Dr. Angela Mackay has over 20 years of experience in the healthcare field. She began her career working in a hospital as a registered nurse. She spent over 10 years working with the psychiatry consult team of a large level 1 Trauma Hospital in Minnesota. Her responsibilities included covering the non-mental health units, educating non-mental health staff in real time on psychiatric crises, and facilitating disruptive behavior classes while serving as an active member in multiple committees.

She developed and implemented the Psychiatric Emergency Response Team (PERT) and trained over 200 mental health registered nurses and associates to respond to crises in the non-Mental Health units over a 26-month period. The goal of the PERT team was to positively contribute to the well-being of individuals with mental illness by enthusiastically and empathetically assisting patients who are experiencing a crisis while in our care. Some techniques used included verbal de-escalation, negotiation, and redirection.

She was the recipient of the 2015 March of Dimes Nurse of the Year award, as well as the 2015 American Psychiatric Nurses Association Individual Award for her work relating to Workplace Violence and the use of PERT. Several years later, she acquired a Master's degree in Nursing, a Doctorate degree in Nursing Practice, as well as a post-degree certification to become a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner in the summer of 2021 from Walden University.

Throughout the years, she also spent time in various roles. She worked as a brain injury rehabilitator, then she worked with the Inpatient Behavioral Health team at the University of Maryland Midtown Campus as the Clinical Nurse Manager, and she filled the role of an adjunct Professor at the University of Maryland. She was also a Nurse Manager at Howard County General Hospital in Columbia, MD for over 3 years. During this time, she had the privilege to open and oversee a non-COVID psych unit and a COVID psych unit when the pandemic started in February 2020.