Billy Morales
- Position: MSN Program Director and Assistant Professor of Clinical Practice
- Department: School of Nursing
- Office Location: Building 41 | Room 220
- bmorales@uwf.edu
- Campus: 850.473.7756
Biography
Billy F. Morales, DNP, APRN, FNP-C, Graduate Program Director and Assistant Professor, teaches in the online Master’s of Science in Nursing (MSN) program. The MSN program provides learning opportunities for registered nurses to build upon baccalaureate nursing education, experiential professional knowledge, and attitudes and skills aimed at contributing to the health care needs of the population. Dr. Morales teaches Advanced Pharmacology, Advanced Pathophysiology, Population Health Promotion and Management and practicum courses in the Family Nurse Practitioner curriculum.
Dr. Morales is a family nurse practitioner and nurse educator with over 13 years of clinical experience in clinical sites ranging from rural health, emergency department, and urgent care. He is Hispanic and fluent in both English and Spanish. His area of focus involves the promotion of health behavior change through the application of effective provider methodologies and communication skills that are evidenced-based, individualized, and patient-centered.
Prior to coming to UWF Dr. Morales lived and practiced in a rural Louisiana community where he advocated for healthcare services focusing on improving patient outcomes. He has been an American Cancer Society board member in addition to a quality assessment performance improvement consultant where he collaborated to help reduce health disparities within underserved communities.
His quality improvement project involved identifying root causes for a lack of patient adherence to colorectal cancer screening despite national guidelines and expected health care provider recommendations. He has presented multiple times at state level nurse practitioner conferences on topics ranging from bridging communication gaps, improving colorectal cancer screening rates, and the use of motivational interviewing to enhance patient self-efficacy.
Dr. Morales’ journey in healthcare began as a 91B combat medic while serving in the United States Army. During his time in service he was deployed to Bosnia-Herzegovina and participated in multiple state side training exercises as primary medic for a large combat engineer company. He received the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Armed Forces Commendation Medal for exemplary service, Good Conduct Medal, and was honorably discharged with the rank of Sergeant. He believes his mission and purpose in his multiple roles in life are to make a difference in at least one person’s life every day. His day always starts with a prayer and his moto of…..“It’s a great day to be in health care and make a difference in people’s lives”!
He received his Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing, Master’s of Science in Nursing- Family Nurse Practitioner, and Doctor of Nursing Practice degrees from Northwestern State University of Louisiana.
