Meet Our Team

Dr. Christy Bruno, DNP, PMHNP-BC

Christy Bruno is a Board-Certified Doctor of Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner. 


Prior to becoming a Nurse Practitioner, she worked as a registered nurse for Le Bonheur Methodist Hospital in the pediatric cardiovascular intensive care unit and St Francis in orthopedic and oncology unit.  She served in our military and cared for our veterans at the Memphis Veterans Affairs Medical Center in the palliative care unit.  Christy currently serves as an inactive officer in the United States Army Reserves.


Christy Bruno has gained invaluable clinical experience while working with psychiatrists in various clinical environments, for both inpatient and outpatient services:  Veterans Medical Center, St. Francis, Vogelfanger & Struble, In Focus Psychiatry, Baddour Center, Parkwood, and Cordova Psychiatric Associates.  


Education:

University of Memphis - Bachelor of Arts

Union University - Bachelor of Science in Nursing

University of Tennessee Health Science Center - Doctorate of Nurse Practice - specialization in Psychiatric Mental Health​

Dr. Katelyn Conner, DNP, PMHNP-BC

Katelyn Conner is a Board-Certified Doctor of Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner. 

She has experience working as an psychiatric Registered Nurse at Parkwood Behavioral Health System.  She obtained her doctorate of nursing practice degree and has worked in both inpatient and outpatient psychiatric settings.  


Education:

Baptist College of Health Sciences - Bachelor of Science in Nursing

University of Tennessee Health Science Center - Doctorate of Nurse Practice - specialization in Psychiatric Mental Health​


Ross Tapley, APRN, PMHNP-BC

Ross Tapley is a Board-Certified Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner. 

Born and raised in Memphis, Ross graduated from the University of Tennessee Knoxville earning a degree in communication studies. After realizing his passion for helping others he decided to go back to school, earning his Bachelor of Science in nursing, working for several years as an emergency room nurse. He then followed his passion to focus on mental health and became a board certified psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner. His passion for helping others and his commitment to providing the best possible care makes him a vital resource to his patients. 


Education:

The University of Tennessee Knoxville, Bachelor of Art Communication Studies

University of Memphis, Bachelor of Science in Nursing

Walden University, Master of Science in Nursing - specializing in Psychiatric Mental Health 


In accordance with the Tennessee Board of Nursing requirement, our providers maintain a collaborative agreement with a board-certified psychiatrist licensed to practice in Tennessee.​

Roles of Practice Office Team

For optimal results and quick turn around response time, please ensure to download Spruce Health App. Within the HIPAA secured Spruce Health application, members of the office team are ready to help you navigate through patient documentation, secure appointment times, check insurance eligibility, and notification of an upcoming appointment.  Additionally, the day before your appointment, a team member will send you a secured link via sms (not spruce) to collect payment.  As mentioned previously, this is an automated practice, and no forms of payment are collected on site.  Hence, why it is so important to reach out to a team member!  The team is dedicated to help you through the learning curve and to the best of their ability will always help assist and advocate your medical needs.  If anything is above the scope of a team member, the question or medication request will be forwarded to your provider. 

 


Secure HIPAA Communication (Preferred)

*simple to use for fast and easy communication

https://spruce.care/core_psychiatry


We are a HIPAA compliant office, that is modern and environmentally focused on a paperless practice.




From Dr. Bruno:

I want to extend a huge thank you for joining me with my practice. Thank you to everyone who saw the vision of automation and understand the practice model.  I would like to give a disclaimer and hope this provides clarity to how our practice operates. The Spruce Health App does allow you as a patient to hear back from me through my team.  Please know that I must have a support team around me and protocols followed.  Please utilize the team first because I am with patients all day and will NOT open spruce during the day.  When I’m with a patient, I truly want to engage with my patient and formulate the best treatment plan. No one would benefit effectively if I was “multi-tasking”. 

 

Additionally, spruce is NOT texting; however, is often viewed as “texting”.  The problem with viewing spruce as “texting”-- the inflection in our voice and/or tone does not display adequately and can unfortunately put words with a “negative spin”.  Please know, I love my team and would not have a practice without their help.  They are simply doing what I ask of them and we want to provide the best experience for you with our practice.

 

My practice will always be in compliance with the TN Board of Health and DEA mandates.  I request that you work with my team and please do not try and go around them.  Additionally, if something is not clear via spruce, please just ask the team member to call you or you simply call the office for clarification.  The team and I are here and want the very best for you!!