By Meghann Heinrich
For Joshua J. Masih, DNP, PMHNP nursing is more than a profession, it is an avenue through which he expresses compassion and care for the most vulnerable among us. He approaches nursing as a daily invitation to ministry. As he puts it, “Above being a nurse and an educator, I am called to be an ambassador of Christ.”
Dr. Masih’s family hails from Pakistan, though he was born in Kuwait and moved to the United States when he was three years old. He was raised in Redlands, California, a stone’s throw from Loma Linda University where he would one day work, earn his Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) degree, and eventually teach. Born to a family of nurses, Dr. Masih grew up hearing stories from his father of working in mission hospitals in Pakistan. “These hospitals provided training and jobs for the Pakistani Christians who were persecuted and not provided with the same opportunities as others in the Islamic country because of their faith,” he shares. Seeing his father’s passion for the field inspired him to pursue nursing as well.
Upon earning his Bachelor’s of Nursing degree from West Coast University in 2013, Dr. Masih took his first nursing job in a Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF). Knowing this position would be a foundational steppingstone for his career, he seized the opportunity to learn as much as he could. However, his time at the SNF was cut short by an invitation to join the nursing team at Loma Linda University Behavioral Medicine Center (LLUBMC) on the child and adolescent unit. “Although my plan was to eventually transfer to the ER or ICU, I quickly fell in love with mental health nursing and realized that it was the field God was calling me to. In mental health nursing, I had countless opportunities to provide spiritual care and present patients with the hope that only comes from Christ,” he said.
Dr. Masih stayed at LLUBMC for six years, during which time he continued his educational pursuits and earned his DNP through LLUSN. Shortly thereafter, a new door opened and Dr. Masih began his current position of caring for patients at SAC Health in San Bernardino, California, as a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP). This position allows him to work in outpatient psychiatry and addiction clinics, an area he has truly come to love.
Working with mental health patients at SAC Health exposed Dr. Masih to the most vulnerable populations in San Bernardino County. In his words, “[It has] opened my eyes to the health disparities present in my own community. Many of my patients are jobless, homeless, and haven’t been dealt the best cards in life. I have had several patients tell me they used the last of their gas money to come see me for their psychiatry appointment. I have had countless patient encounters which are forever etched in my heart that continue to fuel my passion for psychiatry and addiction medicine. As my passion for this population continued to grow, it led me to move outside of the walls of the clinic and into the streets to serve these individuals right where they are.”
And move outside he did! A man of many talents, Dr. Masih has been giving haircuts to friends and family members for many years and thought his barber skills might be a practical way to connect with and care for his homeless neighbors. In October 2021, he began giving free haircuts to homeless individuals he met around town. Finding he always gained more than he gave, Dr. Masih founded the nonprofit organization Street Shaves. Street Shaves consists of a team of barbers who regularly go into the community to offer haircuts to homeless individuals, free of charge. Three times per month (more if requested), Street Shaves partners with community organizations, community members, and churches to offer their services to underserved people in the Redlands area. They also commit to regularly going out on the street to meet people wherever they might be. “This is my favorite way of serving because we get to meet them right where they’re at, both literally and figuratively,” Dr. Masih said.
Dr. Masih is grateful for the mentorship and education he gained through LLUSN. As the PMHNP Program Coordinator, a position he took in 2022, he strives to support his students in the same way he was supported. He likens educating students to caring for patients, “I have learned how to best support my patients during the most difficult seasons of their lives. In many ways, working as an educator can be a similar experience. Most graduate students are experiencing some of the most stressful seasons of their lives as they try to juggle taking very challenging graduate courses, completing clinical hours, working in nursing to pay their bills, and for many of them, raising small children at the same time.” He finds the empathy necessary to be an effective nurse has informed his approach as an educator.
To Dr. Masih, being a Loma Linda nurse means caring for patients beyond their physical needs. Whether that means addressing their emotional state, the state of their hair, or their spiritual needs, the concept is the same. Dr. Masih believes, “A Loma Linda nurse sees their patients as much more than just their diagnosis and treats them with a kindness and compassion that reflects the love of Christ.”