Anyone who's completed an addiction treatment program knows the vital role that nurses play in helping people recover from mental illness. RNs are often the first faces seen by clients in rehabs across the country; the kind and supportive words of nurses shared with patients are usually the ones that are remembered years later. In the eloquent words of Stephen Ambrose, “It would not be possible to praise nurses too highly.”
Through selflessly caring for patients and clients, nurses are an empowering force in the field of addiction medicine. Many people at the beginning stage of recovery have only ever known ridicule, judgment, and stigma; it is not uncommon for people to go to treatment and think that they will be viewed as failures by clinicians. Such people discover quickly that they are surrounded by individuals advocating for their success. In many ways, compassion is what people struggling with drugs and alcohol need the most; when people receive kindness, they are more likely to be kind to them self.
Honoring Our Dedicated Team of Nurses
Clients of Hope by the Sea benefit from our caring and compassionate nurses. Our center benefits immensely from being headed by two people with extensive experience in the field of nursing.

Loma Linda University School of Nursing and worked for several years at Loma Linda University Medical Center on the Neurosurgery, Neurology and Rehabilitation Units. Penny’s daughter and the Chief Operating Officer at Hope by the Sea, Candy Carlsen, RN, has worked for years in the field of nursing. Candy was previously employed by the UCLA Medical Center in the neuro/surgical trauma ICU and also at Hoag Memorial in the cardiac ICU.
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Addiction Treatment
If you are struggling with an alcohol or substance use disorder, please contact Hope By The Sea. We can help you begin the process of recovery and provide you with the tools for achieving lasting recovery.