worker.”
As a nurse, Fernando enjoyed working with Latino immigrants and anyone who needed a safety net. After seeing firsthand how challenges in care translate to poor outcomes, he made the jump to policy work.
Fernando worked for the Maryland Department of Health, directing public programs funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). The strong communication skills he developed as a nurse and social worker helped him build alliances in his public policy work.
“As nurses, we don’t think of coalition building as something we do on the floor,” Fernando says. “But when we partner with the physician team or nurse practitioners, that’s exactly what we do. We build trust and realize that we have a shared agenda.”
After turning his career focus to mental health, Fernando also found a shared agenda and unwavering support through the ANA Minority Fellowship Program (MFP). His current doctoral research focuses on how food stamps affect depression, anxiety, and suicidality using a cohort study with 3000 participants.
“As a PhD student, the MFP stipend enables me to stay focused on my work,” Fernando says. “The program is a huge source of support and a community of like-minded professionals living out their convictions.”
Prioritizing Personal Health to Achieve Life Goals
Fernando loves his work in public health. But he wasn’t sure it was sustainable unless he made changes to his physical and mental health.
“I was not in a healthy spot,” Fernando says. “I was going through a divorce, beginning my PhD program, and patching my self-care together to make it work. I ate whatever I could get my hands on, slept horribly, didn’t exercise, and worked too hard. It was no wonder my body wasn’t feeling great.”
As he’d done many times before, Fernando drew upon the influence of his parents, who balance a strong work ethic with gratitude and excitement for life. It took him some time, but he figured out three things that work for him:
- Focusing on physical health
“Having a steady source of energy affects my day-to-day, hour-by-hour ability to function,” he says. “Being hungry takes a toll on your body and mind.”
On the weekend, he preps and cooks his meals for each week, which contain mainly fruits and vegetables. He also knows it’s a privilege to have access to healthy food.
Fernando also committed to performing simple core exercises and toning once a week. Eventually, he added more days. In the past 2 years, he’s lost more than 80 pounds.
“My parents have a high burden of chronic disease and dementia, which was a strong motivator,” Fernando says. “For the first time in 15 years, I feel healthy and have a handle on my BMI, blood pressure, and blood glucose levels.”
- Making use of mental health resources
He relies on counseling and anti-anxiety medications to support his mental well-being. What started as his “divorce therapy” became his “life therapy.”
“Caring for your mental wellness isn’t just for major life events,” Fernando says. “It’s something we can address proactively and throughout life.”
- Setting boundaries
Professionally, he learned to say, “no.” He recently declined a second term as president of the Johns Hopkins Nurses Alumni Board. In his personal life, he’s finding ways to prioritize friendships that bring positive energy into his life.
“I’ve learned to reach for, and lean on, the rich relationships with people that bring me joy and challenge me,” Fernando says.
A New Outlook on Work and Life
Fernando didn’t realize that the impact his choices had on his own life could be just as rewarding as the impact they had on others. Now, he knows they go hand in hand.
“I find great joy and pride in the work I do,” Fernando says. “But taking care of myself so I can have a bigger impact on others is how I found internal peace.”
Fernando Mena-Carrasco, MSN, MSW, RN, is a PhD student at Johns Hopkins School of Nursing, a doctoral fellow with the ANA Minority Fellowship Program (MFP), and a clinical instructor for pre-licensure master’s students.
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Blog #healthynurse Spotlight
08/28/2025 3:29pm CDT
The #healthynurse Spotlight is a shout out to nurses who are making changes in their lives to improve their health and wellness. You can too! Read their stories for inspiration here.
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