Celebrating the Graduating Class of 2024: Martha Plack

The University of San Diego would like to congratulate all of our wonderful students who are graduating this year. We will be spotlighting students from across campus, sharing their educational journeys leading up to graduation.

Martha Plack is graduating from the Hahn School of Nursing and Health Science with a Doctor of Nursing Practice specializing in Psychiatric Mental Health.

Since becoming a nurse, Plack has always been interested in human connection, and the interactive side of the profession.

That interest led to a focus on mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. Plack was just starting as a travel nurse at the time, and became well aware of how the pandemic was affecting other people’s mental health, as well as hers. She found refuge in a number of activities, including art and yoga.

“We need to work on our mental health in the same way we work on our physical health,” she said. “I think, looking back, there’s always been this thread of mental health and well being (for me). And I think a lot of what interests me is teaching younger generations about that.”

Plack got certified as a yoga instructor, and, while going through the DNP program at USD, found that she could incorporate her interest in yoga into her work. Plack teaches yoga at Jackson House Addiction Treatment and Recovery Center, where she works as a nurse. She loves the feedback she gets from patients. She says her program at USD helped her understand how to take a holistic approach to her work, and come up with creative ways to engage with patients.